For the first time since 1995, the high school football team played against Jeff County North last Friday night. Having only met five times before, plus a couple of games against Winchester High School in Onaga’s inaugural football season of 1916, the two programs were anything but familiar foes.
After an appearance in last year’s 1A state championship game, the Chargers entered 3-1 on the season while the Buffaloes were 2-2. Both teams had won their first game of district play and were looking for some separation at the top of the District #3 standings along with undefeated Jackson Heights.
After a punt on Jeff County North’s opening possession, Onaga made quick work of things on offense. Senior quarterback Jackson Kolterman started off the drive with a 30-yard run, and three plays later would go 59 yards for a touchdown. Those 89 yards would kick off what would end up being a career best 148 rushing yards on the night.
Up 8-0, Onaga’s defense couldn’t keep the Charger defense out of the endzone on their second drive. An 8 play, 60-yard drive would put JCN on the board with 2:32 left in the opening quarter, but a failed two-point conversion would keep Onaga on top 8-6.
Sophomore Maddex Honas returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, which would have been the first of his career had it not been called back on an extremely questionable block-in-the-back call. Instead, Onaga had a three-and-out to end the quarter ahead by two.
The Buffaloes’ only possession of the second quarter was a thing of beauty for those that love eating up time of possession. After forcing the Chargers to turn the ball over on downs early in the period, Onaga would march 82 yards on an astonishing 17 plays to go up by double digits. The score came from sophomore Tristan Kuhlman, the first of his career, and Kolterman’s two-point conversion run the Buffaloes were up 16-6. That would be the score heading into halftime as the Chargers ran out of time on their next possession.
If someone was looking for a point in the game where momentum seemed to turn a bit for Onaga, the third quarter would be the place to look. The Buffaloes’ opening possession was a three-and-out, and JCN followed that up with the same type of time-eating drive that Onaga had executed in the second period. Pinned inside their own 15 yard line, the Chargers marched 87 yards in 12 plays to cut the lead to 16-12. A failed PAT kept the Buffaloes ahead by four, but another three-and-out gave the ball right back to JCN inside Onaga territory to start the fourth quarter.
The Chargers kicked off the final frame by going 46 yards in 5 plays to take their first lead of the game with 10:42 to play. Their first successful two-point conversion of the night made it 20-16, but Onaga finally got their offense going in the second half and answered right back. A false start to begin the drive didn’t give Buffalo fans much confidence, but they turned the tide quickly and went 67 yards after that penalty in 13 plays, eating up nearly 7 minutes of game time. That gave Onaga a 22-20 lead and JCN the ball back with 3:48 remaining.
Beginning their ensuing drive at their own 10 yard line meant that a big play was going to be needed for the Chargers to have a chance at scoring. Unfortunately for the Buffaloes, that’s exactly what happened on the sixth play of the possession when their quarterback ran 58 yards before being tackled at the two yard line. On the next play, the Chargers punched it in and then scored the two-point conversion to take a 28-22 lead with only 1:42 left in the game.
Onaga wasn’t done though, as Kolterman hit junior Graham Valburg with a 31-yard pass play on the first play of the drive to get them into JCN territory. Kolterman then ran 11 yards before completing another pass, this time a 7-yarder to Kuhlman that got them down to the Charger 23 yard line. But with time running out, the Buffaloes couldn’t keep the passing game going and would eventually turn the ball over on downs to end the game.
The loss drops Onaga to 2-3 on the season and 1-1 in District #3 play, where they now sit in a tie for third place in the six-team district. Next up on the schedule is 5-0 Jackson Heights who currently sit at the top of the district standings and are ranked #3 in the state in 1A, according to KPreps. The Buffaloes own a 17-16 all-time record over the Cobras in a series that dates back to 1969, but have lost the last three, including shutouts in each of the past two seasons. They’ll look to pull off the win over Jackson Heights and get back in the running for a district title this Friday night in Onaga, with kickoff set for 7:00pm.