By Sydney Bartels
Go maroon. Go white. Let’s fight. Coming off of a win against the Palmer Tigers, the team was ready to take on the Nebraska Lutheran Knights. Silver Lake received the kickoff to start the game. Everyone in Bladen, especially the players on the field could feel the excitement in the air. The annual Homecoming football game is one that every Mustang anticipates every year. The team struggled to get their offense rolling in the first quarter, only scoring eight points, to the Knights’ 14. The Mustangs had a hard time defending Nebraska Lutheran’s passing, scoring another eight points to their 20. The team had gotten themselves in a rut, but after a talk from Coach Conroy during halftime, the players came out ready to turn the game around. The Mustangs got their offense on a roll, outscoring the Knights 18 to 16 in the 3rd quarter. The team picked up their defense as well when junior Tayten Menke intercepted a pass, giving the Mustangs another offensive opportunity. Junior Angus Andersen led the team in receiving yards, while senior Braden Karr picked up a fumble recovery and senior Jake Knehans adds a sack to the stats book. Junior Keaton Karr added his fair share of contributions to the game with 198 rushing yards, bringing the team’s total rushing yards to 377 for the game. Keaton Karr currently sits #1 in the state of Nebraska for the most rushing yards this season. After a long, hard-fought battle with the Knights, the Mustangs fell just short of the Knights 50-70 at the end of the 4th quarter. Menke shared that the team will focus on improving their passing coverage over the next week to prepare for their game against Maywood Hayes-Center. He feels confident that they will bounce back from their loss and improve their season record.