Pender vs Hartington Game
by Rachel Verschoor
In a great attempt last Friday night, Pender lost their first football game of the season, 44 - 22, against Hartington. Even though Pender scored the first and the last touchdown of the game, the way they played in between is what cost them the game.
Pender scored the first touchdown of the night with a 5 - yard run by Jonathan Smith, the teams quarterback, with Connor Heise running for a PAT making the score 8 - 0. Hartington came back with 16 seconds in the first quarter, making a touchdown and tying the game 8 - 8. With 25 seconds remaining in the first half, Hartington scored another touchdown, making the score 14 - 8 just before halftime.
With Hartington getting the ball first in the second half of the game, they scored yet another touchdown, leading them by 14 points. Shortly after, Jonathan Smith threw a 46 - yard pass, being caught by Connor Heise, to score another touchdown for Pender. Brady Nelson catching the ball in the end zone, added another two points to the score, making it 22 - 16.
Hartington scored another two touchdowns, slightly crushing the Dragons hopes of winning the game. Before the game ended though, Jordan Nelson scored Pender another touchdown with a pass from Zack Johnson. The final score was 44 - 22.
Pender will be traveling to Emerson this Saturday, playing the Emerson - Hubbard Pirates at 2:00. The team hopes to have you there supporting them to victory!
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs - - - PHS 10 / HAR 11
Rushing - - - PHS 29 - 79 / HAR 47 - 219
Passing yards - - - PHS 146 / HAR 37
Passing - - - PHS 10-16-0 / HAR 4-9-1
Total Offense - - - PHS 225 / HAR 256
Fumbles lost - - - PHS 5 / HAR 2
Penalties - - - PHS 5-40 / HAR 8-55
