Published: October 10, 2009 06:27 pm      

CHS lets one slip away

Hobart rallies past Tribe for 20-13 win

COMANCHE — The Hobart Bearcats came, they saw, and they conquered the Comanche Indians 20-13. Hobart was helped out by a dominant rushing attack, and two interceptions, one to seal their fate with 2:16 left in the contest.

The night started right for the Comanche Indians as the defense forced a three-and-out. The Tribe failed to establish any rhythm however on offense, and were forced to punt. Kale Reed booted the ball 28 yards to the Hobart 43.

On the first play of Hobart’s next drive, Derek Williams dropped back, scanned the field, and tossed the ball to his running back in the flat. Unbeknownst to him, Tyler Olheiser read the play perfectly, jumped in front of the pass, and returned it 43 yards for the first score of the night. Comanche was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct that occurred after the play. The infraction added 15 yards to the point-after-attempt. The elongated Garrison McCauley kick was blocked, leaving the score 6-0.

Hobart’s next drive started on the right side of the 50 after a failed onside kick attempt by Comanche. Hobart took advantage of the field position and after nine plays, and five minutes, found itself on Comanche’s 10-yard line facing fourth-and-6. Comanche’s defense held and forced a turnover on downs to end the scoring threat.

Hobart went three-and-out it’s next drive but calamity struck Comanche as Keegan Metcalf intercepted a Johnny Heath pass. Comanche defense stayed strong despite Hobart having a short field, and forced another turnover on downs.

Garrison McCauley added a much needed spark to the Tribe on a 24-yard carry, which brought Comanche into Hobart territory. Facing third-and-9, Heath dropped back to pass, immediately pressure sent him scrambling. Heath got rid of the ball out of bounds, but he had earned an intentional grounding penalty. The penalty set Comanche back to its own 22. Facing fourth-and-42, Comanche was forced to punt, the punt only went 13 yards, giving Hobart another short field to work with.

The Comanche defense couldn’t contain the Hobart rushing attack any longer, as Blaine Richards sliced through the defense for 31 yards on four carries including a 10-yard touchdown run. Funkhouser added the extra point, making it 7-6.

With 4:36 left in the half, Comanche took the field and put together a drive. Heath was perfect, completing all six of his attempts for 74 yards, including a two-yard touchdown toss to Clayton Bennett to take back the lead. McCauley added the extra point to make it 13-7 which stood going into the half.

Midway through the third quarter, Hobart knotted things up as Richards scored from 40-yards out, Funkhouser missed the extra point making it 13-13.

Richards rushed for 85 yards on 13 attempts in the final quarter and Comanche failed to establish any rhythm in the final stanza. Richards scored the games’ final touchdown on a 33-yard scamper with 2:45 left in the contest, Funkhouser added the extra point, making it 20-13.

Comanche’s final drive started at their own 40, with 2:38 remaining. Heath scrambled and managed to gain 26 yards to move Comanche 34 yards from pay-dirt. The run added much need optimism, but that optimism was quickly erased as Blaine Richards stepped in front of a Heath throw to seal the Indians’ fate. Richards carried the rock for two more first downs to put the final nails into the Tribe.

Comanche dropped to 3-3 for the year.

“ We played good enough on defense to win the game, but number eight (Richards) wouldn’t be denied,” Coach Clark said. “ We missed opportunities on offense”

Comanche will try to improve their record next Thursday as they travel to Anadarko to square off with Riverside.