FOOTBALL: Titans Use Offense, Big Defensive Plays To Hold Off Thunderbolts

FIRTH–(KFOR Oct. 15)–When an old Class B rivalry was renewed on Friday night, there were indications of how tough a football game it could have been between Norris and Lincoln Pius X.

It looked that way after the first quarter, but the Class B Titans capitalized on big plays on offense and defense in the second quarter to defeat the Class A Thunderbolts 43-22 in high school football at Norris High School in a game heard on KFOR.

Norris fullback Ben Landgren capped off the Titans’ second drive of the game with a 6-yard touchdown run with 4:30 left in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead. Early in the second quarter, Norris quarterback Cooper Hausmann found Kale Consbruck on a 34-yard pass to the Pius X 11-yard line. On the next play, Hausmann ran the ball in for a touchdown to extend the Titans’ lead to 14-0.

Norris (4-4) was just getting started.

Seconds later after the ensuing kickoff, Titan defenders Austin Madsen and Trevor Ozenbaugh forced a fumble from Thunderbolt quarterback Tyrus Petsche at the Pius X 22-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Hausmann threw a touchdown pass to Colton Wahlstrom and the lead grew to 21-0 with 11:05 remaining in the first half. The defense stepped up again for Norris, forcing another fumble from Petsche and Landgren scooped the ball up and returned it 23-yards for a touchdown to extend the lead at 27-0.

Pius X (2-6) was able to shake off the turnover bug on their final drive of the first half. Petsche found wide-receiver Sammy Manzitto on a 14-yard touchdown pass to get the Thunderbolts on the scoreboard and added a two-point conversion with 2:59 left before halftime. Norris’ next possession result in a 52-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep play from Consbruck with just over two minutes remaining that gave the Titans a 35-8 advantage.

Pius X managed to grind out a 90-yard drive in the third quarter that ended in a 7-yard touchdown pass to Manzitto with 3:22 remaining. The Thunderbolts got the ball back off a short punt at the Norris 48-yard line and ended the drive with Matt Bohy scoring from one-yard out with 9:00 left in the game, as Pius X pulled to within two possessions, 35-22.

Norris sealed the victory with another drive capped with 4:17 remaining on a one-yard run into the end zone from Hausmann.

Hausmann completed 7-of-13 passes for 89 yards, one touchdown and an interception for the Titans. Petsche completed 20-of-38 passes for 284 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the loss for the Thunderbolts.