YATES CENTER — With an eye toward the oppressive heat, officials pushed back the start to Friday’s football opener between Crest and Yates Center by an hour.
But even after the late start, Yates Center didn’t take long to dispense with any on-field drama.
The Wildcats took advantage of a pair of early turnovers to race to a 20-0 lead after less than 4 minutes into the proceedings.
By the final gun, Yates Center’s swarming defense forced seven turnovers, including six interceptions, while bringing home a 48-0 win.
“That’s by design,” Wildcat head coach Ryan Panko said. “Our defense is made to force turnovers. We’ve got guys coming from every direction, and the boys played really hard on both sides of the ball.”
After Ben Cook capped Yates Center’s first drive with a 37-yard touchdown run, teammate Jeremiah Jones recovered a fumble on Crest’s first snap of its first possession at the Lancer 2. Gavin Busteed rambled in on a quarterback keeper on the next play for a 12-0 lead.
Then, freshman lineman Karter Westerman hauled in a nifty pick on a pass to the flat, rumbling 30 yards for another score and a 20-0 lead with 8:02 left in the first quarter.
The pace slowed a bit after that. The squads traded turnovers before Cook opened the second quarter with a 7-yard touchdown run, and then ended Crest’s next possession with a pick, setting up a 19-yard touchdown strike from Gavin Busteed to Evan McVey.
Cook corralled his second interception of the half to end Crest’s next possession. The Busteed-to-McVey connection continued with a 29-yard touchdown pass.
Yates Center then turned away Crest’s closest shot at points in the waning moments of the half, after the Lancers’ Andrew Donovan connected twice with Xander Fuller to get a first-and-goal at the 3.
But with time for only one more play, Donovan’s pass to the end zone was picked off by Yates Center’s Marcus Cummings to end the threat.
“We got a little tired in the second quarter,” Panko said. “We weren’t firing off like we needed to, and things slowed down a bit. Give Crest some credit. So, halftime came, and we made the adjustments we needed to remedy that, and the boys responded.”
“We’ve just gotta get better,” Lancer head coach Rod Stottlemire said. “The kids are working hard, and I know we’ve got a couple of kids out, but that’s no excuse.”
The zaniness continued after halftime.
Crest’s TJ Beckmon recovered a Wildcat fumble at midfield, but Cummings responded on the next play with an interception of his own to give Yates Center possession at the Lancer 14.
Busteed scored on a 14-yard keeper on the Wildcats’ next play, ending the game via Kansas’s eight-man mercy rule.
