BY THE UNOFFICIAL OILER
SPEARVILLE -- Friday night in Spearville, the rain showed up early, the Oiler cheer stayed loud, and Central Plains apparently decided that neither was going to slow them down.
The Oilers hit the road to take on the Spearville Lancers, and Mother Nature provided a little extra challenge before the game even got rolling.
The rain came down hard to start the night, leaving players, cheerleaders and anyone brave enough to stand near the sidelines thoroughly soaked.
But the Oiler spirit didn’t seem to mind.
The cheers kept coming. The touchdowns kept rolling in. And after every Oiler touchdown, the fight song rang out across the wet Spearville field.
By halftime, the rain had cleared.
The Oilers had not.
Central Plains (4-0) rolled to a 52-6 victory and ended the game 103 seconds into the second half.
Central Plains went to work.
A 25-yard pass from Brodie Crites to Scott Lamatsch moved the Oilers all the way to the 3-yard line. Crites finished the drive himself, rushing into the end zone for the touchdown.
Layton Hoffman added the two-point conversion, giving the Oilers an 8-0 lead.
Spearville answered with a big pass and a touchdown of its own, but the Lancers couldn’t convert the two-point attempt.
The score was 8-6.
The Oilers responded the way they have all season: by getting back to work.
Broc Klima found the end zone on the next Oiler drive, with Richard Hayes adding the two-point conversion to make it 16-6.
The defense then forced another Spearville three-and-out.
The offense took over again.
Klima came up with another touchdown run, this time from five yards out, and Hoffman ran in the two-point conversion.
Just like that, the scoreboard read 24-6.
And the rain was still falling.
The second quarter brought even more Oiler fireworks.
Keeton Robison ripped off a huge punt return, bringing the ball all the way to the Spearville 16-yard line. Several Oiler blocks helped clear the way, including one from Crites.
The offense didn’t waste the gift.
On first-and-10, Crites found Richard Hayes for a touchdown pass. The two-point attempt didn’t convert, but Central Plains had stretched the lead to 30-6.
Then the defense made its own statement.
Teagan Schepmann and Hayes teamed up for a quarterback sack near the five-yard line, helping stop another Spearville threat.
The Oilers got the ball back, and Keeton Robison took it the rest of the way for another touchdown. Robison then caught a pass for the two-point conversion.
The scoreboard was now 38-6.
Still not done.
Klima ripped off a big run of about 20 yards, and then Crites sent a big pass to Teagan Schepmann moved the Oilers down to the 2-yard line.
Shepmann hauled in the touchdown pass on the next play.
The two-point attempt didn’t convert, but Central Plains headed into halftime with a 44-6 lead.
And somewhere along the way, the weather finally decided it had done enough.
By halftime, the rain had cleared, leaving behind a field full of water, some very wet cheerleader shoes and an Oiler team that had already done most of its work for the night.
The cheerleaders had kept right on going through the rain, even if those soaked shoes occasionally sent a little extra water flying when they kicked.
That’s dedication.
Or possibly just really wet footwear.
Either way, the Oiler spirit was on point.
The third quarter didn’t last very long.
Central Plains took the opening drive and marched the length of the field. Huxton Rogers finished it with a touchdown, and found Rogers again to add the two-point conversion.
That made it 52-6.
With 10:17 remaining in the third quarter, the 45-point rule ended the varsity game.
And just like that, the Oilers were heading home 4-0.
The rain couldn’t slow them down.
And the fight song got plenty of opportunities to play.
52-6.
Four games. Four wins.
The Oilers are rolling.
The Lancers brought the royal name. The Oilers brought the touchdowns.
And when the night was over, there wasn’t much mystery about who was wearing the crown.
Central Plains 24 20 8 — 52
Spearville 6 0 0 — 6
CP—Brodie Crites 3 run (Layton Hoffman run); S—TD; CP—Broc Klima TD (Richard Hayes); CP—Klima 5 run (Hoffman run); CPHayes 10 pass from Crites; CP—Keeton Robison TD run (Robison pass from Crites); CP—Teagan Schepmann pass from Crites; CP—Huxtyn Rogers TD (Rogers run)
8-MAN 1, DISTRICT 7
Central Plains 1-0 4-0
South Central 1-0 3-1
Spearville 0-0 0-3
St. John 0-0 0-4
Kiowa County 0-1 2-2
9-25—*Central Plains 52, Spearville 6; *South Central 42, Kiowa County 12; Norwich 50, St. John 6
9-18—South Central 42, Kinsley 20; Kiowa County 58, Meade 8; South Central 54, Sublette 0; Hodgeman County 67, Spearville 0; La Crosse 50, St. John
9-11—Central Plains 24, Ell-Saline 22; Hodgeman County 58, Kiowa County 14; Reno County 30, South Central 28; Minneola 22, Spearville 6; Macksville 52, St. John 6
9-4—Central Plains 28, Victoria 18; Kiowa County 56, Minneola 6; South Central 52, Meade 18; Cunningham 40, Spearville 0; Ness City 28, St. John 18
