Spartans romp all over Bearcats on senior night

By Andrew Larson

sports@charlescitypress.com

GREENE — “Celebrate your successes!” North Butler Head Coach Travis Miller told one of his players as he came off the field, only midway through the second quarter of Friday night’s game and already knee-deep into the wrong side of a blowout.

He was adamant that his guys keep their heads up and attitudes positive.

Unfortunately for the hosting Bearcats, there wasn’t a whole lot to celebrate Friday night against the Grundy Center Spartans, despite it being senior night. The visitors paid little heed to the opposing defense on their way to a 55-0 drubbing that was largely decided by the end of the first quarter.

The subject of the Bearcats’ continued ire was Spartan senior running back Bryce Flatter, who practically was an end zone resident for most of the game, amassing five touchdowns on the ground for the Spartans, four of which came in the first half to really put the game out of reach early on. Junior wide receiver Andrew Rathe was also a thorn in the Bearcats’ side, scoring twice in the first quarter.

The first came through the air on a 27-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Jake Bangasser to open up scoring. The second came off a 75-yard punt return after the Bearcats decided not to go for it on fourth-and-1 close to midfield.

Nevertheless, the Bearcats continued to celebrate their successes, as few as they may have been. One cause of celebration was the effort of sophomore Rhett Lammersmidway through the first quarter.

Lammers started the play heading to his right, and when he saw there was nowhere to go on that side of the field, he made a heads-up move by eluding a defender and cutting all the way back to the left and finding some room to run. In the end it was only a gain of four yards, but a smart move at the right moment turning a potential loss of a few yards on first down into a positive gain and a manageable second down.

Lammers’ teammates and coaches let him know that his extra effort on the play did not go unnoticed.

The biggest offensive play on the day for the Bearcats was 34-yard catch and run senior Clay Shultz during the third quarter, an effort that easily received the rowdiest ovation of the night from the Bearcats’ sideline.

Miller, whose team has been decimated by injuries — including the loss of quarterback Dalton Nelson in the middle of an eight-day span where the Bearcats were forced to play three games — was impressive with the positive attitude his team showed all night.

“You had good energy tonight. The energy was there,” Miller said to his troops after the game. “We definitely had some missed opportunities, dropped balls and missed blocks. I just feel bad for the seniors who will never play on this field in this jersey again.”

Miller was most pleased with the fact that his guys continued to play tough all game long and never let the deficit get the better of them.

“I’ll say this, you guys didn’t hang your heads all night,” said Miller

With the loss, North Butler falls to 2-6 overall and 1-6 in Class A, District 3 standings, while the Spartans improve to 5-3 and 4-2. North Butler finishes the season at Newman Catholic on Friday, Oct. 21, while Grundy Center rounds out their schedule at home against West Fork. Both teams, however, remain out of contention for a playoff spot.