Sep. 24—DANUBE — The Renville County West football team really wanted to play Friday, if for no other reason than to wash away the sting from two straight tough losses.
And while the Jaguars will be awarded a forfeit victory, they aren’t exactly celebrating.
“We’re stuck with it,” RCW head coach Ryan Hebrink said.
RCW was scheduled to play Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart. BLHS announced Wednesday it would not be able to field a team.
“Due to low numbers, for various reasons, the football game this Friday at RCW has been canceled,” stated a tweet from the Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart Activities Twitter account.
BHLS (0-3) started the season with 13 varsity players. Hebrink said he watched video of the Mustangs’ 44-18 loss to Westbrook-Walnut Grove last Friday and saw one player in uniform standing next to the coach for the 9-Man game.
RCW tried to find a replacement for Friday’s game, which happened frequently last year because of the pandemic. But no 9-Man teams were to be found. Instead, the Jaguars will practice to get ready for their next game at 7 p.m. Oct. 1 at Hills-Beaver Creek (3-0).
“Fortunately, for us, it’s still another week of practice,” Hebrink said. “We can go back to some things during two-a-days that we were working on that maybe we hadn’t quite gotten down.
“It is what it is. We need to find something positive out of it. We’ll make the most of the extra practice time.”
The Jaguars are 1-2. They opened with a 26-8 victory over Westbrook-Walnut Grove, then lost to No. 1-ranked Mountain Lake 26-12 on Sept. 10 and fell 18-16 to Red Rock Central on Sept. 17.
Hebrink said his team believed they could have won both games, especially against RRC.
“We don’t feel like we played very well,” he said. “It was definitely a game we should’ve won.
“Mountain Lake has a great program.”
RCW has been led by quarterback A.J. Gasca. He’s the Jaguars’ leading rusher, having gained 211 yards and scoring two touchdowns on 34 carries, a 6.2 yards-per-carry average. Gasca also has completed 17 of 33 passes for 165 yards with one interception. That’s a 51.5% completion percentage.
Jasen Jansen (34 rushes, 166 yards, 4.9 average, 2 TDs), Jack Wertish (21-117-5.6-2), Luki Hale (19-72-3.8-0) and Tyler Amsden (5-42-8.4-0) also have been running threats for RCW.
Top receivers have been Isaac Haen (5 receptions, 84 yards, 16.8 average), Adam Schrupp (4-40-10.0), Amsden (4-15-3.8) and Hale (2-18-9.0).
RCW’s top tacklers have been Carter Rice (10 solo, 29 assisted), Jack Wertish (11-19), Amsden (16-13) and Haen (12-15). Rice has an interception and haen has two.
Hebrink said the Jaguars are gearing up for Hills-Beaver Creek. The Patriots are ranked sixth in the state poll by The Associated Press.
“We want to play good competition and they’re very good,” Hebrink said.