ACH runs to 60-58 win
COULEE CITY – The rushing attack of the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors was in full force on Friday night, running for nearly 500 yards in their 60-58 league win over Wilbur-Creston-Keller.
Sophomore quarterback Carter Pitts had 346 of the Warriors’ 487 rushing yards on 34 carries and scored six touchdowns.
“He’s a great runner,” ACH head coach Brandon Walsh said. “He’s shifty, he’s strong, he doesn’t go down on one tackle very often. An arm tackle, he runs through those. He did a great job last night.”
ACH lost to Wellpinit 56-28 last week, with the Warriors turning the ball over four times. Walsh said that a focus in preparing for Wilbur-Creston-Keller was “eliminating mistakes.”
“A big focus was eliminating mistakes,” he said. “Last week, we turned the ball over four or five times, kind of inopportune moments – well not that there's ever a good time to turn it over.”
The visiting Wildcats put points on the board first on a three-yard rushing score by Preston Michel, soon matched by the first of Pitts’ touchdowns to tie the game at 8 after two-point conversions. The Warriors and Wildcats traded touchdowns and were tied at 24 before the Wildcats scored on a 35-yard touchdown pass to take a 30-24 lead into halftime.
“We knew going in it was gonna be a close game and so that was kind of gonna come down to who had the ball last or who made the last stop,” Walsh said. “And the kids, the kids responded to that.”
Wilbur-Creston-Keller added another touchdown on a two-yard run to take a 38-24 lead in the third quarter. Down 44-40 entering the fourth quarter, Pitts completed his lone pass of the night on a 20-yard throw to receiver Cody Allsbrook to give ACH its first lead and go up 48-44.
“We played our most complete game of the season last night,” Walsh said.
The final eight minutes saw four lead changes with ACH and Wilbur-Creston-Keller matching each other’s touchdowns. With 68 seconds remaining in the game, Grayson Beal scored on a 20-yard run and gave the Warriors a 60-58 lead late in the fourth quarter.
“It's crazy, is what it's like,” Walsh said. “Stressful, but fun. I mean, our kids, they rose to the occasion and we got that last stop.”
With the win, ACH moved to a 5-2 record with one game remaining on the schedule. The Warriors will travel to Odessa on Saturday for the regular season finale, with kickoff at 2 p.m.
“Really, we want to improve on the things we got better on this week,” Walsh said. “I mean, with all these young guys that we got, it's learning how to win. They took a 12-point lead on us, how do we respond? (It’s) the mental part of it.”
Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.
