Hinrichs powers Sutton win over Elm Creek

Sutton senior runs for 200 yards in Mustangs’54-6 win over the Buffaloes

Senior running back Connor Hinrichs continued his strong rushing performance for the third straight week, helping guide the Sutton Mustangs to a powerful 54-6 win over the Elm Creek Buffaloes Friday, Sept. 11, pushing the Mustangs’ season record to 2-1 overall.

Through three games, Hinrichs has ran for 562 yards on 50 carries, an average of 11.2 yards per carry and Friday night against the Buffaloes it was his biggest night of the season.

The senior speedster scored three touchdowns, all in the first half, as he toted the ball just 12 times for 200 yards, an average of 16.7 yards per carry.

Two of his three scores came in the first four minutes of the game, as Hinrichs scored on runs of 46 yards with 11:20 showing on the first-quarter clock, with his longest score of 63 yards coming at the 8:17 mark of the first.

Sutton led the Buffaloes 24-0 after the first quarter, with an Ian Spearman to DJ Hajny touchdown pass closing out the scoring in the first quarter. That pass covered five yards into the endzone, lifting Sutton to the early 24-0 lead.

The Mustangs then forced one of two Elm Creek fumbles to open the second quarter, leading to a Spearman touchdown run of 35 yards with 11:02 left to play in the second quarter and giving Sutton a 30-0 lead after a missed conversion attempt.

Sutton went on to score two more times in the second. Hinrichs gained a one-yard score with 5:56 left in the second, while the Spearman to Hajny connection hit paydirt in the final three minutes of the first half, this time the passing touchdown covered 45 yards and put the Mustangs ahead 46-0 heading into the halftime break.

Elm Creek came out in the second half and pushed the ball down the field, scoring the lone touchdown of the game with 8:02 left on the third quarter clock. A missed two-point conversion left Sutton with a 46-6 lead.

Sutton’s backup squad took over from there, led by sophomore Mason Ehly.

Ehly connected on a 40yard pass play with sophomore teammate Everett Yost late in the third quarter, but the Mustangs couldn’t convert the big play into points.

Midway through the fourth quarter, however, Ehly made the Buffaloes pay, as he struck touchdown gold with a 44-yard run, with Harrison Schurman adding the two-point conversion to give Sutton their final eight points of the game and preserve the 54-6 victory.

BYTHE NUMBERS

Following Hinrichs’ big night on the ground was Spearman, who totaled 67 rushing yards on eight carries, while Ehly ran for 47 total yards on four carries.

Griffin Bergen gained 19 yards on six carries, Rexx Meyer claimed 11 yards on four carries, Schurman had eight yards on three carries, Hajny toted the ball once for three yards, Creighton Jones carried once for three yards as well, while Yost carried once for two yards.

As a team, Sutton carried the ball 40 times for 360 yards, an average of nine yards per carry.

In the passing game, both Spearman and Ehly passed for 48 yards. Spearman completed three of four passe, including two touchdown passes to Hajny, while Ehly was 2-3 passing.

Hajny led the receivers for the Mustangs, hauling in the two touchdown passes for 50 total yards, while Yost had one catch for 40 yards, and Schurman made one grab for eight yards.

Defensive leaders proved to be Hinrichs with nine tackles. Max Huxoll was in on eight stops and had one sack, Juan Reyes recorded seven tackles, including two tackles for loss, Aydin Banta had five tackles and a sack, while Aaron Sanchez and Schurman were both in on four tackles.

In all, Sutton had 61 tackles in the win, nine tackles for loss and two sacks.

Score by Quarters

Sutton....................................24 22 0 8 -54 Elm Creek................................0 0 6 0 -6 Sutton EC

Rush Att-Yds.................... 40-360 25-65 Pass Comp-Att-Yds...........5-7-96 8-13-44 Total Offense...................... 456 109

THISWEEK

The Mustangs have a rare Thursday night game this week, where they will travel to Gibbon for their second straight battle with a Buffalo squad, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

Gibbon comes into the game with a 1-2 record, with their lone win being a 63-46 win over Hastings St. Cecilia in week one. Their two losses were a 68-8 loss to Ravenna, Sept. 4, and last week, a 49-16 loss at Centura.