‘Cats put Cards in big early hole

HARTINGTON — Now this is what Hartington-Newcastle football was used to before COVID-19 struck.

The Wildcats, who struggled through a pandemic-ravaged 2020 campaign to go 1-5 and miss the playoffs following a string of postseason-quality play, started this campaign on a high note.

The host Wildcats made quick work of visiting Randolph in route to an emphatic 68-0 win over the Cardinals Friday afternoon at Russ Hochstein field.

Big plays helped HNS earn a 22-0 lead after the first quarter. The ‘Cats then extended that lead to 54-0 by halftime to cruise to the win.

The Wildcats gained 283 yards on the ground while finishing for 429 total yards while holding the Cardinals to only 17 yards of total offense.

Carson Sudbeck (seven rushes, 101 yards, touchdown), Riley Sudbeck (nine rushes, 65 yards, two touchdowns and 6-for-12 passing for 143 yards and three touchdowns), Jake Peitz (three catches, 69 yards, two touchdowns) and Cole Heimes (eight tackles, one interception) led the Wildcat efforts. “I thought we came out and

“I thought we came out and established the line of scrimmage and our physicality very early on,” HNS head coach Cory Uldrich said. “That dominance at the line of scrimmage allowed us to run or throw the ball, and it slowed our defense to really cause Randolph problems. This was a game where we rotated so many players, that we saw a lot of balanced performances statistically. We played 16 players pretty regularly, and we got all 22 in uniform on the field a good amount of time.” Lane Heimes said it simply and

Lane Heimes said it simply and to the point.

“We just came to play, didn’t we?” he said. “Coaches told us to come out and be ready to play. We had to be physical, be physical and be even more physical and come out with intensity. They did everything they could to get us ready for the game and they definitely did that.”

It was a lot of fun to see the team perform so well, Heimes said.

“It was just great, and it was a great eye opener. We got some freshmen in there and got them a good first game. We went out there and had some fun,” Heimes said.

Heimes admits the team last year was missing a sense of rhythm with multiple games being canceled, but also the squad’s leadership was at a higher level.

“We were hyped up and playing to that level of passion,” Heimes said. “Everyone was into it and there wasn’t a single guy that doubted us winning. It was a great first game to get us all started.”

“Our coaches all praised us and everything, but there are still things we need to work on,” Heimes said. “We need to be better at communicating on offense, but other than that, we practiced three weeks for this, and it was nice to hit someone else. It was a nice change for us.”

Heimes also added that despite winning 68-0 the team needs to work on some more, but the hype is real.

“We’re back,” he said.

The Wildcats will take on D1 juggernaut Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family, who come in off a 54-52 defeat to state-ranked Neligh-Oakdale.

“They have big skill position kids (6-5 quarterback, 6-5 tight end and a 6-3 tight end) and athletic lineman,” Uldrich said. “We will have to slow down their run game, and when they throw, we cannot allow their QB to scramble and run. We will again hope that we can play a lot of guys and use depth to our advantage. (Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family) is not as deep as we are, so we need to use that positive in our favor.”

Hartington-Newcastle 22 32 0 14 — 68

Randolph 0 0 0 0 — 0

HNS Randolph

Rushing 13-283 22- -4

Passing 7-14-146 7-19-27

Total 27-439 29-23

First Downs 20 2

Penalty yds 3-25 2-10

PASSING HNS - Riley Sudbeck, 6-12-143; Lane Heimes, 1-2-3. Randolph - Isaiah Salmon, 7-18-27; Bryson Eledge, 0-1

RUSHING HNS - Carson Sudbeck, 7-101; Riley Sudbeck, 9-65; Cole Heimes, 3-33; Lane Heimes, 4-32; Kale Korth, 4-25; Seth Pinkelman, 2-18; Jake Peitz, 1-5; Reece Morten, 1-4. Randolph - Bryson Eledge, 5-7; Carter Olson, 6-7; Gage Jensen, 1-2; Dominic Wilcox, 1- -9; Isaiah Salmon, 8- -11.

RECEIVING HNS - Jake Peitz, 3-69; Dayton Sudbeck, 2-44; Lane Heimes, 1-26; Turner Dendinger, 1-7. Randolph - Jacob Calder, 4-17; Bryson Eledge, 2-9; Dominic Wilcox, 1-1.

TACKLES HNS - Cole Heimes, 8; Seth Pinkelman, 7; Lane Heimes, 4; Kale Korth, 3; Jake Peitz, 3; Carson Jones, 2; Reece Morten, 2; Dayton Sudbeck, 2; Carson Sudbeck, 2; Riley Sudbeck, 1; Turner Dendinger, 1; Mason Buschkamp, 1; Shay Dickes, 1; Daniel Steffen, 1; Kamden Hoesing, 1. Randolph - Collyn Beal, 8; Tom Korth, 8; Joe Miller, 6; Bryson Eledge, 6; Isaiah Salmon, 4; Ajay Gubbels, 4; Jacob Caulder, 3; Andy Hausmann, 3; Carter Olson, 2; Shaw Backer, 1; Dayton Winkelbauer, 1; Walt Hammond, 1; Dominic Wilcox, 1.

Stay in the know!

To get news alerts on your cell phone, get the Cedar County News app in the ITunes store or  in the Google Play Store.