By Katelyn Strampher
The Junior High Mustangs were excited as they had their first game of the season. On Tuesday, September 5, 2023, the Junior High boys football team went to compete against Red Cloud. The boys had a rough start to the game but managed to find some offense later in the game. The final score of the game was 41-19 with scores from many of the players. 8th grader, Justin Sharp, said “I think we did alright for our first game. We really need to improve our blocking skills, but other than that, it was pretty good.” The Mustangs players had a few kids that stood out, and one of them was 8th grader, Laikyn Krueger. Krueger scored all three of the touchdowns in the game. Also, 7th grader, Graham Karr gave the team a one-point conversion in the game as well. After the game, Coach Jordan Scott said, “I saw a bunch of improvement with the team, and being it was the first game of the season, I feel like the improvement came from the loss of jitters from the boys.” As the boys had their first game of the season, they now knew what to expect, and they really showed what they could do in their next game.
The boys competed at Harvard Public Schools on Monday, September 11. The game was a great success as the boys pulled ahead and won the game 33-14 against the Cardinals. Coach Kel Knehans was excited about the win and said, “We have really improved defensively and even on the offense side as well. We still have a lot to work on for Franklin next week, but I have faith that the team can pull ahead and compete to the best of their abilities.” The game was a great success as more boys scored and made great plays. Krueger contributed two touchdowns; 8th grader Conner Blythe, 7th grader Noah Lutz, and 6th grader Jacob Dinkler each scored a touchdown as well. The boys were super excited about the win. Krueger said, “I was super excited with how we played and our plays we did. I still think we can work on our blocking, but I can see that we have really improved from last week!”