LEROY – For the second straight contest, the Altoona-Midway gridiron squad learned an important lesson that a football game is four quarters long.
The Jets controlled play the first two quarters and led Southern Coffey County at halftime before eventually succumbing to the Titans 40-18 in a Kansas 6-Man matchup played here Thursday due to a shortage of available officials.
The contest was all-too-similar to Altoona-Midway’s season opener two weeks ago when the Jets led 12-6 midway in the third period before ultimately falling 25-12 to the Chetopa Hornets, another Three Rivers League opponent.
“We were ahead in the middle of the third quarter for the second game in a row until injuries started taking their toll,” said AMHS first-year head coach Tod Dutton, whose inexperienced Jet squad consists of just seven players, with four of them being freshmen.
“We ended up giving up 14 points in the third and fourth quarters. Missed tackles really hurt us,” Dutton added. We played hard, but just forgot how to block and tackle in the second half. We work on those things every day, and we will continue to work on them.”
Altoona-Midway got off to an encouraging start against Southern Coffey County.
Immediately after holding the Titans on downs, Kenny Smith connected with Kage Beck on a pass play down to the one-yard-line, and Beck eventually ran it in to give AMHS a 6-0 advantage.
The Titans knotted the game 6-6, but Smith again found Beck, this time for an 11-yard TD aerial, putting the Jets back up 12-6.
The see-saw first half continued. SCCHS again tied it 12-12, but Caden Sicka threw an 11-yard scoring strike to Chance Carter to put Altoona-Midway back on top 18-12 at intermission.
But the second half was all Southern Coffey County, as the Titans tallied two touchdowns in each of the final two stanzas to win 40-18.
Jets have built a combined 30-18 advantage prior to intermission of their first two games, but have now been outscored 47-0 in the second half on the season.
Beck led the AMHS offense, scoring two TDs and racking up 143 yards on 18 carries while also hauling in four receptions for 47 yards.
In addition to his 11-yard TD reception, Carter had 10 carries for 26 yards. Sicka toted the ball five times for seven yards.
Defensively, Beck was in on 13 total tackles, including eight solo stops. Carter had four solo tackles and four assists, and also had a fumble recovery. The Jets also got five tackles from Zack Good, four from Sicka and one from Smith.
After two road games, Altoona-Midway will finally get a home game this Friday, Sept. 26.
The Jets will host Marais Des Cygnes Valley at Frank Kennedy Field, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
“We will keep working on getting better each day,” Dutton said. “And, thanks to Coach Houchin and the fans for being there for the team.”
