Colby shuts down Red Raiders in 35-0 victory

The Hornets defense delivered its first shutout of the season in last Friday evening’s 35-0 Homecoming victory over the Marathon Red Raiders.

Four second-quarter touchdowns were more than enough for Colby to secure their sixth win of the season. The Hornets were largely unstoppable on offense, and while Marathon was able to string together a handful of pass completions, the Colby defense managed to mitigate the damage, giving up under 130 yards of total offense while forcing two turnovers.

“I was extremely happy how we played on both sides of the football,” head coach Jim Hagen said following the game. “On offense we moved the ball both on the ground and through the air. We had 8 different players touch the ball along with 5 different players scoring a touchdown which is always great to see.”

Colby featured a multifaceted attack on Friday evening, picking apart the Red Raiders defense to the tune of 419 yards and 18 first downs.

In typical fashion, the Hornets were able to move the ball regularly on the ground. They picked up 285 rushing yards in the contest, 169 of which belonged to running back Gavin Voss. Brennan Geiger added 56 of his own as Colby’s second option on the ground and Caden Kleparski picked up 21 yards on a reverse that caught the Red Raiders flat footed.

Colby complemented this with a solid performance from quarterback Tayt Smith and a host of receivers. After two weeks without completing a pass, Smith connected on seven of his 10 pass attempts for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Brody Viegut caught three of those passes for 59 yards and a touchdown and Kleparski had a 48 yard reception that set up the Hornets’ second touchdown of the evening.

As impressive as the offensive performance was, the Hornets defense was just as integral to the blowout victory.

“Defensively, we had a shutout which is not easy to do,” Hagen said. “We limited a good Marathon offense to only 120 total yards, allowing only 19 rush yards.”

Marathon’s top rushing option, True Thurs, was held to under two yards per carry and the Red Raiders only picked up six first downs over the course of the contest. Colby linebacker Tanner Halopka held together the middle of the Hornet defense, recording seven tackles to lead the team. Smith and Kleparski picked up six of their own.

Voss came up with a fumble recovery in the second quarter and Hayden Kaiser picked off Marathon’s Cooper Hoeksema in the third quarter to put a stop to the Red Raiders longest drive of the game.

The Hornets scored on four of their six first half possessions, with Voss accounting for two touchdowns on the ground, including a 41-yard scamper that put the Hornets up 21-0 and Smith part of two others, running in the first score of the game from eight yards out and then finding Kaiser in the back of the end zone as time expired in the half.

Colby very nearly had a fifth first half touchdown, driving all the way down to Marathon’s six yard line before turning it over on downs. Their other first half possession ended in a fumble on Marathon’s 29-yard line.

There were only five total possessions between the two teams in the second half. The Hornets’ 11-play, 79-yard drive in the third quarter took a portion of time off the clock, concluding in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Viegut. The extra point by Bryan Camargo put the home team up by 35, resulting in a running clock that quickened the rest of the half.

After the win, the Hornets’ record now sits at 6-1 on the season. They will play the neighboring 5-2 Abbotsford Falcons on Friday, Oct. 6 with a start time of 7 p.m. After starting the season undefeated through five weeks, the Falcons will be looking to bounce back from two straight losses in the battle between cross town rivals.