Newly ranked Bolts pass first test, strike down Thunder
Sep. 18—BAXTER — The Class 8-man District 7 football game between Baxter and Grand View Christian started at 6-all on Friday night.
"Breighton (Vansice) has asked to score a touchdown for six years," Baxter head football coach Rob Luther said. "We are so happy we got it to happen."
Breighton Vansice is the Bolts' senior manager. And Luther reached out to the Grand View Christian coaching staff to ask about the potential of getting Vansice into the end zone.
The Thunder agreed to make it happen, and Vansice opened the scoring Friday with a 25-yard touchdown run during an 84-40 Baxter home win.
"We ran the kick back to the 25 and gave him the ball on our first play," Luther said. "We let them return our kick for a TD. Then we started for real at 6-6. It was nice of Grand View Christian to allow this to happen. When we reached out to them, they were all in."
After Cody Damman ran with Vansice to the end zone on the Bolts' first play from scrimmage, he took over the rest of the way.
Damman accounted for 72 of the team's 84 points and a big second quarter propelled Class 8-man No. 10 Baxter to another blowout victory.
Damman was 10-of-11 through the air for 219 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed 16 times for 212 yards and six TDs. The Bolts' quarterback averaged 13.3 yards per carry. He also caught a 2-point conversion, had a 2-point conversion run and threw for seven 2-point conversions.
Baxter's big offensive night included 393 rushing yards and an 11.6 yards per carry average.
The Bolts (4-0 overall, 3-0 in the district) led 38-20 after one quarter and took even more control of the game with a 32-13 advantage in the second.
Baxter outscored the Thunder 14-7 in the third and neither team scored in the fourth.
Damman's favorite target was Jake Travis, who finished with four catches for 140 yards and one TD. Travis also gained 19 yards on his only carry.
Evan Mahoney totaled 78 yards on his six carries, Cade Robinson rushed four times for 21 yards and Cael Wishman had 18 yards on his three carries.
Treyton Travis caught four passes for 53 yards and two scores, Kolton Hill grabbed two passes for 26 yards and Cainan Travis caught a 15-yard TD pass.
Perrin Sulzle was 2-of-5 through the air for 16 yards and one TD and he gained 17 yards on his two carries.
Baxter's defense allowed just 86 rushing yards and 3.1 yards per carry, but Noah John threw for 223 yards and three scores to lead the Thunder (2-2, 1-2).
The Bolts registered 5.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss.
Jake Travis highlighted the defense with 8.5 tackles, three sacks and four tackles for loss. He also booted five of his seven kickoffs for touchbacks.
Cody Samson finished with seven tackles, Cainan Travis had six tackles and Sulzle registered 5.5 tackles and three tackles for loss.
Damman added five tackles and Mahoney, Callyn Bishop and Trice Clapper all finished with three tackles. Bishop also chipped in one sack and two tackles for loss, Clapper added one sack and Treyton Travis recovered a fumble.
