A ROYAL THRASHING
It may have taken four years, but Stanton seniors won their first homecoming game in dominant fashion Friday night, beating Essex 72-8.
The Vikings were firing on all cylinders as the offense generated 400 total yards, the defense forced four first-half turnovers, returning one for a touchdown, and the special teams unit also added a score with a long punt return.
One of Stanton’s key seniors, David Sorensen, set the tone of the game early, taking control on both sides of the ball.
After catching a 56-yard touchdown from Connor Hultman in the first quarter, Sorensen promptly intercepted an Ian Isaacson pass on Essex’s next drive. Sorensen wasn’t done though as he caught a second touchdown pass from Hultman, this one covering 30 yards. After a two-point run from Hultman, the Vikings led 14-0.
Essex turned the ball over again on the next drive as Hultman recovered a fumble on the Trojans’ 9-yard-line and scored a few plays later on a three-yard run.
Three plays later, another Stanton senior, Alex Becthold stepped up, intercepting a pass and returning it 25 yards for a touchdown. Hultman passed to Sorensen for the two-point conversion as Stanton pulled away 28-0.
After failing to pick up a first down on their next drive, Essex was forced to punt, giving Stanton’s special teams a chance to shine. Brady Johnson seized the opportunity and returned the punt 52 yards for a touchdown as Stanton led 36-0.
Sorensen made another big play late in the half with his second interception, giving Stanton the ball again at the Trojan nine. Becthold scored again on the next play on a nine-yard run as Stanton took a 44-0 lead into the locker room.
Stanton didn’t let up in the second half, scoring on the third play, a 14-yard Chris Jones run, extending the lead to 50-0.
The Vikings were back on offense a couple plays later after Austin Houston recovered a fumble at the Essex 27. Jones scored his second TD of the game on the next play, a 27-yard run.
Hultman added threw his third TD of the game on the Vikings next drive, connecting with Reece Anderson for a 21-yard score.
Cody Davis provided Essex’s lone highlight of the night on the ensuing kickoff, returning it 74 yards for a touchdown. After the two-point conversion, the scoreboard read 64-8.
Becthold completed the scoring late in the third quarter on a 3-yard TD run, also running in the ensuing two-point conversion.
Understandably, Stanton’s Head Coach Jeff Grebin felt good about the Viking offense.
“Once we cleaned up a couple things we were able to take advantage of some plays we’ve used in the past, and they were successful tonight,” he said.
Hultman led the offense, sporting a gawdy 32.5 yard per completion average as he threw for 260 yards on 8 of 11 passing. In addition to this three passing touchdowns, he ran one in as well.
Sorensen was his favorite target with 102 yards on three catches and two TDS. Johnson and Anderson added 80 and 61 yards, respectively, on two catches each.
Jones led the running game with 69 yards on nine carries, followed by Becthold with 55 yards.
Hultman also led the defense with eight tackles and a fumble recovery. Becthold finished with 7.5 tackles and an interception.
Stanton’s defense was working hard according to Grebin.
“We didn’t do real well last week over at East Mills, so we cleaned a couple of those things up and we feel real good about our defense right now,” he said. “Hands were up almost every time a ball was in the air.”
Stanton improved to 4-1 with the win, but have to travel to Tabor next week to take on the undefeated Fremont-Mills Knights.
Essex dropped to 1-4 with the loss and head home to play Sidney in their homecoming game.
Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.