Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Asotin senior quarterback Ryan Overberg prepares to score his first of two rushing touchdowns at the line of scrimmage. Asotin knocked off Reardan 31-0 in Reardan Friday, Sept. 17.
REARDAN-For the second time this season, the Reardan football team suffered a shutout at the hands of a league opponent Friday, Sept. 17. The physical Asotin Panthers came to town and knocked off the home team 31-0 to drop Reardan to 0-2 in NE2B play and 1-2 overall.
The game started with a defensive back-and-forth struggle, with neither team managing to score in the first quarter. Asotin managed to reach the Reardan 26-yard line, but fumbled on fourth down where Reardan recovered.
The Panthers then got on the board with 2:45 left in the second quarter when senior quarterback Ryan Overberg executed a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-inches to score and give Asotin a 7-0 lead.
Reardan tried to bounce back by striking a big play, but sophomore quarterback Tate Nelson's deep pass was intercepted by Asotin junior defensive back Isaiah Berzett and returned to the Reardan 46-yard line.
Overberg would score another one-yard touchdown after the Panthers drove down the field, and Asotin led 14-0 at halftime.
"There were stupid calls on my part in the first half. We should've punted when it was fourth down, and then we started a stupid pass play where I should've gotten out of the half by running the ball and running some time off the clock," Reardan head coach Eric Nikkola said. "Those two were on me. Those were stupid-ass play calls. Those kids were playing damn well that first quarter, and it was going to be a struggle to score points but that gave them the momentum."
The second half didn't start much better for the home team. A fumbled snap on the first possession of the third quarter gave Asotin the ball back, and the Panthers capitalized when senior running back Ty Galles scored on a two-yard scamper.
Asotin got the ball right back, and Galles scored his second touchdown of the game on a 16-yard swing pass from Overberg. The Panthers would add a fourth-quarter field goal for the final score of 31-0.
Galles finished with 35 rushing yards and one touchdown on eight attempts and caught four passes for 34 yards and a touchdown. Asotin's leading rusher was senior running back Cam Knight, who toted the ball eight times for 92 yards.
Senior running back Cody Sprecher had 59 rushing yards and 22 receiving yards to lead Reardan. Senior defensive end Justin Murinko recorded 8.5 tackles for the home team.
Nelson was sacked four times, as Reardan struggled to provide the sophomore with enough time to throw. He would end up completing 6-of-11 passes for 62 yards and an interception.
"Our own mistakes are coming back to bite us in the rear end," Nikkola said. "We have to figure out what mistakes we made, fix that and not make that same mistake. These kids will do that. They're coachable as heck, they want to get better (and) they are very good about taking coaching. They're just young."
Reardan will look to tally its first league win of the season Friday, Sept. 24 at Liberty (Spangle) at 7 p.m. The Lancers are 1-2 this season, with losses to Lind-Ritzville/Sprague and Chewelah and a win over Kettle Falls.
Drew Lawson is the former managing editor of the Davenport Times and a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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