Nederland – Coming into the 2006 season, the Nederland Panthers were riding a 20-game losing streak.
The past is the past.
The revamped Panthers, playing this season at the 8-man level, entered Saturday’s Central Division matchup against Silver State Christian with visions of a division title on their minds. After a half of play, it still looked realistic.
But one play for the Patriots snowballed into many big ones, and Silver State Christian took command of the division with a 56-14 victory, spoiling Nederland’s homecoming.
“(Nederland) gave us everything we could have wanted,” said Patriots coach Joe Achenbach, whose team improved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the division. “We made a couple of defensive adjustments, but I think it really hurt them when they missed the onside kick. It kind of turned things around.”
Coming out of the locker room with just a 20-14 lead, the Patriots caught Nederland napping. Zach Scadden chased down the onside kick and recovered it on the Panthers’ 46-yard line.
“We were so fired up and ready to come out. We had a plan on offense; they couldn’t stop us,” said Nederland coach Aaron Jones, who never had seen an 8-man game before this season. “We knew it was coming, we had our hand team on the field, and we just stood there.”
Four plays later, junior running back Joey Achenbach scampered 37 yards to put the Patriots up 26-14.
After a Nederland three-and- out, the Patriots went to work again, this time through the air. Quarterback Brandon Hellwig found Caleb Mays behind the Nederland defense, and 68 yards later Silver State Christian had all but put the game away.
“It was fun, my line blocked really well,” said Hellwig, who completed 7-for-12 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns.
“This is big for us. We still have two weeks left of league play, but this will go a long way.”
The balanced Patriots attack compiled 458 yards, 228 on the ground and 230 in the air. Achenbach had 120 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns. Matt Rivera went for 114 yards on just six carries, including a 56-yard touchdown run.
Nederland quarterback John Beck, who leads 8-man in passing yards, completed 12-of-25 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns, both to Eric Buchholtz. Beck also was intercepted twice.
Silver State Christian 6 14 14 22 – 56
Nederland 0 14 0 0 – 14
SSC – Mays 29 pass from Hellwig (run failed). N – Buchholtz 6 pass from Beck (Jones kick). SSC – Rivera 56 run (run failed). SSC – Ayan 27 pass from Hellwig (Hellwig run). N – Buchholtz 15 pass from Beck (Jones kick). SSC – Achenbach 37 run (run failed). SSC – Mays 68 pass from Hellwig (Achenbach run). SSC – Achenbach 25 run (run failed). SSC – Mays 26 interception return (Ardon run). SSC – Hellwig 1 run (Hellwig run).
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
