Warriors 'Cruise' to 64-6 win at South Platte

A.W. Frerichs and Brennen Cruise set the tone early.

On the very first play from scrimmage Friday at South Platte, Leyton’s quarterback-receiver combination hooked up for a 49 yard touchdown.

“I was supposed to run an out, but the middle opened up,” Cruise explained.

Instead of his assigned pattern, Cruise ran a post. Frerichs spotted the wide open receiver and made a quick decision.

“I just let her go,” the quarterback said. “It worked out.”

A lot worked out for Leyton on the way to their second win of the young season, a 64-6 drubbing of South Platte. Frerichs threw for 232 yards and 3 scores. Cruise reached paydirt all three times he touched the ball in the first quarter, adding runs of 6 and 44 yards to the opening reception.

In fact, he racked up more yards on his second rushing touchdown than the Knights managed from the ground all night.

“The running game has always been our strong suit,” observed Warriors head coach Geln Lipska.

After the lightning bolt start, Leyton indeed returned to a more methodical approach. On their next possession Cruise powered over South Platte linebacker Blake Odenbaugh from 6 yards out to cap a seven play drive. Before the first period ended, the senior back broke around the end and raced from beyond midfield to the end zone, sprung by a great downfield block by Dylan Brenner.

Leyton led 22-0 as the first 12 minutes came to a close.

Meanwhile the Warriors’ defense shut down South Platte most of the game. The hosts managed just 11 yards of total offense until late in the period, when Odenbaugh made a bobbling catch of a Jason Dethlefs pass, gobbling up 46 yards and chalking up the Knights’ only first down of the frame.

Leyton’s Josh Reimers smacked Odenbaugh for no gain on the next play and followed up by stuffing the quarterback at the line of scrimmage.

On the night, Riemers and his defensive mates clamped South Platte’s running game, holding them to 32 yards on 30 carries. Of these 30 runs, fully 21—or 70 percent—gained 2 yards or less.

“We just hit them,” Reimers pointed out.

The senior wore number 60 on this occasion, explaining that no one could locate his more familiar number 81 road jersey.

Riemers’ missing uniform clearly did not jinx the squad. They did, however, allow Dethlefs to find Eddy Peterman for an 18 yard score to open the second period.

“We gave up some big plays,” Lipska said. “We have to work on little things. We’ll have games when we will have to play our best football.”

Leyton responded immediately. Flushed from the pocket, Frerichs eventually found Cody McKay, dragging toward the sideline. McKay hauled the ball in and turned upfield until finally tripped up by South Platte’s Dethlefs. On the next play, Frerichs handed to Jared Westman, who traced 11 yards for a touchdown.

Before the half ended, the Warriors added two more scores. Receiver James Rushman grabbed a Frerichs toss and juked his way for one. Westman then zipped through a huge hole from 5 yards out.

“The line had a good game,” Cruise observed.

With a 42-6 halftime advantage, the rest was somewhat academic. Frerichs and Cruise hooked up once more. Freshman Drew Brenner showed his promise by rushing for 61 yards on just 4 fourth quarter carries, one for a touchdown. Zach Deal made a crushing stop on defense. And Rhett Dye closed out the scoring, diving into the end zone from 4 yards out with less than a minute remaining.

“The JV played well,” Lipska noted.

Leyton takes on Creek Valley at home Friday, looking to make it three in a row.

“We have to keep it going,” Cruise said of the winning streak.

Score by Quarters

Ley 22 20 8 14 – 64

SP 0 6 0 0 – 6

Scoring Summary

1st Qtr

Ley – Cruise 49 yd pass from Frerichs (run failed) 11:48

Ley – Cruise 6 yd run (Dy. Brenner from Frerichs) 6:19

Ley – Cruise 44 yd run (McKay from Frerichs) 2:26

2nd Qtr

SP – Peterman 18 yd pass from Dethlefs (run failed) 11:50

Ley – Westman 11 yd run (run failed) 11:11

Ley – Rushman 9 yd pass from Frerichs (Cruise run) 8:48

Ley – Westman 5 yd run (pass failed) 1:30

3rd Qtr

Ley – Cruise 57 yd pass from Frerichs (Westman run) 4:34

4th Qtr

Ley – Dr. Brenner 20 yd run (Dr. Brenner run) 8:55

Ley – Dye 4 yd run (run failed) 0:52

Rushing

Leyton

Dr. Brenner 4-61

Cruise 3-53

Westman 6-39

Rushman 4-18

Dye 3-14

A.W. Frerichs 2-7

Hellie 1-6

South Platte

Dethlefs 8-10

Spencer 5-9

Collins 3-6

Odenbaugh 7-6

Ford 2-1

Waterman 6-0

Passing

Leyton

A.W. Frerichs 12-19 232 3td 0int

Hellie 1-4 6 0td 1int

South Platte

Ford 0-2 0 0td 0int

Dethlefs 5-11 78 1td 1int

Bartels 3-5 20 0td 0int

Receiving

Leyton

Cruise 2-106

McKay 3-59

Dy. Brenner 3-55

Westman 1-6

Dr. Brenner 1-6

Rushman 3-6

South Platte

B. Odenbaugh 2-50

K. Odenbaugh 3-24

Peterman 1-18

Ford 1-3

Palser 1-3