Sausage Bowl: Titans fall to Touchet

The Odessa-Harrington Titans were defeated by the Touchet Indians September 14 in Odessa’s Sausage Bowl under the lights at Finney Field, 42 - 60.

After last week’s loss of starting quarterback Jared King, out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL, and of Markus Smith for a couple of weeks due to a concussion, the Titans were counting on other players to step into the breach. They did so, and generated an effective offense. The defense suffered the losses in this game as two linemen, Zack Schaal and Ricky Hedreen, were injured.

Touchet scored first in the first quarter of the game on a one-yard run, then ran the ball for the two-point conversion. OH responded with a 17-yard pass from quarterback Justin Hunt to Cade Weber, followed by what you could call an instant replay for another two points on another completed pass from Hunt to Weber. Touchet added one more TD on a six-yard run, followed by another successful two-point conversion on the ground to close out the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Touchet again got the first score on a four-yard pass, but the extra-point attempt was no good. OH came back with a 10-yard run by Sam Schafer, but the Titans also failed to convert on the attempted running play. Hunt connected with Weber for a 41-yard pass, again followed by a Hunt-to-Weber completed pass for the extra two points. Touchet then scored on a 29-yard run, followed by a successful two-point run. The final score before halftime was by Touchet on a 20-yard pass. The extra-point attempt was no good, leaving Touchet with a 36-22 lead as the teams headed for their respective locker rooms.

After halftime, the third quarter proved to be mostly defensive. The only score came on a nine-yard run by Touchet, with a successful two-point conversion.

In the fourth quarter, Touchet scored on a 58-yard run, and the pass play for two more was good. The OH offense came back to life on a 19-yard pass from Hunt to Jake Tanke. The extra-point pass from Hunt to Weber was also good. Touchet responded with a three-yard run and then passed for the two-point conversion.

The biggest thrill of the night for OH came on a 90-yard kickoff return by Cade Weber. The extra-point attempt was no good, but the Titans were inspired and scored once again on a 40-yard pass from Hunt to Weber, followed by a failed pass attempt for two more. Although the Titans outscored the Indians in the fourth quarter, it was too little too late.

Cade Weber finished with 214 yards receiving on nine catches and four TD catches and one kick return for a TD. Tanke had one catch of 19 yards for a TD. Carsen Weber had one catch for 70 yards. Dakota Largent had one catch for seven yards. Hunt passed for 310 yards, completing 12 of 18 passes, and rushed for 57 yards. Schafer rushed for 110 yards on eight carries.

On defense, Cade Weber had seven solo tackles and four assists. Zack Schaal had six solo tackles and six assists before leaving the game in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. Tanke had one solo tackle and six assists. Hunt had five solo tackles and eight assists. Ricky Hedreen had five assists tackling before he left the game in the fourth quarter with a broken foot/ankle. Jacob DeWulf had five solo tackles and nine assists. Carsen Weber had three solo tackles and four assists. Schafer had 10 solo tackles and four assists. Gabe Henneman had three assists. Dakota Largent had two solo tackles and one assist. Trevor King had one solo tackle. Dillon Dennison had one solo tackle and two assists. William Mann and Jacob Montgomery each had one solo tackle.