Mustangs Use Big Second Half to Pull Away From Bronco Football
Hastings, NE – The final score of 55-18 really does not indicate how the Hastings College football team did against NAIA No. 4 Morningside on Saturday afternoon.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
7 | 14 | 14 | 20 | 55 |
|
|
0 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 18 |
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | Morningside | Hastings |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 303 | 208 |
| Rushing Yards | 192 | 54 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 3 |
| Time of Poss. | 32:53 | 27:07 |
Hastings, NE – The final score of 55-18 really does not indicate how the Hastings College football team did against NAIA No. 4 Morningside on Saturday afternoon.
Yes, Morningside did open up a 21-0 lead but the Bronco offense was just getting things going in the second quarter. Hastings took the ball over at its own 31 with just under 4:00 to play in the half when it put together its best drive up to this point marching 49 yards on 10 plays. Eli Nappe connected on passes of 11 yards to Brett Simonsen and then hit Jake Bargen for 13 and 19 yards respectively until the drive stalled at the Mustang 20. Casper Feijen then connected on a 37-yard field goal to get Hastings on the board trailing 21-3 with 1:00 to go in the half.
Then the defense stepped up as Caden Egr hit quarterback Cash Parker throwing the pass off its mark allowing Marcus Dustin to intercept it and return it to the Mustang 30. A 13 yard hook up from Nappe to Jaishawn Wright followed by a Morningside pass interference moved the ball to the five with :34 remaining. Nappe then broke five tackles on the next play finding his way into the end zone for the touchdown as HC trailed 21-9 following the missed extra point.
The Mustangs then took a knee as the Broncos trailed by just 12 at the break.
The Broncos would get the ball back to start the third quarter and once again began to move the ball. Nappe began the drive by going 3-for-3 for 19 yards as Hastings had the ball at the Morningside 42 before Brayden Cleeton sacked Nappe from the blindside as the ball popped loose allowing Chase Harden to scoop it off the carpet and take it all the way for a touchdown completely shifting the momentum of the game.
After the teams traded punts, disaster struck again for the Broncos as Nappe was picked off by Dijion Walls and he returned it 85 yards for a touchdown pitting the Mustangs to a 35-9 lead. To start the second half, the Bronco defense had given up just eight yards of offense but the Mustangs had two defensive touchdowns to boost the lead by 14 points.
After MU built the lead to 55-9, Hastings did block an extra point by Laython Shaw with Gavin Chohon winning the race all the way to the end zone for you unconventional two points to make it 55-11. Hastings rounded out the scoring when Carson Kudlacek hit Tanner-James Friend for a 44-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter as Hastings would fall 55-18.
The Mustangs finished the game with 495 yards of offense compared to 262 for the Broncos. Nappe finished the game 17-for-37 for 142 yards while Kudlacek went 4-for-10 for 66 yards and a touchdown. Jayden Roberts led the defense with 10 total tackles while Egr finished with nine.
Hastings is now 2-1 (1-1) on the year and will be back in action Saturday Sept. 16 as Jamestown comes to town with kickoff set for 1:00 pm on Lloyd Wilson Field
