BUFFALO – The Altoona-Midway Jets had their offense clicking in the early stages of their matchup with the Lost Springs-Centre Cougars here Friday night at Frank Kennedy Field.
But in the end, a strong performance by the Lost Springs squad – coupled with injuries to a pair of senior Jet players – proved to be the difference as the Cougars posted a 51-32 victory in the 6-Man, Division 1 contest.
Centre is now 2-1 on the year while Altoona-Midway fell to 0-3, but the Jets have shown improvement each week. We played better, especially early in the game,” said AMHS head coach Randy Almond. “But turnovers and injuries to two of our seniors eventually took its toll on us. Still, I thought some of the younger kids got some good minutes.”
The Jets came out of the gates fired up, scoring first in the contest to lead 6-0. Altoona-Midway trailed just 14-12 at the end of the first quarter, and managed two more touchdowns in the second period, but still found themselves trailing 38-25 at intermission.
However, early in the third period, AMHS lost starting quarterback Jacob Meigs to a knee injury and lineman Lane Poeverlein to a possible concussion. Neither player was able to return to action, and the Jets scored just once more the rest of the way.
“In the second and third quarters, we were plagued by turnovers … five fumbles in all,” Almond said. “And then to have two seniors go out right after halftime … we just don’t have the depth to recover from that. But we did have some younger players step up and make some plays, so that’s definitely a bright spot.”
Another bright spot for AMHS continued to be Williams Stackhouse. The junior speedster found the end zone four times in the first half and once again in the second to tally all five of the Jet touchdowns. Stackhouse’s performance included rushing TDs of 10, 40 and 50 yards, a 60-yard TD reception from Meigs, and a 60-yard kickoff return to pay dirt. He finished with 138 yards rushing and 93 yards receiving.
“William has scored all 10 of our TDs on the year so far,” Almond pointed out. “He continues to play well on both sides of the ball.”
Meigs racked up 107 yards passing and 22 rushing prior to his injury, while Kieran Foster had 28 yards on the ground, 67 yards receiving, and 32 yards passing. Foster and Blaine Collins scored extra points for AMHS.
Defensively, Meigs was in on 13 tackles (11 unassisted) in just over a half of action, while Collins and Joey Lamendola were credited with 12 and 11 tackles, respectively.
“Jacob and Blaine both had great games defensively, but I was also very impressed with Joey
Lamendola,” Almond said. “Lane also got some key tackles and forced a fumble prior to leaving the game. “Kieran and Joey really stepped up on both sides of the ball, and Taj (O’Connor) continues to kick well for us,” he added. “All in all, I’m disappointed that it wasn’t a win, but we are improving, and that’s encouraging.”
The Jets (0-3) will try to get on the winning side of the ledger when they travel to Chetopa on Friday, Sept. 22, for a rematch with the Hornets. In an afternoon season opener played in hot and humid conditions, Chetopa posted a 78-33 victory. However, the Jets trailed by only six at halftime of that contest.