by CCHS Coaching Staff

The CCHS Gridders traveled to Kiowa Friday night and came away with an overtime victory of 48-46. The game was a see-saw battle in which the lead changed numerous times and had each team leading by two scores at different times in the game.
“I was very proud of the way our guys battled,” said head coach Troy Bomgardner. “We were down by two scores in the first quarter but battled back to take the lead in the second half only to see them come back and tie it to send the game to overtime. But the Bobcats pulled it out!”
The game started with Kiowa marching down and scoring early. However, the Bobcat defense played tough on the two-point conversion and stopped the Indians. The Cats would march down offensively only to have possession ended by an interception. Kiowa would score again for their first two-score lead in the game. “Our kids had a great week of practice and it was hard to see their sails deflated with the early scores,” said Bomgardner. “However, they kept fighting and kept the faith, they showed outstanding leadership in this game.”
The Bobcats would get on the scoreboard with the first of David Kinsey’s four touchdown runs. Kinsey would add the two-point conversion and it was 14-8. Once again, the Indians stretched the lead to two scores by going ahead 20-8 in the second quarter. However, Kinsey would not be denied on a 47-yard run where he bulled his way through defenders on a play he seemed to be down. Another two-point conversion by Kinsey pulled the Bobcats within four points, 20-16.
The Bobcats defense would sharpen up and stop the Indians on the following two conversions and then get a score to go ahead 24-20 with only a few minutes left in the half. However, the Bobcats would allow a kick-off return for a touchdown and see their short-lived lead disappear as they went to half at a 26-24 deficit.
The Bobcats came out of half-time determined to regain the lead and would do so with a textbook six-minute, 11 play drive which ended with touchdown pass from Chad Lewenkamp to Ray Perez. Lewenkamp added the conversion and the Bobcats had a lead they would keep for the majority of the second half. The defense began creating turnovers as Jake Morris pounced on a fumble and the Bobcats seen had another score with Kinsey adding his third of the night and Tyler Camper adding the conversion on a sweep. The game would see both teams turn the ball over with the Bobcats holding onto a two-score lead 40-26. The Indians weren’t done though as they fought back with some long passes and closed the gap and scored with less than three minutes remaining to tie the game 40-40. Neither team could score, and the game moved to overtime where the Bobcats scored quickly and added the two-point conversion. Kiowa would also score but the Cats defense rose to the challenge and stopped them to win the game 48-46.
“It was an incredible game in which neither team really should have ‘lost’,” exclaimed Bomgardner. “Our kids just played their hearts out and left it all on the field!” Leading the Bobcats in rushing was Kinsey with 22 carries for 175 yards with Lewenkamp adding 52 yards passing and one TD. Perez led in receptions with two and a score. Kinsey led tacklers with a huge game with 22 tackles and a fumble recovery. Jake Morris was big on defense adding two fumble recoveries.
The Bobcats will wrap the season up at HOME on Saturday against Simla, with kickoff at 1 p.m.