The Reno County Sabres Homeschool football team rallied from a 13-point deficit at the end of the third quarter to defeat the Hugoton Eagles 35-34 in an 11-Man football game on Friday at Hugoton.
“These guys have faced a lot of adversity throughout this season, but have always responded well,” said Reno County Sabres football coach Lee Smith. “The Bible says ‘a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again.’ We talk about that a lot, and these guys have done that.
“We had three two-way starters out because of injury or illness this game, so we really needed some of the younger players to step in and fill their shoes. They, to a man, responded well.”
The Sabres were down 12-0 at the end of the first quarter, 28-13 at halftime (Bo Smith hit cousin Colt Smith for a 55-yard touchdown pass as time expired at the break) and 34-21 at the end of the third quarter.
Reno County scored with 11:14 left in the fourth quarter. Bo Smith’s 2-point conversion pass cut the Eagles’ lead to 34-29.
With 5:11 left in the game, Bo Smith threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Colt Smith. The 2-point-conversion try failed. The Sabres made a big fourth down stop at midfield on the next series and the Sabres ran out the clock.
Bo Smith completed 18-of-39 passes with 1 interception of 315 yards and two TDs. He also gained 39 yards rushing. On defense, he made 8 tackles.
Lee Smith said the Sabres needed to throw the ball more than they did in the Week 2 win over South Central.
“Bo Smith (senior) did a good job of seeing the field and delivering the ball where it needed to be. He is a guy that you can trust to give everything he has, offensively and defensively. He played an excellent game tonight.”
Lee Smith said Truitt Spellman (sophomore running back) had a great, breakout game. Spellman ran for 25 yards on 4 carries and caught 2 passes for 58 yards.
“It was really his first time to carry the ball in a varsity game. He is a fast young man and it showed on the field tonight. He is one of those that stepped up. I thought he was a huge factor in the game.”
Lee Smith said Laurence Cable (senior) played an excellent, all-around game. Cable rushed for 18 yards and caught 2 passes for 16 more.
“His knowledge of multiple positions and just his overall, tough demeanor on offense and defense was big,” Lee Smith said. “Dayne King (junior) made multiple huge catches (6 for 55 yards) during the ballgame to keep drives alive.”
“Colt Smith (sophomore) made two huge plays (6 catches for 129 yards overall). The one right before half was huge. He is a big, strong receiver with good hands. He has a knack for making big plays in big moments and tonight was no exception.
“The offensive line, anchored by Amos Lilyhorn, Andre King and Josiah Fall really did a great job in the screen game, I thought. Some of the biggest plays in the ballgame were screens that they executed very well.”
Lee Smith said the Sabres played inspired football.
“We talked about the man Caleb, in the Bible, who had a ‘different spirit’ about him in that he was bold and courageous when others were not. I thought, throughout the game, even down by 21 towards the end of the first half, we played with a bold and courageous spirit throughout.
“As the ‘men in the arena’ we desire to strive for victory, but if we fail, to fail valiantly. It so happened that tonight we came out victorious, but win or lose, the courage was there. Thankful to be a part of such a group of young men.”
The Sabres defeated South Central 30-28 in Week 2, bouncing back from a 74-44 loss to Axtell in Week 1.
The Sabres (2-1) will play at Rossville (1-2) next Friday. Hugoton (0-3) hosts Colby (1-2) next Friday.
Rossville lost to Riley County 20-15 in Week 3 and Colby lost to Cimarron 20-0.
