Terry Douglass, Central Nebraska Today
GRAND ISLAND — Northwest’s defense created six turnovers to help the Vikings roll to a 40-0 victory over Hastings in their home opener Friday night.
The six miscues — four lost fumbles and two interceptions — matched Hastings’ turnover total from its season-opening 21-0 loss to York and proved costly against a fast-starting Northwest squad.
A pivotal moment came late in the first quarter. Hastings linebacker Brody Dreher intercepted a pass at the Tigers’ 1-yard line and returned it 82 yards to the Northwest 17.
But just two plays later, a botched lateral turned into disaster for Hastings. Northwest’s Zane Harb scooped up the loose ball and raced 80 yards for a touchdown, extending the Vikings’ lead to 19-0 with 15 seconds left in the quarter.
Harb also had an interception and was one of four Vikings to recover fumbles, joining Trevyn Mustion, Gabe Ruiz and Dawson Johnson. Kellen Dorsey added the second pick for Northwest (1-1).
Northwest quarterback Caejon Suttles led the offense with 66 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. He also completed 12 of 18 passes for 100 yards, including a 10-yard scoring strike to Harb. The Vikings finished with 323 total yards, 180 of them on the ground.
Hastings (0-2) showed flashes of offensive rhythm in the second half, but failed to capitalize. The Tigers’ final drive ended at the Northwest 18-yard line as time expired, leaving them still searching for their first points of the season.
Quarterback Charles Ratzlaff threw for 132 yards on 19-of-33 passing, but Hastings was held to just 21 rushing yards on 23 attempts.
Northwest 40, Hastings 0
Hastings (0-2)……….0 0 0 0— 0
Northwest (1-1)……19 0 14 7—40
First Quarter
N—Caejon Suttles 5 run (kick failed), 8:40.
N—Suttles 1 run (pass failed), 6:22.
N—Zane Harb 80 fumble return (Bryson Walker kick), :15.
Third Quarter
N—Suttles 7 run (Walker kick), 10:06.
N—Harb 10 pass from Suttles (Walker kick), 9:36.
Fourth Quarter
N—Blake Wissing 1 run (Walker kick), 5:48.
H N
First downs
12 21
Rushes-Yards 23-21 41-180
Passing Yards 132 143
Att-Comp-Int 19-33-2 16-24-143
Total Offense 56-153 65-323
Return Yards 87 163
Kickoff Returns 6-93 1-26
Fumbles-Lost 4-4 0-0
Punts-Avg. 4-31.0 2-26.0
Penalties-Yards 7-63 9-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Hastings, Dreher 10-13, Ratzlaff 4-minus 31, Brooks 6-42, Johnson 1-minus 2, Glore 1-7, Team 1-minus 8. Northwest, Suttles 15-66, Harb 6-26, Haubold 9-54, Wiese 3-9, Dorsey 1-minus 3, Britton 6-23, Wissing 2-2.
Passing—Hastings, Ratzlaff 19-33-2 132. Northwest, Suttles 12-18-0 100, Wissing 4-6-0 43.
Receiving—Hastings, Brohl 3-12, Dreher 2-8, Criss 4-21, Consbruck 4-27, Sidlo 3-25, Ablott 1-14, Shoemaker 1-9, Glore 1-16. Northwest, DeLaet 6-57, Mader 1-11, Ostdiek 2-12, Harb 2-15, Buhrman 1-5, Partridge 3-12, Walker 1-31.