Riley Shippy carries the ball for Colome in Friday’s homecoming game. Shippy had 155 yards rushing in the game. The Cowboys hosted Sunshine Bible Academy.
By Colton Hall
Staff Writer
The Colome Cowboys defense was on point on Friday night. That’s about the only thing that the Cowboys had going for them.
In somewhat of a “good old fashioned slug fest”, the Colome Cowboys fell 20-0 in a homecoming matchup to Sunshine Bible Academy.
As aforementioned, the defense kept the Cowboys in the game, but a stagnant offense that has been all to familiar to head coach Gene Bertram slowed the Cowboys.
“All year, we’ve had trouble getting our offense going,” head coach Gene Bertram said. “We’ve got some younger kids on our line that have struggled, and this experience will help them in the long run, but it’s tough for us right now.”
After a key interception in the red zone by senior Adam Cole in the first quarter, it looked as though the Cowboys were going putting themselves in the drivers seat to take home their first victory since August 23.
The proverbial achilles heel for the Cowboys couldn’t buckle up.
From turning the ball over on downs to punting, Colome’s offensive struggles intensified until late in the game.
Enter a solid Colome defense that didn’t allow a touchdown until right before halftime.
“Our defense has stepped it up,” Bertram said. “Our linebackers have played much better, thanks to assistant coach Chase Hrabanek. Adam Cole has done a great job for us on the back end, and the defense has come together. I’m happy with how our defense has played as a unit.”
Although Colome would receive the second-half kickoff, it didn’t matter. The offense struggled to gain any momentum, and put the defense in an all-to-familiar position.
The Cowboys defense would get another interception late, but the Crusaders took advantage of a somewhat tired Cowboys defense to take a two-score lead.
The Cowboys would show some signs of life late in the game when sophomore runningback Riley Shippy continued to church out yards. Shippy would lead Colome with 155 yards on 29 carries.
Although Shippy proved to be the only bright spot, he couldn’t punch in the ball late in the game to try to put pressure on Sunshine Bible Academy who would score one more time before the end of regulation.
“We couldn’t run a lot of different plays,” Bertram said. “Based on what was happening, we weren’t able to mix it up.”
Jacob Beckers lead the Cowboys with 11 tackles including one and half for loss. Shippy would match Beckers’s total, and finish with two tackles for loss. Cole and Brayden Seegers would both finish with interception.
For the last game, Bertram wants his team to be able to finish strong. Something that will be difficult against a good Wolsey-Wessington team.
“They’re a good team,” Bertram said. “I just want us to get something going offensively, and to play like we have defensively. After that, we can start worrying about how we’re going to get better.”
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