Cougars crush Pender 76-26 on the road
The Pender Pendragons most certainly felt what it was like to face a wild cougar looking for a feast after a week-long hunger strike, as the Sandy Creek Cougars took a three-hour bus ride to northeast Nebraska to face the ninth-ranked Pendragons and rebound from the Cougars’ 34-26 loss to Johnson- Brock Sept. 4.
Bounce back Sandy Creek certainly did, chewing up Pender 76-26, as the thirdranked Cougars scored four times through the air and six times on the ground.
Junior quarterback Kamerin Sealey threw for 274 total yards while completing 17 of his 25 passing attempts. Sealey also chewed up 242 rushing yards on just 13 carries, an average of 18.6 yards per carry.
In all, Sealey accounted for 516 of Sandy Creek’s 593 total offensive yards in the lopsided victory.
Thus far in 2026, Sealey has amassed 1,320 yards in three games, 859 through the air and another 461 yards on the ground. As a team, Sandy Creek has totaled 1,451 yards.
Sealey completed passes to six different Cougars in the 50-point thrashing of the Pendragons.
Logan Tomky led the receiving group with 70 yards on three grabs and one touchdown. Wyatt Livgren also hauled in three passes for 57 yards and a score, while Wyatt Hemberger made two catches for 42 yards and a touchdown.
Evan Swartzendruber made two catches for 44 yards, while Wes Biltoft hauled in four Sealey passes for 37 yards and a touchdown. Alex Watts made three catches for 24 total yards.
Following Sealey in the running game was Brockett Reed who ran the ball twice for 45 yards and a touchdown, while Livgren carried the ball five times for 32 yards. As a team, Sandy Creek had 20 rushing attempts for 319 yards, an average of 16 yards per carry.
Sandy Creek’s defensive efforts stymied the Pendragons in a big way, holding Pender to 200 yards of total offense, including 48 yards through the air and 152 yards on the ground.
Biltoft powered the tackle chart for the Cougars, gaining 14 total stops, including four solo tackles, while Christian Shaw followed with 11 total tackles, three of which were solo stops.
Josh Spray was in on nine total stops. Tomky, Jackson Gerdes and Mason Johanson had seven tackles each with Hemberger finishing the game with five.
Johanson, Gerdes, Shaw and Spray all recorded one quarterback sack in the game.
Score by Quarters
Sandy Creek............................- - - - -76 Pender.....................................- - - - -26 SC Pender Rush Att-Yds.......................20-319 33-152 Pass Comp-Att-Yds.......... 17-25-274 7-25-48 Total Offense........................ 593 200
THISWEEK
Sandy Creek returns to “The Hill” this week as they host the top ranked team in Class D-3 for the Cougars’ 2026 Homecoming clash with the Central Valley Cougars.
The visiting Cougars come in as the Class D-2 state runner-up squad from a year ago and boast an unbeaten 3-0 record.
Central Valley has rolled to a 68-8 win over Osceola, a 40-8 win over Archangels Catholic and most recently, a 70-18 win over St. Mary’s of O’Neill.
Friday nights’ action is set to begin at 7 p.m.
