Halstead routs Sterling 64-6 in Central Kansas League meeting of first-place teams (+video)
Halstead improved its record to 5-0 after beating Sterling 64-6 on Friday night, with star running back/middle linebacker Blake Beckett maknig his presence felt on both sides of the ball.
Beckett rushed for 177 yards and four touchdowns on seven carries and added 12 tackles, a sack and an interception on defense. All in less than two quarters of play.
“He’s special. A rare kid that comes once in a coaching career,” Halstead coach Jason Grider said.
Halstead opened the game with an 84-yard kick return by Tony Morris and on the first defensive possession forced a fumble. The next play, Beckett broke loose for a 30-yard touchdown run. In less than a minute. Halstead pushed the lead to 14-0.
On the next defensive possession, Beckett made all four tackles on the drive — ending with a sack for a loss of 12 yards that forced a turnover on downs. On Halstead’s next offensive play, he cut upfield for a 76-yard rushing score.
Two carries. Two touchdowns.
“We’d like to say that’s the way we drew it up, but that was all Blake. He’s special,” Grider said.
Later in the first quarter, Beckett forced another turnover-touchdown sequence. This time, Beckett caught an interception in the flat and scored on a 54-yard run on the next play.
“I just wanted to come out and make an impact on the game,” Beckett said. “… Our main goal is to keep getting better each game. We didn’t even remember we were 4-0 coming into the game.”
Sterling managed to score on the game’s final possession with a 5-yard run by Ethan Proffitt after a series of time-outs due to the running clock that was enforced at the beginning of the second half.
“Sterling didn’t come into this game 3-0 for nothing — they’re a good team,” Grider said. “Our guys kept the hammer down and we know not every game is going to be like this; we’ve got to improve on the minor details.
Sterling | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | — | 6 |
Halstead | 30 | 27 | 7 | 0 | — | 64 |
H — Morris 84 return (Kaufman kick)
H — Beckett 30 run (Kaufman kick)
H — Beckett 76 run
H — Beckett 7 run
H — Beckett 54 run (Kaufman kick)
H — Vansteenburg 50 return (Kaufman kick)
H — Kraus 46 run
H — McKee 36 run
H – Morris 55 run
S — Proffitt 5 run
Individual Statistics
Rushing – Halstead, Beckett 7-177, McKee 4-25, Morris 2-62. Sterling, White 13-34, Weiner 16-43, Proffitt 4-6.
Passing – Sterling, Comley 2-15-25.
Receiving – Sterling, Richter 1-10, White 1-15.
This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Halstead routs Sterling 64-6 in Central Kansas League meeting of first-place teams (+video)."