Brigham powers Warriors past Bluejays in rivalry game (2024)

WAHOO — When the Wahoo and Ashland-Greenwood Football Teams meet on the gridiron, there usually is no love lost. That was once again the case as the Class C-1 No. 1 Warriors and the C-1 No. 2 Bluejays clashed in Wahoo on Sept. 6.

For the second year in a row, it was Wahoo who came out victorious over A-G by a score of 28-14 behind a monster performance from Kip Brigham on both offense and defense.

The junior running back for the Warriors rushed for 199 yards and three touchdowns. He also had an interception to close out the game.

“He’s just an explosive home run threat,” Wahoo Head Coach Chad Fox said. “He can take it to the house at any point. He just sees things and makes cuts that you just can’t coach. When Noah went down with an injury and those guys have been trading handoffs, he had to step up because he wasn’t getting the breaks he normally gets. He played a lot of defense and he would be put man-to-man on Spears everywhere. He had a heck of a game for us.”

Early in the contest, both offenses struggled to settle in. Eventually, the Warriors put together a good possession to end the first quarter.

From 26 yards out with under a minute to go in the first, Brigham broke free for a touchdown run. After an extra point from Emilio Zaragoza, Wahoo led 7-0.

In the second quarter, A-G’s Derek Tonjes found Thomas Spears down the left side for a big completion. A few plays later, Tonjes hit an open Cal Kissinger in the end zone for a score.

The extra point for the Bluejays was off the mark, which made it a 7-6 contest in favor of Wahoo at halftime.

To begin the second half, Brigham found open space and ripped off a 65-yard run for a score. Another extra point for the Warriors put them ahead 14-6.

Late in the third quarter, the Bluejays had their own scoring opportunity and were deep in Wahoo territory. Tonjes completed his second touchdown pass of the game on a 12-yard throw to Kissinger.

Instead of kicking the extra point, A-G decided to go for two. The gamble paid off with Tonjes finding Spears in the end zone for a completion that tied the game up at 14-14.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Warriors were deep in the Bluejays territory when they fumbled the ball away to A-G. Wahoo didn’t panic after the turnover and continued to play hard.

That persistence paid off for the Warriors, with a one-yard touchdown run from Harrison Krueger and then a 63-yard touchdown scamper by Brigham that put Wahoo up by two scores in the end.

“We had a lot of things that just didn’t go right for us and our kids never once folded and they just kept fighting,” Fox said. “That is the stuff we ask our kids to do, to stay in the moment and continue to battle. They did a great job just staying aggressive and not letting any one moment ruin the mentality and take them to a negative space.”

Behind Brigham, Noah Bordovsky rushed for 35 yards while Krueger finished with 23 yards and a score.

In the passing game, Jase Kaminski threw for 100 yards. His top receiver was Krueger, who had two catches for 79 yards followed by Brigham who had three grabs for 21 yards.

Defensively, Krueger had 14 tackles and one interception while Caden Smart had 11 tackles and Braylon Iversen finished with 10 tackles. Both getting one pick in the contest were Brigham and Kaden Christen, while Eli Emerson had nine tackles and a sack.

Wahoo plays Aurora at home at 7 p.m. on Sept. 13. In their last game, the Huskies lost to McCook by a score of 33-14.