Two dominant backs in Jason Heimes and Brock Jeannoutot are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Hartington-Newcastle Wildcats will be playing at home against the Bloomfield Bees at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
On Friday, Hartington-Newcastle earned a 46-36 win over Boyd County. The Wildcats pushed the score to 40-14 by the end of the third, a deficit the Spartans cut but never quite recovered from.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Heimes and Ben Schmitz. Heimes had a great game and rushed for 89 yards and four touchdowns. Meanwhile, Schmitz was balling out in the loss, rushing for 203 yards and a pair of scores on only 14 carries, while also throwing for 31 yards and one TD.
Meanwhile, Bloomfield got the win against Niobrara/Verdigre on Friday by a conclusive 52-26. The Bees might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matchups by 26 points or more this season.
Hartington-Newcastle better keep an eye on Keaten Gilsdorf. He was instrumental in Bloomfield's win, rushing for 88 yards and one touchdown. Those 88 rushing yards gave Gilsdorf a new career-high.
Bloomfield didn't let much get past them through the air: they limited Niobrara/Verdigre to a completion percentage of just 46.7%. The Bees have been improving in that area: they had allowed a completion percentage of 0.58 earlier this season, but they've only allowed one of 0.58 in their last three games.
Bloomfield pushed their record up to 6-1 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 47.0 points over those games. As for Hartington-Newcastle, their victory bumped their record up to 5-2.
Thursday's game might be decided on the ground. Hartington-Newcastle has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 225.1 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Bloomfield struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 273.4 rushing yards. There's a good chance Thursday's contest turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Hartington-Newcastle strolled past Bloomfield in their previous meeting back in October of 2024 by a score of 34-20. Will the Wildcats repeat their success, or do the Bees have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
