I-EC Tigers get big win in Gettysburg

Ipswich/Edmunds Central opened its 2019 high school football campaign with an impressive 52-28 non-conference victory over Potter County in Gettysburg last Friday.

The Tigers signaled their intentions early with 16 straight points, and still led 16-6 after an eventful opening-quarter.

Carson Gohl, who finished with 207 rushing yards on 14 carries, included two touchdown jaunts, one of which occurred with 10:15 remaining in the opening quarter. Ethan Gilbert found Kaden Hix with a PAT pass, making it 8-0. The Tigers' D then quickly forced a punt eventually giving the football to the offense at its own 35. This drive ended on a successful note despite some penalites. Gohl capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown catch from Gilbert and a Luke Peterson PAT run gave that early 16-point cushion.

But not for long, because the Battlers got a special teams' kick off runback to shave their deficit to 16-6 at the 5:32 mark of the opening stanza.

Then a fumble recovery by Peterson at the Tigers own 34 could have possibly put I/EC back into business. But the PC defense was up to the task and forced the Tigers to punt, which turned out to be a 65-yarder by Gohl all the way to their own 6. And they sustained a sack by Gohl in the end zone, producing a Tiger safety and a 18-6 edge.

The host's kick after the safety was returned to their 35. And I/EC needed six plays to score and did indeed do just that with a short Gilbert to McQuarie 10-yard TD pass play. Ty Kadlec added a PAT carry for a 26-6 Tiger lead with 4:48 left in the half.

Ipswich/EC again got good field position after a very short Battler punt and Hix got a touchdown run of nine yards with a Carter Heinz PAT carry for a 32-6 lead which stood at intermission.

The hosts slowly got their offense untracked in the second half but too little, too late. Especially because I/EC manufactured an opening third-quarter TD march capped by Hix for 15 yards and initiated by a Matthew Hettich interception. But the PAT failed, leaving the Tigers up 40-6 at 9:51 of the third quarter.

One of Ipswich/EC's two additional scoring opportunities came from Gohl's 65-yard TD breakaway on first down. It put I/EC up 46-14 with 1:06 left in the third quarter. Kadlec claimed their final six points on a 15-yard carry to pay dirt. That put Ipswich/EC up 52-20 and the hosts capped scoring with one additional TD and PAT play for the final I/EC 52-28 margin.

The Tigers got 404 rushing yards all told and 104 passing on Gilbert's 6-11 effort. Gohl had the longest catch of 50 yards.

PC was held to 85 yards on the ground and 236 through the air.

Kadlec was I/EC's second leading rusher with 58 yards.

Defensively Ipswich/EC recorded 50 tackles led by Heinz with eight in a balanced effort.

The last time the Tigers played Potter County was in a '08 win by the Tigers, according to coach Brian Hogie.

Ipswich/EC will host Northwestern Area in opening LRC action on Friday. (The Wildcats are also coming off a win in their first week of action.)