The Greene County football team lost 16-14 on Friday night at Carroll Athletic Field to Kuemper Catholic in non-district play to fall to o-2 on the season. It was the second straight game the Rams fell in close fashion after dropping the August 29 opener to South Central Calhoun (Lake City), 12-6.
The Knights improved to 1-1. Coach Dean Lansman’s Rams trailed 2-0 after a safety with 6:55 to play in the opening quarter. The Rams took their only lead of the night on a Dylan Hamilton 10-yard run with :44 to go in quarter number one. The TD drive went 79 yards on nine plays and Nick Schroeder’s extra point made it 7-2 Greene County.
Perhaps the play that decided the game came next. Kuemper wanted to punt the ball on fourth and 13 from their 46 when the snap went way over punter Adam Schleisman’s head. He picked it up at the 14 and went 86 yards for a score. Officially, the play covered 54 yards since the line of scrimmage was the Knights’ 46. Schleisman added the extra point and the Knights led the rest of the way. They made it 16-7 at halftime after the Rams gambled on a fake punt on fourth and two from the Greene County 43 yard line. Kuemper took over and scored in nine plays including a fake punt pass that covered 25 yards on fourth down and one to the Rams’ 17. Cody Weitl eventually scored from a yard out and the Schleisman extra point made it a nine point margin.
The Rams dominated the second half defensively, holding Kuemper to minus yardage. The Rams scored the first time they got the ball in the third quarter on a Daric Whipple to Max Neese pass covering 35 yards and the Schroeder exra point closed the score to 16-14. The drive covered 77 yards on nine plays. Neither team came close to scoring the rest of the way.
Greene County out gained their opponent for a second straight week. The Rams had 211 yards of total offense to 166 for the Knights. Nearly all of the Kuemper yardage came in the first half.
Class 3A District 2 action begins for the Rams on Sept. 12 at Linduska Field when Algona visits Jefferson. The Bulldogs are also 0-2 and have also lost a pair of close games, dropping identical 14-6 decisions to Forest City and Estherville-Lincoln Central. A freshman game is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. with the varsity contest at 7:30 p.m. Coverage on KG98 starts at 6:45 p.m.