CAREY — Carey’s 48-7 victory over Buckeye Central on Friday night might forever be known as the “Austin Niederkohr game.”
The talented wideout ran for a touchdown, returned a kickoff for a touchdown, returned a punt to the 1-yard line, and made a sensational one-handed touchdown reception in the Blue Devils’ dominant win over Northern 10 Athletic Conference opponent Buckeye Central.
“Coach trusts me to go out there and make plays,” Niederkohr said. “I just used my speed and ran around them.”
Buckeye Central’s first drive ended when quarterback Derex Dean was sacked three times, including on fourth down to turn the ball over on downs.
“Quarterbacks usually don’t like to get hit, especially early, and I thought our D-line did a really nice job with that,” Carey coach Jonathon Mershman said. “It sets the tone. I thought our defense did a really nice job up front and getting pressure when we needed it.”
It didn’t take long for Niederkohr to make an impact in the game. On the Blue Devils’ second play of the game, quarterback Lance Rickle lofted a deep pass down the right hash mark, which Niederkohr corralled at the Bucks’ 5-yard line. Two plays later, on second-and-goal from the 3-yard line, Niederkohr ran the ball for the first score of the game.
Buckeye Central (3-2, 0-2) went three-and-out, and Carey’s offense immediately went back to work on a seven-play, 72-yard drive that was capped off by a sensational play from Rickle.
On second-and-10, Rickle dropped a shotgun snap, picked up the ball, then zigged and zagged his way past Buckeye Central defenders for a 46-yard rushing score to give the Blue Devils a 14-0 lead.
The Bucks threatened to score on their next possession, but on second-and-goal, Dean’s pass was picked off by Carey’s Jordan Mattimoe at the 1-yard line and Mattimoe dashed 99 yards for an interception return touchdown.
“Mattimoe had a really good bead on the ball and once he caught it, he used his speed to take off down the sideline for a heck of an interception return for a touchdown,” Mershman said. “That was a really amazing play.”
After another Buckeye Central three-and-out, Niederkohr caught the ensuing punt at the Carey 34-yard line, then broke free, getting tackled at the Buckeye Central 1-yard line by Bucks running back and punter Manny Mullins.
Carey (5-0, 2-0) made it 28-0 after Rickle scored the easiest touchdown drive of his career, a one-play, 1-yard quarterback keeper for a score.
At the end of the first half and less than two minutes to go, Carey put itself in a position to score again following a 32-yard reception from Carter Smiley.
On fourth-and-4 and with just four seconds remaining in the first half, Rickle lofted the ball to the end zone, where Niederkohr leapt in the air and made an incredible one-handed reception for a score that had the crowd in awe.
“Honestly, I was just trying to make sure it was not gonna end up an interception and the ball just stuck to my hand, and I just brought it down,” Niederkohr said. “It felt really good.”
Carey took a 35-0 lead into halftime and then Niederkohr broke the Bucks’ backs on the opening play of the second half. After initially dropping the kickoff, Niederkohr picked the ball back up, made a couple of defenders miss and then exploded through the Bucks special teams for a 75-yard kickoff return touchdown to make it 42-0.
“Sometimes athletes make really good athletic plays,” Mershman said. “We saw a couple of those tonight with Rickle on the dropped shotgun snap and Austin with his one-handed catch in the end zone and also with his kick return after the half.”
Buckeye Central finally got on the board in its ensuing possession, a five-play, 59-yard drive that was capped off by a 1-yard rushing score by Mullins.
“Mullins is a load,” Mershman said. “He’s a big kid and they’ve got a nice size line. They can be a dangerous team for some teams.”
Carey capped off the scoring with a nine-play, 65-yard drive that included eight rushes for freshman Eli Steen, who finished the drive with a 2-yard rush up the gut to make it 48-0 after Rickle’s extra point bounced off the uprights.
“I’m pleased with the way we played all four quarters,” Mershman said. “The game is starting to slow down for our newbies and we’re honing in real well on that.”
Steen led the Blue Devils with 15 rushes for 107 yards and a touchdown. Niederkohr caught three passes for 66 yards and a touchdown.
The Blue Devils defense held Buckeye Central to just 9 yards rushing on 24 attempts. Only Mullins had positive rushing yards out of four rushers.
Next up, Carey travels to Colonel Crawford at 7 p.m. Friday.
Box score
Score by quarters
Buckeye Central 0 0 7 0 — 7
Carey 14 21 13 0 — 48
First quarter
C — Austin Niederkohr 3 run (Lance Rickle kick), 6:58.
C — Lance Rickle 46 run (Rickle kick), 2:39.
Second quarter
C — Jordan Mattimoe 99 interception return (Rickle kick), 10:24.
C — Rickle 1-yard run (Rickle kick), 8:30.
C — Niederkohr 11 pass from Rickle (Rickle kick), :04.
Third quarter
C — Niederkohr 75 kickoff return (Rickle kick), 11:42.
BC — Manny Mullins 1 run (Dominic Dean kick), 8:15.
C — Eli Steen 2 run (kick failed), 2:47.
Individual statistics
Passing
Buckeye Central: Derex Dean 9-16-1 136.
Carey: Rickle 4-9-1 98 yards, Sherman 0-1-0 0.
Rushing
Buckeye Central: Manny Mullins 14-31, Tyler Sanderson 1-(-2); Phillips 3-(-7); Derex Dean 7-(-13).
Carey: Eli Steen 15-107, Lance Rickle 5-60, Conner Norden 4-27; Landen Kemerley 3-10; Kasen Sherman 3-25; Austin Niederkohr 1-3, Nathan Brodman 1-3.
Receiving
Buckeye Central: Trevor Kirgis 3-94; Dominic Dean 2-24; Heath Jensen 2-9; Manny Mullins 1-10; Tyler Sanderson 1-(-1).
Carey: Niederkohr 3-66, Carter Smiley 1-32.
Team statistics
BC C
First downs 8 12
Yards rushing 24-9 32-235
Yards passing 136 98
Passes 9-16-1 4-10-1
Fumbles lost 1-1 3-1
Punts 6-32.3 0-0
Penalties 1-5 3-25