Louisville's Colby Smith pressures
Yutan's Nate Fisher into an errant
pass in the 31-22 loss to the
Chieftains.


Photo compliments of Krambeck Photography.
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LHS Rally Falls Short (10-14-11)

Down 18-0 at intermission, Louisville rallied in the second half, getting as close as 25-22 before falling to Yutan, 31-22, in C-2, District 3 action.

Yutan opened scoring with a short field touchdown at the 3:40 mark of the first quarter, turning an LHS turnover at their own 10 yard line in a 6-0 lead when Nate Fisher connected with Ryan Phillips from 5 yards out.

The Chieftains added to their total by scoring on their next two plays from scrimmage, the first when Yutan’s Rake Roll scored from 80 yeards out through the middle of the LHS defense. After Yutan recovered the ensuing kickoff along the west sideline, Fisher, the Chieftains’ sophomore quarterback, hit Gabe Arlt for a 33 yard touchdown, giving Yutan a comfortable 18-0 lead at the half-time break.

Yutan began the second half on offense but the Louisville defense forced the Chieftains into a punt which was blocked, giving LHS possession at the Yutan 23 yard line. Skyler Deloske carried the ball twice, the second rush ending with a Lion score from seven yards out, but Yutan still led 18-8.

After the kickoff gave Yutan the ball on their own 33 yard line, the Chieftains scored their third one-play touchdown drive when Fisher connected with Arlt again, this time from 67 yards out, giving the Chieftains a 25-8 lead.

But the Lions never quit, scoring two more touchdowns, the first on a 7 yard run by Wade Knott, the second when a Sterling Reeves’ 39 yard interception return gave Louisville the ball on the Yutan 9 yard line. Deloske carried twice for the touchdown as the Lions crept within three points at 25-22 with 8:50 remaining.

Louisville had two more possessions in the final four minutes of play but could not get the ball out of their own half of the field and the Chieftains tacked on a late score with 1:24 remaining in the game to seal the win.

The loss spoiled the fine effort of Deloske and the LHS offensive line. The sophomore running back toted the football 33 times for 234 yards, just shy of the school record 238 yards set by Sean Renner in 1991. Jake Snodgrass led the LHS defense with 5 solos and 10 assisted tackles with Andrew DeBrie chipping in with 2 solos, 11 assists, 1 sack and a pass break-up.

"We made so many mistakes the first half that we put ourselves in a three touchdown hole," said Louisville head coach Nick Bausch. "When we eliminated the mistakes second half the results were much better, and we were able to climb back into the game."

"In the second half we moved the ball pretty consistently and with the exception of a couple big plays really shut down their offense," continued Bausch. "I thought we played with a lot of emotion and desire the second half, but we need to find a way to play with the same passion from beginning to end and with the same composure in high pressure situations. We didn't do that against Yutan and as a result we weren't able to get the win. It is very difficult to see the offensive line play so well at times and to see our backs run as hard as they did and still be able to only put 22 points on the board. I still believe that this is a team that has a lot to prove, but we have to become more consistent."

The Lions end the season with an Archbishop Bergan contest on Thurday, October 20 at Ralston High School. Each team will come into the game with 2-5 records.

Yutan 31, Louisville 22