Schmidt, Homer Center outscores Purchase Line

Tagged under: District 6, Gameday Hub

Avery Falisec | October 18, 2020

Homer Center’s senior quarterback Ben Schmidt runs the ball in for one of his many touchdowns of the night. 

With the playoffs starting sooner than normal, every team in the conference is looking to increase their position in the bracket. No exception was made for the Homer Center Wildcats and the Purchase Line Red Dragons. The game’s final score was high, as was each team’s total yards on Friday, October 18. The Wildcats defeated the Dragons 57-48 and the teams combined for over 1,000 total yards.

It was a slow first series for both teams. Although, Purchase Line’s junior Mello Sanchez intercepted a pass from Schmidt on their first drive, Purchase Line couldn’t back it up and move the ball. After runs and a pass from Schmidt to the 34-yard line, Schmidt capitalized with his first touchdown of the night for nine yards, and then kicked the extra point. Then, Juniors Jayce Brooks and Brady Syster set senior Josh Syster up for a 38-yard touchdown run.

In the second quarter, Schmidt took it to the endzone on a 14-yard run with only seven seconds gone from the clock, along with scoring the two-point conversion. Josh Syster had a big gain for the Red Dragons, getting far into Homer Center territory, and then scored two plays later with a 32-yard touchdown.

Seconds later, Schmidt passed the ball to an open Drew Kochman for a touchdown of 69 yards. The updated score was 22-12, and the Dragons needed ball movement now more than ever. However, Homer Center’s defense was having none of that.

Purchase Line was forced to punt, but it was dropped by the Wildcats and recovered by the Dragons. Purchase Line’s offense could not find their way and the Wildcats ended up with the ball again. Then, Sanchez intercepted Schmidt for a second time. Purchase Line tried to get their offense going, but were stopped short by the end of the half.

In the third quarter, Schmidt scored on runs of 15 and 32, and threw two passing touchdowns of 67 to Kochman and 15 to Michael Krejocic. He also kicked the extra points.

Brady Syster’s kick return to the Homer Center 44-yard line set Josh Syster up for a 44-yard touchdown to make the score 29-18. Sanchez also scored in this quarter for a 55-yard rushing touchdown.

With Schmidt’s four touchdowns, two of them being passing, and the Red Dragon’s two, the score at the end of the third quarter was 50-24.
The fourth quarter was big for the Dragons. After Kochman and Schmidt connected for a 28-yard touchdown, the Dragons ignited. Instead of letting the Wildcats walk away with their lead, they chipped it away touchdown by touchdown.

First it was senior Isaac Huey to score for 3-yards, setting Josh Syster up for the two-point conversion run. Then, Josh Syster struck again for a 25-yard touchdown, followed by Brady Syster’s two-point run. Freshman John Elick was the last to score for the Dragons with a 1-yard quarterback push. Elick passed to senior Dyllan Overman for the conversion.

The Wildcat’s lead went from 26 points to nine in 12 minutes. The final score of the game was 57-48, Homer Center.

Josh Syster had over half of Purchase Line’s rushing yards with 269 out of 414. Brooks and Sanchez combined for 139 yards of rushing. Schmidt had 202 rushing yards and passed for 306, which was 508 of Homer Center’s 518 yards.

Purchase Line Head Coach Matthew Falisec said, “I was proud of how the kids battled the entire game. Homer Center is a hard team to defend and they are well coached. Despite the loss, I’m excited to head into playoffs and see what we can do.”

Homer Center Head Football Coach Greg Page said, “It was great to get the win against a very tough opponent heading into playoffs. We knew we had the opportunity to get a first round BYE, so that was important for us as well.”

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