by CCSD-1 Coaching Staff

In a wild offensive shootout, Custer County traveled to 10,000 feet and endured a see-saw first half to soundly defeat South Park 48-34 and earn a winning season.
The Burros took the opening kickoff and marched down the field and got on the board first but in what would be a theme for the day, the Bobcats would stop them on the 2 point conversion to make it 6-0 Burros. The Bobcats answered quickly with a 38 yard TD run by Cole Budds, Ray Perez added the 2 point conversion to make it 8-6. The Burros would come back and score in the 1st quarter and add a conversion to make it 14-8. The Bobcats would answer at the start of the 2nd quarter and make their conversion to go ahead 16-14.
After trading fumbles, South Park would get another score and conversion to make the score 22-16. The Bobcats would answer with a 43 yard sneak by Chad Lewenkamp and a conversion by Perez would make it 24-22. Junior Cole Budds would make a key pressure of the quarterback on 4th down to stop the Burros from another score in the 1st half. The half ended 24-22. “It was a wild back and forth half,” said head coach Troy Bomgardner. “We didn’t feel like they could stop us but we were making key mistakes on defense
allowing them to stay in the game.”
Taking the kickoff for the second half, the Bobcats began a key 16 play, 8 minute drive that wore out the Burros. Behind the blocking of Adam Sapp, Jake Morris, Wyatt Aldrich, Casey Sargent, Elias Zeller, and Patrick Post, and the running of Budds, Lewenkamp, and Perez, the Bobcats drove down for a score and conversion to take a 32-22 lead. “That opening drive is what sealed the victory in my mind,” said Bomgardner. “We were now 2 scores up and they were wore out, our conditioning definitely played a role in this game!”
And the defense stepped up with a stop on the next possession giving the ball back to CCHS however, a drive was cut short by penalties and an errant snap gave the Burros the ball in Bobcat territory. A South Park score made it 32-28 as the Cats stopped the 2 point conversion.
Budds would add another TD with Elias Zeller getting the 2 point pass from Lewenkamp to make it 40-28. The Bobcat defense would stop the Burros again to give the offense another chance to seal the victory. In a crazy play, Michael Stanley would pick up a fumble and move the ball to the South Park 4 yard line where Lewenkamp would connect with Perez for the score. Jake Morris would add the 2 point conversion to make it 48-28. South Park would score on a Hail Mary on the final play of the game to make the final score 48-34.
The Bobcats pounded out over 400 yards rushing with Budds, Lewenkamp, and Perez all over 100 yards each. Budds and Perez led in tackling with 15 each followed by Adam Sapp with 8 tackles. Junior Cole Budds is currently 3rd in the state in total tackles. The Bobcats travel to Calhan for a Saturday night game at 6 p.m. Currently ranked 20th in the state, the Bobcats must win to have a chance to break the top 16 and make the playoffs.