TORY DUNCAN | CLAY COUNTY NEWS
Hinrichs erupts for 414 rushing yards, eight touchdowns
There’s nothing like the comfort of your home field during the high school football season, and the Sutton Mustangs found their home field this past Thursday night, Oct. 15, to be a comfortable place. Behind a monumental performance by senior running back Connor Hinrichs, the Mustangs blistered the Centennial Broncos 82-26 to run their record to 6-2 on the year.
Hinrichs rushed for 414 of Sutton’s 495 total rushing yards in the 56-point victory. With his performance, Hinrichs increased his season rushing total to 1,585 total yards, an average of 198.1 yards per game and 9.3 yards per carry.
The game started with what felt like a normal pace between the two teams as Sutton claimed a 14-6 first-quarter lead, powered by a pair of Hinrichs’ touchdown jaunts into the end zone, which turned out to be two of his eight total touchdowns in the win.
Hinrichs scored on runs of 10 yards with 7:22 to play in the first and 26 yards with 2:41 to play in the quarter.
Centennial captured its first score of the game on a one-yard run with 20 seconds left in the first quarter.
Moving to the second frame, just 14 seconds into the quarter, Hinrichs hit pay dirt again, scoring on a 65yard run to give Sutton a 22-6 lead with 11:46 to play.
Sophomore quarterback Mason Ehly hit senior DJ Hajny for what appeared to be a 52-yard touchdown pass, but a holding call on the Mustangs erased the score from the scoreboard.
Centennial then cut the Sutton lead to 22-12 with 3:48 left in the first half, scoring on a 10-yard run.
Sutton’s dominance then took over as Hinrichs scored from seven yards out with 1:36 to play in the half to give Sutton a 30-12 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff to Centennial, sophomore Tristan Griess jarred the ball loose to force a fumble, recovered by Chase Clark, ultimately setting up Hinrichs for his fifth score of the game, a five-yard run into the end zone to give Sutton a 36-12 lead at the half.
Sutton and Centennial battled evenly in the third quarter, with the Mustangs outscoring the Broncos 16-14.
Centennial scored with 9:29 left in the third on an 18-yard “hook and ladder” pass play to give Sutton a 36-20 lead.
Max Huxoll appeared to give Sutton a 42-20 lead on the ensuing kickoff, but a holding call on the Mustangs negated the score.
Nonetheless, at the 6:52 mark of the third, Hinrichs hit pay dirt again, scoring on a five-yard run to give Sutton a 44-20 lead with the added two-point conversion by Hajny on a pass from Ehly.
Hinrichs then scored for a seventh time with 2:38 left in the third, reaching the end zone from four yards out to produce a 52-20 Sutton lead.
Centennial added its final score of the game with 34 seconds remaining in the third to give Sutton a 52-26 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Once in the fourth period, Sutton took complete control of the game, outscoring the Broncos 30-0.
Aydin Banta set up Hinrichs’ eighth score of the game by recovering a Centennial fumble with 11:16 left in the game.
Hinrichs, just 43 seconds later, sprinted 41 yards into the end zone to produce a 6026 lead.
At the 8:48 mark of the fourth, Sutton blocked a Centennial punt, which was picked up by Juan Reyes and taken into the end zone for a 68-26 Sutton lead.
The turnover bug continued for Centennial, as sophomore Everett Yost forced a fumble, which freshman Kaige Jones jumped on at the Centennial three.
On the next play, sophomore Harrison Schurman scored to give Sutton a 76-26 lead with 5:15 to play.
Schurman added one more score to the Sutton total when
TORY DUNCAN | CLAY COUNTY NEWS
TORY DUNCAN | CLAY COUNTY NEWS
he scored on a 32-yard run with 32 seconds remaining to seal the 56-point victory.
BYTHE NUMBERS
Following Hinrichs’ monumental performance of 414 yards on 43 carries, Schurman finished with 46 yards on four carries, while Creighton Jones had one carry for 15 yards. Reyes finished with 13 yards on two carries, Ehly wrapped up the game with four yards on one carry, while Hajny had one carry for three yards.
Ehly was 1-for-2 passing for three yards, with Hajny grabbing the one completion.
The Mustangs defensive leaders proved to be Reyes and Griess, as the two combined for 23 of Sutton’s 73 tackles in the game, with Reyes gaining 12 and Griess, 11.
Adding to the tackle charts were Chase Clark with eight, Bergen with seven, while Rexx Meyer and Crieghton Jones both had six. Hinrichs, Hajny, Huxoll and Aydin Banta finished with four each.
Hajny also had two sacks in the game.
Score by Quarters
Sutton....................................14 22 16 30 -82 Centennial.............................. 6 6 14 0 -26 Sutton Cent.
Rush Att-Yds........................ 52-495 25-76 Pass Comp-Att-Yds................1-2-3 23-49-255 Total Offense.......................... 498 331
THISWEEK
The Mustangs close out the regular season with another long road trip to Conestoga Friday, Oct 23, to take on the Cougars at 7 p.m.
