First half defense lifts Palmer to 49-22 win over Loup City

First half defense lifts Palmer to 49-22 win over Loup City

Palmer defense stifled Loup City's running and passing game in the 1st half of play while building a 23-0 lead, then answered on a critical 4th down play in the 3rd quarter to pull away for a 49-22 homecoming win Friday night. Then it looked like the Tigers might make it a runaway when RB Ziah Jensen broke free on a 53 yard run on Palmer's 1st play of the 2nd half to stretch the score to 29-0. But Loup City coach Nick Hodge inserted some slick plays that featured quarterback Austin Bochart's magic and the Red Raiders made nice comeback.

The nimble footed Bochart, who had ripped off runs of 11, 14, and 15 yards late in the first half, executed some great ball fakes to 1000 yard rusher Brady Rasmussen and buoyed a come back that brought Loup City to within 29-16 with 3:33 left in the 3rd quarter. Rasmussen's tough 9 yard scoring run and Bochart's 27 yard TD gallop had just closed the gap to 13 when the game's most crucial series took center stage. Facing a 4th and 3 from the Red Raider 33 yard line, Palmer lined up in punt formation. The snap was bobbled by Jensen, but he scooped up the muffed snap and ran for a critical first down. Kordell Glause then nailed RB Trev Sharman with a 5 yard touchdown pass to complete the drive and Palmer was back on top 37-16 with 17 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. But the ensuing kick-off may have been the real back breaker for Loup City.

Brady Rasmussen fielded the kick at his own 6 and took it all the way inside the Palmer 10 only to have it called back for an illegal block in the back, which appeared to be away from the play with Rasmussen already past the infraction. Now, the Red Raiders did recover to score on the drive with Bochart going the final yards to cut the lead to 37-22, but the penalty just seemed to stick in the minds of the Red Raiders. Palmer would take it from there, scoring twice more in the final 5:03 of the game to make the final count 49-22.

As far as hard hits go, this was probably a more physical game than the Giltner/Kenesaw game I saw a couple of weeks back. Palmer's offense and defensive lines were very impressive and the outstanding DB duo of junior Kordell Glause (son of the coach) and Ziah Jensen made life miserable for Loup City QB Austin Bochart's passing game. The dynamic duo's great coverage and numerous pass break-ups led to a 3 of 18 passing performance for Bochart. But the 150 pound senior made up for it by rambling for 223 yards on 24 carries to take game rushing honors. Not far off his pace was the Tiger's hard running Jensen, who blasted his way to 185 yards on 22 carries including scoring runs of 53 and 3 yards. He also caught a 28 yard TD pass from Glause in the 2nd quarter.

The stout Tiger defense held the shify junior, Brady Rasmussen to 83 yards on 15 carries, while Palmer signal caller Kordell Glause rushed for 98-21 carries to aid his squad.

Palmer's stout 200 pound lineman Brett Santin (#76) played a stellar game on both sides of the ball and made several tackles on Rasmussen in the 1st half.

Palmer improves to 4-1 on the year and has a couple of afternoon contest the next two weeks. Next Friday the Tigers travel to Litchfield for a 2:00 game against 2-3 Ansley/Litchfield, then return home October 12th to entertain South Loup (Arnold/Callaway) in a 3:00 contest. Loup City, now 3-2, will be at home next Friday night to face 2-3 Twin Loup (Sargent/Loup County). Right now Palmer is 2-0 in District play and in the lead in that D-1 District 8 race, which includes Loup City

Loup City's Brady Rasmussen did increase his 2012 rushing total to an unofficial 685 yards. He rushed for a 1,005 yards as a sophomore a year ago. Teammate Austin Bochart is not far behind with 591 yards. Palmer's 5 game totals were unavailable.

Scoring:

1st Qtr.

P-Glause 2 run (kick failed).6-0 (9:42)

Palmer-Glause 32 FG..........9-0 (2:56)

2nd Qtr.

P-Glause 9 run (Glause kick).16-0 (6:35)

P-Jensen 28 pass f. Glause (Glause kick).23-0 (4:35)

3rd Qtr.

P-Jensen 53 run (run failed).29-0 (9:44)

Loup City-Bochart 23 run (Bochart run).29-8 (8:30)

Loup City-Rasmussen 9 run (Rasmussen run).29-16 (3:33)

P-Sharmen 5 pass from Glause (Glause run.37-16 ( :17)

4th Qtr.

Loup City-Bochart 12 run (run failed).37-22 (11:26)

P-Glause 25 run (pass failed).43-22 (5:04)

P-Jensen 3 run (run failed).49-22 (1:03)