Minden was the 12-7 winner over Cozad when they last played one another back in October of 2023, but their luck changed this time around. The Minden Whippets fell 20-7 to the Cozad Haymakers on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Whippets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska football rankings (they are ranked 76th, while the Haymakers are ranked 20th).
Despite the loss, Minden saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Parker Hatch rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 108 yards on 12 of 23 attempts. The dominant performance gave Hatch a new career-high in rushing yards.
Noah Shoemaker continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Cozad, rushing for 160 yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing for 152 yards and a touchdown. Shoemaker didn't just play on offense: he also made eight total tackles and defended two passes.
This is the second loss in a row for Minden and nudges their season record down to 3-6. As for Cozad, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 7-2.
Minden does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Cozad, they are taking a road trip to challenge Boys Town at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Boys Town's defense has only allowed 10.1 points per game this season, so Cozad's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
