The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

A 20-member squad of Fleming Wildcat football players led by five seniors set out to continue the success obtained by last year's team just eight short weeks ago. Amid a season plagued by restrictions and uncertainty, their goal came to fruition last Thursday at the Colorado 6-man Championship.

Last year's group grabbed the title following a one-point win over Stratton/Liberty following a 12-0 season. This year's group added eight wins to that streak and finished with a Championship win over Stratton/Liberty by an even bigger margin. The Wildcats currently hold a 21-game winning streak.

The top two ranked teams in Colorado 6-man were forced to travel to Pueblo to meet up for the Championship following a ruling by the Colorado High School Activities Association earlier in the season. Championship games in all classifications were held at the Neta and Eddie DeRose Thunderbowl on CSU-Pueblo's campus.

The Stratton/Liberty Knighted Eagles won the opening kickoff coin flip, but deferred to the second half, giving the Wildcats the opening possession of the game.

Senior Charles Hobbs returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, but the Wildcats' first penalty of the game - for holding - brought the ball back to their own 18-yard line. Fleming would run three plays failing to gain enough ground for the first down and punted away on fourth down.

The Knighted Eagles received the punt, but a call for running into the kicker gave Fleming the ball back at the 35-yard line. The Wildcats' offensive efforts again fell short and Stratton/Liberty took over at their own 38-yard line.

Stratton/Liberty would run a couple plays chipping away slowly at yardage before a third-down play put them in the end zone. Their extra points attempt went through the uprights and they'd take an 8-0 lead nearly halfway through the opening quarter.

The Wildcats took their second possession of the game at the 15-yard line following a touchback. They opened with a 10-yard first down gain by senior Chris Goss. The second down call went to sophomore Nolan Japp who ran 55 yards to put the Wildcats on the scoreboard. Fleming's extra two by sophomore kicker Kenny Bandy sailed through the uprights and the game stood tied at 8-all with 4:51 left in the first.

Stratton took the touchback on their next possession. They ran nine plays chewing over four minutes off the clock when a first-down play gave them their second touchdown of the contest. Following a failed extra-points kick, the Knighted Eagles went up 14-8.

The Wildcats begin their next possession at the 15 following a touchback. A first-down call to Hobbs put them at their own 30-yard line for a first down. Hobbs would take his second consecutive call run it back 50 yards for six points. Bandy made good on the extra-points kick and the Wildcats took the lead 16-14 with :08 left on the first quarter clock.

Stratton/Liberty received the ball deep in their own territory and returned it to the 37-yard line. They gained two yards on first down before the end of the first quarter.

Fleming's defense stopped the Knighted Eagles short on the possession and forced the fourth down punt on Stratton/Liberty's 31-yard line.

Senior quarterback Kade Comstock opened Fleming's possession with a pass that found Japp. Japp was brought down at the Stratton/Liberty 16-yard line following a 41-yard gain. First and second down calls to Goss and Hobbs gave the Wildcats a short gain and a third-down pass fell incomplete leaving the Wildcats at Stratton/Liberty's 13-yard line.

Bandy and the kicking team came off the sideline and Bandy made good on his second field goal of the season for four points. Fleming went up six, 20-14, with 7:29 left in the half.

The Knighted Eagles took over at their 28-yard line following the kickoff and a five-yard facemask pentalty on the Wildcats. They ran three plays before converting the first down; two plays to convert another first down and fell short of the end zone on fourth and goal.

Fleming took over on their own one-yard line and a call to Goss gave them a quick six after a 79-yard run. Bandy made good on the points-after attempt and the Wildcats went up by 14, 28-14, with 2:46 on the second quarter clock.

The Knighted Eagles ran four plays before converting to a first down that put them inside Fleming's territory. They slowly chipped away at yardage on the following three downs, but a fourth-down pass found Comstock for the interception at the two-yard line.

The Wildcats took over and fumbled the first down, which Stratton/Liberty recovered with three seconds remaining in the half.

The half ended after one Knighted Eagle play and the Wildcats remained on top, 28-14.

