I/EC gridders stop Potter County

Ipswich/Edmunds Central outlasted Potter County 40-28 in a warm high school football opener for both schools last Friday in Ipswich.

The two teams had traded blows for much of the game, but I-EC manufactured a disparately needed 80-yard insurance TD drive capped by Carson Gohl's seven-yard score after the Battlers had climbed to within a TD trailing 34-28 including a two-point conversion. And the hosts would end the visitors' hopes of a last minute miracle with an interception.

Ipswich/EC had forced an early punt and got a nice punt return by Matt Hettich for great field position. The short drive was capped by Ian Beyers' 10-yard keeper TD. He then passed to Eric Severson for the two-point conversion.

The hosts and visitors then traded some scoreless possession opportunities with turnovers and stops. The Battlers were eventually forced to punt to near midfield and Matt Hettich broke free for a 49-yard rushing TD. But the PAT play failed, leaving the hosts with a 14-0 lead.

But the visitors indeed responded with back-to-back touchdowns to climb to within a 14-12 deficit as both PAT tries failed.

I/EC had more than enough time to generate its own first-half scoring drive capped by another Ian Beyers rushing TD of 19 yards. Guess what happened next? Tyler Hettich unleashed a third-quarter-opening kick-off runback of 86 yards, followed by a conversion pass from Ian Beyers to Josh McQuarie that made it 28-12.

But not for long. The Battlers got a passing score and two-point conversion to climb back into contention, down 28-20. But Ipswich/EC got back on the scoreboard itself with a Kaden Hix four-yard run to go up 34-20.

The visitors weren't ready to concede just quite yet, setting up all that late drama.

Ipswich/EC finished with a 383-305 total yardage edge including 267 yards rushing. The rushing leader was Gohl with 92 yards, followed by Matt Hettich with 57 yards and Ian Beyers and Luke Peterson with 53 each. Ian Beyers added a 116-yard passing effort on a 7-12-3 night. McQuarie and Severson caught two catches each to lead that department.

The Battlers ended up with 159 aerial yards from Grant Luikens thanks to seven completions in 20 tries with two interceptions. He included their pair of passing TD's and 122 rushes.

Each team lost one fumble. The Tigers had 14 first downs, the Battlers nine.

Defensively, I/EC made 37 tackles led by Carter Geditz with six.

The Tigers, 1-0, will travel to Northwestern for a LRC showdown on Aug. 28.