Arlington High School set out to Tekamah on Friday with a few objectives.
Coach Troy Schlueter's football team wanted to run the ball and produce touchdowns against the Tekamah-Herman Tigers.
“The goal was to score over 28, I want to say,” senior lineman Zane Gerrish said. “We got that done.”
The Eagles improved to 3-5 overall with a 32-10 victory on the 1-7 Tigers' home field.
“It felt great just to get a 'W,'” AHS junior Oliver Ladehoff said. “Everybody played as hard as they could.”
The effort resulted in five total touchdown runs.
“We definitely just wanted to play smashmouth football,” Gerrish said.
The first of Killian McIntosh's two first-quarter touchdown runs was the direct result of Ladehoff's interception of Tigers quarterback Kash Kellogg. The pick set up the Eagles' offense just 15 yards from the end zone, which it would cover.
Arlington's defense set up McIntosh's 68-yarder, too. After a fourth down stop, the senior back took off and gave Coach Schlueter's squad a 12-0 lead.
Gerrish said the Eagles' line blocked well to open up holes, particularly on the edges.
“That's not just our lineman, that's definitely some of the skill guys, too,” he said, cracking a smile. “You hate to say it, but sometimes those guys are all they're writing about, but, today, they got the movement on the edge to kind of open it up and help our linemen.”
Dallin Franzluebbers also took advantage of his blockers on a 15-yard touchdown run with just 3:47 left in the second quarter. His efforts produced an 18-0 lead before Owen Ladehoff's 2-point conversion score made it 20-0.
Tekamah-Herman's Griffin Breckenridge did knock through a 30-yard field goal on the last play of the first half, but it would have been hard to argue that AHS' defense wasn't still doing its job.
Defensive back Cooper Staats said his position group wanted to make sure no Tigers got behind them on throwing downs.
“I think our pass coverage was really good compared to most weeks,” the senior said. “We really didn't let not but a few plays over our heads.”
After two more Franzluebbers scoring runs of 47 and 12 yards after halftime, the Eagles' defense made a play again to end the third quarter. Freshman 230-pounder Tanner Meyer sacked Kellogg with the help of Karson Foust on the last play.
AHS' Brodie Wilkins pressured the Tekamah QB multiple times during the fourth quarter, too.
“Kept everything in front of us and contained,” Staats said of the overall defensive performance. “Our line helped with that, getting to the quarterback fast.”
The Tigers did end up scoring a late touchdown on the Eagles' reserves, but freshman Cameron Wirsen ultimately ended the game with at least one more highlight — a second Arlington interception.
Altogether, Gerrish, Ladehoff and Staats all noted positives from the Eagles' third win of the fall season. It's been a campaign building toward this Friday's regular season finale against Fremont Bergan.
“As a team, as a whole, all of us have grown closer,” Ladehoff said. “Bought in as a football team.”
The last home game of 2024 starts at 7 p.m.
ARLINGTON 32, TEKAMAH-HERMAN 10
AHS (3-5) 12 8 12 0 — 32
TK (1-7) 0 3 0 7 — 10
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
A: Killian McIntosh 15-yard run, 2-point conversion failed
A: McIntosh 68-yard run, 2-point conversion failed
Second Quarter
A: Dallin Franzluebbers 15-yard run, Owen Ladehoff 2-point conversion
TK: Griffin Breckenridge 30-yard field goal
Third Quarter
A: Franzluebbers 47-yard run, 2-point conversion failed
A: Franzluebbers 12-yard run, PAT failed
Fourth Quarter
TK: Dylan Petersen 2-yard run, Breckenridge PAT
