OC Stays Undefeated With Big Win Over Burwell

PHOTOS BY PAMMELA MAXWELL

The Clearwater-Orchard football team stayed undefeated with a thriller of a win over the Burwell Longhorns. 

After heavy rains pushed the game back to Saturday, O-C battled the defending state champions down to the wire to take home a 14-12 win. 

Burwell did all their scoring early on, jumping out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Chris Kester punched it in from two yards out to cut the lead in half. Neither team was able to light up the scoreboard the rest of the night until late in the fourth quarter. That's when Kester found Clay Thiele in the corner of the end zone for a falling grab that gave the Cyclones the exciting win. 

The Longhorn defense was stout all night, holding O-C to just 148 yards of total offense.

Thiele's game-winner was one of his team-high three catches on the day for 26 yards. Kirby Willats had two catches for 34 yards and Jacob Long had one catch for 15. 

Much of the Cyclone offense went through Kester. He completed five of his 14 passing attempts for 61 yards and added 20 yards on the ground. Blake Hoke had the lone other Cyclone completion, his going for 14 yards. Creston Bertschinger was the main man on the ground, racking up 41 yards on 15 carries.

Much like Burwell, the Cyclones kept it close thanks to their tough defense. Willats, Bertschinger and Long all recorded an interception for O-C. The Cyclones also recorded four sacks, with two coming from Zach King. Long and Donoven Nolze had the other two. Long was the heart of the defense most of the night, racking up an incredible 24 tackles.