Schulenburg Smashes Danbury 42-0

The Schulenburg Shorthorns defeated the Danbury Panthers 42-0 at home Friday night.

Schulenburg got off to a slow start, only scoring twice in the first half. The Shorthorn defense struggled to contain Panther quarterback Jace Flora. Fortunately, Schulenburg’s coverage allowed him only 110 passing yards. Flora, an expert scrambler, tested the defense greatly with his feet. He ran the ball 27 times, but he only gained 61 yards due to several stops in the backfield. A big loss on a botched punt cut Danbury’s total rushing yards to 49 on the game.

“(Flora) is a really good player,” said Schulenburg head coach Luke Hobbs. “In the first half we allowed them to convert. He gave us fits. In the second half our defense was just awesome a lot better angles, a lot better pursuit.”

Shorthorn quarterback Aaron Janecek threw for 223 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Both of those touchdown passes went to Jayse Janda, who picked up 107 receiving yards on six catches.

Just about everyone who ran the ball for the Horns scored on Friday night. De’Terrion Houston had 53 yards on eight carries with one touchdown. Mason Kunschick had 24 yards on five carries with one touchdown. Tavondrick Ellison had only one carry, but what a beauty it was: the big guy showed his impressive speed and agility on a touchdown run from the 29 yard line.

The Panthers never reached the end zone, though. The closest they came to a touchdown was at the end of the game with only 37 seconds left. A run that would have scored was called back on an offensive holding penalty. Schulenburg’s defense held out as time expired.

Danbury did not have enough players to field a junior varsity team, so the entire Schulenburg JV team got moved up to varsity last week. The Shorthorns needed them, too, due to some injuries and suspensions.

“When guys get hurt, when guys get suspended, when guys want to do dumb things, we will bring young kids up and play with them,” Hobbs said. “I’m really proud of the guys who stepped up.” Several of those players made some big contributions. Keigan Johnson played center all night, and he was perfect on snaps in his first varsity game.

“Austin Toro was going to start at center tonight,” Hobbs said. “Keigan was just getting backup reps. But we had to make some changes, and Toro had to go to guard. Keigan stepped up and he was just gutsy. I love it.”

Lineman Raudel Corona earned his letter Friday night as well.

“We practice our JV kids really hard,” Hobbs said. “They’re not put off to the side to just be tackling dummies. They have to practice, they have to go hard. Tonight’s a testament of why we do that. There are some really good young players in our program.”

Schulenburg plays Flatonia this Friday. The Bulldogs, now 1-8 on the season and 0-5 in district, won’t make the playoffs this year. Flatonia head coach Brent Mascheck is sitting at 99 career wins. His team would love nothing more than to give him his 100th against Schulenburg.

“All of our kids know the Flatonia kids because of Twin Cities baseball,” Hobbs said. “They’re either cousins or they’re really good friends. Their kids are going to play a tough game. Our kids will as well.”