Cheney breaks long losing streak to Conway Springs
CHENEY – Cheney’s nine-year losing streak to Central Plains League-rival Conway Springs came to an end Friday night.
“I’m so excited for our kids,” Cheney coach Cory Brack said. “It’s been a battle year in and year out and finally it payed off. They’ve busted their tails for nine years and for seven weeks of the season now to get to this point.”
Cheney won 19-15 for an opening Class 3A-District 9 victory.
Cheney junior running back Austin Ray had two touchdowns in the final 12 minutes, but the most important one was with 58 seconds to go when he found a hole up the middle and crossed the goal line for the go-ahead touchdown.
“Coach told us at halftime that it was going to take a big play to do it,” Austin Ray said. “We were able to just rally around each other and luckily for us we came out on top. This is a huge win for us. Not only do we gain confidence for our program, but it also gives us a 1-0 start in district play.”
Cheney was without their starting quarterback after Austin Wheelock was hurt last week against Hutchinson Trinity, so sophomore Micah Grover took over and completed 19 of 33 passes for 167 yards and a rushing touchdown in the first quarter.
“He made some sophomore mistakes, but you know, we won against Conway Springs and that’s a good team, so he’s going to make mistakes,” Brack said. “He did a good job, and I’m super proud of him right now.”
Cheney faces Chaparral in a battle next week of unbeaten district teams.
“If we lost this game, it was going to be all or nothing for us,” Brack said. “We can play a little relaxed now. Chaparral is a great team and we’ll have to do a great job this week in practice and continue to do what we keep doing.”
Conway Springs | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 | — | 15 |
Cheney | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 | — | 19 |
CS – Terhune 7 run (Terhune kick)
C – Grover 15 run (kick failed)
C – Ray 72 run (run failed)
CS – Denney 54 pass from Dugan (Dugan pass from Winter)
C – Ray 4 run (Craigh kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Conway Springs, Terhune 15-67, Winter 13-45, Denney 5-35. Cheney, Ray 14-128, Grover 12-53, Jones 2-9, Schell 1-6, Quick 1-2.
Passing: Conway Springs, Terhune 6-14-82-2, Dugan 2-61. Cheney, Grover 19-33-167-2.
Receiving: Conway Springs, Dugan 5-77, Dewey 1-54, May 1-7, Pauly 1-5. Cheney, McGuire 2-53, Jones 6-51, Adolph 4-29, Scheer 2-21, Ray 1-7, Lies 4-6.
This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 10:58 PM with the headline "Cheney breaks long losing streak to Conway Springs."