Swifts edge out Kangaroos

The Nazareth Swifts won a nail biter against the Kress Kangaroos in the final seconds of the game, 41-40, this past Friday, advancing them to a spot in the playoffs.

The Swifts scored the first down on a 1- yard rush and touchdown by Luke Schulte, putting them on the board 6-0.

Kress came back with a touchdown and extra points on a pass, to take the lead 8-6.

Schulte again scored on a 1-yard rush, with extra points from Will Young to take the lead as the first quarter ended, 13-8.

The second quarter, Sterl Welps scored on a 2-yard rush to widen the Naz lead, 19-8. Schulte followed with another touchdown on a 16-yard rush, to push the Swifts to 25-8.

Kress answered with touchdown to narrow the Swifts’ lead at halftime to 25-14.

Kress got scoring underway in the third quarter with 53- yard rush and touchdown, putting the score at 25-20.

Naz rolled in with another touchdown on a 4-yard rush and extra points by Trent Gerber, widening the lead to 33- 20.

Kress offense went to work in the fourth quarter, scoring two touchdowns and taking the lead, 33-40.

The Swifts scored in the final minutes on a Schulte 4- yard rush, and Gerber pushed the team over the top with extra points, giving Nazareth a hard-earned win, 41-40.

Nazareth logged in 21 first downs, 58 rushes for 326 yards, five receptions for 46 yards, one fumble and five penalties for 38 yards and 11 tackles.

Passing leaders were Trent Gerber with three of seven completions for 35 yards; and Luke Schulte, two of two completions for 11 yards.

Top receivers were Brett Heitschmidt with two receptions for 29 yards; Sterl Welps, one reception for 11 yards; and Owen Dyer, one reception for 6 yards.

Rushing leaders were Luke Schulte with 42 rushes for 279 yards and four touchdowns; Sterl Welps, seven rushes for 29 yards and one touchdown; and Will Young, seven rushes for 26 yards and one touchdown.

Defensive leaders were Trent Gerber with four tackles; Will Young, two tackles; Luke Schulte, three tackles; and Kayle Rogers, two tackles.

Current standings in the district, according to MaxPreps, have Nazareth leading the conference play with a 6-2, 2- 0 record, followed by Springlake-Earth, Kress, Lorenzo and Petersburg, respectively.

The Swifts will play their next home conference game against Springlake this Friday.