Trojan football team rallies late to trip Lansing Kee

LANSING - The Turkey Valley football team rallied from a 22-30 third period deficit to score three fourth quarter touchdowns to down the Lansing Kee Hawks, 46-38, on Friday, Sept. 28. Dylan Elsbernd scored the game-winning touchdown on a 31-yard run in the fourth.

The win improved TV’s record to 3-1 in Eight-Man District 3 and 5-1 overall. The Trojans and Midland are tied for second (3-1) in the district, and Central City leads with a 4-0 mark.

The Trojans will host West Central on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. for its homecoming game.

TV Head Coach Mark Scott was pleased to see his team overcome a few injuries to notch the win against Kee.

“Kee gave us their best effort,” Scott said. “We were fortunate to escape with a win. We showed we could overcome adversity and finish the game at the level of play we are capable of.

“With the injuries we have had over the past couple of games, we shuffled our line up on defense. We may have had a few players playing in positions that they were not ready to play. Late in the game Dylan Elsbernd, Carter Reicks and Ethan Leibold made some big plays on our defensive front line,” Scott said.

First half

Both teams tallied three scores in the first half as the game was tied at 22-all at halftime.

TV’s first touchdown came on a five-yard run by Dylan Elsbernd in the first quarter.

The Trojans tallied two scores in the second quarter. Ethan Leibold reached paydirt on a one-yard run, and he also ran the ball in for two points. Elliott Dietzenbach caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Leibold, and Elsbernd ran the ball in for two points.

Second half

Kee scored a touchdown in the third period to take a 28-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, the Trojans went on a 24-8 run to secure the win.

TV’s first score in the final period came on a one yard run by Leibold, who also completed the two-point pass to Eli Reicks. The Trojans tied the game at 38 a few minutes later on an 11-yard touchdown strike from Leibold to Billy Swestka and a two-point run by Leibold. Later in the fourth, the Trojans took the lead on a 31-yard scamper by Elsbernd and a two-point run by Leibold.

TV statistics

Trojan quarterback Ethan Leibold connected on nine of 16 pass attempts for 138 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Elliott Dietzenbach had three catches for 45 yards and one score. Billy Swestka had two receptions for 27 yards and one score. Dylan Elsbernd had two catches for 28 yards. Jason Herold and Seth Huinker each had one reception.

TV’s ground game tallied 205 yards. Dylan Elsbernd led the way with 103 yards rushing and two scores on 15 carries. Leibold had 45 yards and two scores on 14 totes. Dietzenbach had 22 yards rushing, Seth Huinker posted 18 yards and Eli Reicks had 17 yards rushing.

On defense, Leibold tallied 12 total tackles, including 10 solo stops and one sack. Elsbernd had 10 tackles, including eight solo stops. Carter Reicks had six tackles. Swestka had 5.5 tackles and one interception. Seth Huinker had five tackles. Luke Mueller and Eli Nymeyer each had four tackles.

Eli Reicks had two kickoff returns for 41 yards. Marcus Herold had two kickoff returns for 17 yards.