CVC Football

Cedar Valley Christian falls at Dunkerton, 66-28

DUNKERTON - Cedar Valley Christian quarterback Jeremy Strutz scored on a one-yard sneak and Nick Henderson swept the right side for a two-point conversion to make the score 8-8 with 4:15 left in the first quarter Friday night.

Then the roof caved in.

Dunkerton scored 51 unanswered points, took a 59-8 lead into the halftime break and defeated the Huskies, 66-28, in an eight-man football game in Dunkerton.

The tenacious Cedar Valley Christian team refused to give up and dominated the second half and cut the Dunkerton lead. Strutz connected with Henderson on a 68-yard touchdown pass to make the score 59-28 with 56 seconds left in the game.

Dunkerton (1-2) then used two timeouts and its first-team offense scored its final touchdown with 27 seconds left to provide the final margin.

Four Cedar Valley turnovers led directly to Dunkerton touchdowns in the second quarter and the Huskies were unable to overcome their own mistakes. Jacob Boeschen had five touchdowns of 77, 2, 22, 38 and 46 yards for the Raiders.

Cedar Valley (0-2) used a passing game and two successful onside kicks to put 20 points on the board in the second half. Strutz hit David Sperling for a 14-yard touchdown pass and hit Henderson for a 68-yard scoring strike. Henderson also added a 20-yard run for a touchdown.

“Nick is so fast and he catches everything I throw to him,” said Strutz.  “The hardest thing to do is learn the basic fundamentals, but when we get touchdowns it makes it fun.”

Cedar Valley began its football program this season and is just learning the game.

“Finding the hole when you are running is the hardest thing for me to do, but when we score and can celebrate with teammates, that’s what makes the game so much fun,” said Henderson.

Nobody ever said starting a football program was an easy thing to do.

“We are really young and very inexperienced, but each game gives us a wealth of experience,” said Huskies Coach Ed Betsworth. “They always give their best effort. We started strong and then it got away from us, but we came right back and played hard in the second half.”

Cedar Valley Christian plays at Midland of Wyoming next Friday night.

DUNKERTON 66, CEDAR VALLEY CHRISTIAN 28

Individual Stats

RUSHING - CVC: Nick Henderson 27-68, Jeremy Strutz 7-41, Brandon Fields 10-4, David Sperling 1-(-1). DUNK: Jacob Boeschen 10-123, Nick Anderson 5-17, Mar'yo Lindsey 1-8, Calvin Rindells 1-4, Austin Marovets 1-1, Dillon Anderson 4-(-19).

PASSING - CVC: Strutz 11-23-1-223. DUNK: Anderson 4-8-1-72, Lane Johnson 0-2-0-0.

RECEIVING - CVC: Sperling 10-153, Henderson 1-70. DUNK: Jason Bedard 2-13, Boeschen 1-46, Anderson 1-13.

Huskies show spirit in defeat

MAYNARD -- The outcome was as expected.

The moment was better than anticipated.

Junior Nick Henderson scored Cedar Valley Christian's first touchdown in school history on a 43-yard pass play midway through the fourth quarter Friday night at West Central High School. It was the highlight of the Huskies' first football game, a 62-8 rout at the hands of highly-regarded West Central.

"That's a morale booster all the way around," Cedar Valley Christian Coach Ed Betsworth said of the scoring play. "It shows that if we don't quit -- and that's what I emphasized on the bus on the way up -- that good things will happen. I think we're going to take to heart that we scored against a good team. It's going to make us feel that we can compete."

Henderson hauled in the pass from junior Arturo Melendez at the West Central 30. A Blue Devils defensive back wrapped up on his right leg, but he kept moving forward, shucked the tackler and sprinted to paydirt.

"I just caught it and kept on pumping my legs," said Henderson, playing his first game of organized football.

Cedar Valley Christian had a crowd of more than 100 fans along that went wild after the touchdown. The West Central fans also cheered the Huskies.

Betsworth heaped praise upon his team in the post-game huddle, praising them for their effort and never-say-die attitude. He also beckoned the Cedar Valley Christian cheering section onto the field to join his players in a mass group huddle after his initial words to his team to share his thoughts about the game and to ask for the players and the fans to offer their input. It was all positive, even if the word "creamed" did get tossed in a couple of times.

"I'll tell you what I'm proud of," Principal Jeff Pospisil told the throng, "even when we were getting creamed, we never gave up."

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Huskies march into first season with big hearts

Cedar Valley Christian football coach Ed Betsworth has not gotten around to measuring his players for the team's historic opener at West Central Friday night.

No heights, no weights.

He's been too busy teaching his inexperienced guys how to block, tackle and line up in the proper position, so he cannot tell you anyone's exact size.

Betsworth knows one thing, however. They have big hearts.

"I'm very proud of them," he said. "They've been working really hard. Their spirits are good."

This is Cedar Valley Christian's first eight-man football team in school history. Betsworth has only 14 players (he was hoping for 20), and he knows the odds will be heavily stacked against the Huskies in their first game Friday.

West Central went 7-3 last season, reached the eight-man playoffs and averaged 47.7 points per game. They scored 64 points against Olin, 56 against Dunkerton, 54 against East Central, 52 against Midland of Wyoming, 52 against Central City and 51 against Springville.

"I hope we can make it a competitive game," said Betsworth. "I know our guys are looking forward to it."

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Spirits high as CVC Huskies start 8-man football

Ed Betsworth, football coach at Cedar Valley Christian, shows Tom Scroggs (left) how to defend against Eric Gustafson on Wednesday at the team's first official practice. (Photo by Ken Gilchrist)The Cedar Valley Christian football team does not have its own field, its weight room is located in a garage, only one of the Huskies played football in middle school and there are only 14 players on the brand-new squad.

That doesn't seem to bother any of the players or coaches, judging by all the laughter and smiles Wednesday night during their first official practice at St. Joseph School in Marion.

"I'm really excited," said Luke Long. "I'm loving it," agreed David Sperling. "It's a lot of fun," chimed in Joe Spina.

Long, Sperling and Spina are the only seniors on the team. There are seven juniors, two sophomore and two freshmen. They'll all play this season. They have to.

The Huskies are playing eight-man football, but even an eight-man team needs 16 players for a scrimmage. The Huskies are two players shy.

"I wouldn't say we're crazy," Coach Ed Betsworth said, smiling. "I would say that we like a challenge."

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