Edgemont Moguls Barely Lose to RCC Comets 24-23

by Barb Strozewski
The Moguls and Rapid City Christian Comets met on the football field at the Hart Ranch for the last game of the regular season, on Thursday, October 23, at 7 p.m.
Moguls received an on side kick for the first play of the game and Lane returned  the ball to the 45 yard line. No score was made on the first Mogul  possession and Hamaker ended up punting the ball  26 yards  to Comets 38 yard line. The Comets returned the ball down the field and after three first downs, they were on Edgemont’s 30 yard line. A sweep right was successful for the Comets to score a touchdown and make the conversion point for a score of 7 - 0.  The Comets, after failing to get a first down, punted to the Moguls 25 yard line.  Lathen Stevens returned the punt, running 75 yards for a touchdown.  Curl’s extra point was good and the score was tied at seven all with 9:20 remaining in the second quarter.  The kickoff was from Edgemont’s 40 yard line to the five yard line of the Comets. This possession of the Comets ended with them  making a touchdown and a two point conversion. The score was 15 - 7 Comets. The Moguls failed to score on their next possession and the Comets earned another three points with a field goal.  The score was then 18 - 7 Comets.
During the third quarter, Curl had a kickoff return of 55 yards and that placed the football on the Comets 5 yard line.  The Comets miss-handled the punt, Englebert recovered it in the end zone and took it in for the touchdown.  Stevens’ pass to Curl was good for the additional two points. The score now was 18-15 Comets. The Comets fumbled on a reverse play and the ball was recovered on Edgemont’s 41 by Ryan Simons. The Comets then forced Stevens to fumble on Edgemont’s 34. Swanson recovered a fumble in the end zone.  As you can tell both teams were playing hard to get and keep the ball, or strip the ball, or jostle it lose, anything to get possession of the football and score again.
The next score was by the Comets in the fourth quarter and was in the form of a touchdown with a flag on the play against the Moguls. The extra point went wide right for no completion.  Now the score was 24-15 Comets. The Comets  had put points on the scoreboard early on and were actually struggling to keep the persistent Moguls at bay.  This was evidenced by several plays in a row where there were penalties on the Comets including a ‘dead ball’ caused by a personal foul on the Comets. This play caused a Comet player  to be ejected from the game. The Moguls had begun their comeback and the score was advancing at an incredible rate with only three minutes left in the game.  After being charged with ‘delay of game’, the Comets kicked a ‘power kick’ to the two yard line of Edgemont. With 1:42 on the game clock, Stevens returned the kick from Edgemont’s two yard line to the Comets six yard line. Curl ran the six yards in for a touchdown. Stevens’ two point conversion was good. The score now was 24-23 Comets. Then Edgemont kicked on side to their 30 yard line and Stevens barely missed it.
The Moguls held the Comets as time ran down.  
The Moguls were tackling with lots of enthusiasm.  The receivers got hit from all angles.  Fans have a ton of admiration and respect for what you endure.
The fans would also like to tell the seniors thank you for giving your very best.  We will miss you guys!
To the rest of the team: “Thank you. We will see and support you next season.”

Fall River County Herald Star

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