The second half opened with Stratton/Liberty receiving the kickoff, running one play and scoring a touchdown. With just 15 seconds off the clock, the Knighted Eagles closed the scoring gap to eight, 28-20.

The onside kick that followed would roll out of bounds and Stratton/Liberty would rekick. Kuntz received the ball at the Fleming 35 and returned it to Stratton/Liberty's 35. The Wildcats would hand off to Goss for a few yards on first down and pass to Kuntz for 18 on the second. Hobbs took the call at first and goal and ran one in for six with nine minutes left in the third. Bandy added another two to the Wildcats' lead and they went up 36-20.

Stratton/Liberty found themselves at mid-field to begin the campaign that followed. They converted a first down and found themselves at first and goal on the 14-yard line. Fleming's defense held strong for three plays when a fourth down deflected pass by Comstock gave the Wildcats the ball back at their own 14-yard line.

Fleming's possession failed to earn them points after four plays and Stratton took over on their own 21-yard line. The Knighted Eagles turned the ball over on a fumble and the Wildcats took over at Stratton/Liberty's 30.

Hobbs took the first two calls of the possession gaining 30 yards and a first down. Fleming suffered the loss of a yard on first and goal at the 10, but Muller ran one in for six on the down that followed. Bandy grabbed two and put the Fleming up 44-20 with 2:33 left in the third.

The Knighted Eagles received the next kickoff at the 15-yard line where the Wildcat defense met them for no return. They'd run nine plays and convert two first downs before turning the ball over on downs at the Fleming 10-yard line.

The first call of the possession went to Hobbs who picked up 25-rushing yards for a first down that put the 'Cats on their own 35-yard line. A first down incomplete pass and a five-yard penalty on second down brought up a repeat second and 20 for the local team at the 30-yard line. They ran a couple plays to Hobbs and converted to a first down that put them in Stratton/Liberty's territory.

Fleming ran several plays with no love from the Knighted Eagle defense and blind-side block call put them at fourth and a lot forcing the punt.

The Knighted Eagle offense received the ball deep and went three and out before punting away.

Hobbs took a couple quick calls when he found his third rushing TD of the contest with 4:28 left on the game clock. Bandy's points after went through and the Wildcats went up 52-20.

Stratton/Liberty answered back a couple plays later on second down and added eight with 4:01 left in the fourth. Their TD with extras brought the score to 52-28.

The Knighted Eagles attempted the onside kick, but the Wildcats took over at the 19-yard line. They earned three yards on first down and 12 on the second down after Comstock found himself under pressure, but connected with junior Joel Muller. Goss took the next call and ran one in for six on a first and goal from the four-yard line. Bandy added two and the Wildcats led by 32, 60-28, with 2:34 left to play.

The final possessions by both teams looked uneventful as the clock wound down. The Knighted Eagles picked up a few yards on four downs and Fleming fumbled on second, but sophomore Kolten Houser recovered. The final horn sounded following Fleming's third down the Wildcats took their second consecutive Championship title over the Stratton/Liberty Knighted Eagles. This time by a much wider than one point margin, 60-28.

UNDER THE protection of Fleming's offensive line, senior Brady Kuntz, #45, takes a hand off from senior quarterback Kade Comstock, #3.

Hobbs was named Most Valuable Player after the contest. He tallied 184 rushing yards and 22 yards on kickoff returns for the Wildcat offense. He averaged 12.3 rushing yards per carry and ran in three touchdowns for 18 points on the scoreboard. He kicked off nine times for 396 yards and one touchback.

Goss followed in the Wildcats' ground game with 144 yards. He carried the ball nine times averaging 16 yards per carry and scored two touchdowns.

Japp's solo catch gave him enough yardage to lead in receiving. He earned 41 yards on his catch.

Comstock and Kuntz led the Wildcat defense with 16 and 15 tackles respectively. Comstock brought down 11 solo and five assisted; Kuntz tallied seven and eight respectively.

Watch next week's edition of the Herald for the announcement of All-Conference players from the season.