11/02/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE - Playing close playoff football contests seems to be the norm for the recent editions of the Nashville Hornets.

Saturday's 3A first round matchup against Stanford Olympia looked in the bag for the host Hornets as they led 34-20 with just 8:22 left in the game.

Coach Stephen Kozuszek, unfortunately, saw his club make some critical errors in the fourth quarter, allowing the Spartans to score a pair of quick touchdowns to go with a two-point conversion to take a 35-34 advantage with only 1:46 left.

The Spartans appeared to have stuck a dagger into Nashville by scoring twice in a two minute span to take the lead on runs by senior Cohen Alexander and sophomore Brendon Hardimon.

In between a fumble by Klingeman gave the Spartans back the ball that set up the Hardimon 25-yard run.

Alexander went 52-yards on his dash to the endzone as Olympia was on the verge of the seeding upset.

Nashville, however, put together a quick final drive of 60-yards in just four plays for the game winning score and a 42-35 victory to advance to the second round.

“Our kids didn't quit. They were in a bad spot (giving up the lead) but we got the return by Luessenheide that set us up,” said Coach Kozuszek. “He came up big for us with the huge interception and he made big plays. Whenever we needed a play he made it. He's been that way all year long.”

The Hornets will now face Greenville at home next Saturday after the Comets dispatched Fairfield in the opening round.

Nashville got four rushing touchdowns by senior quarterback Hayden Klingeman and two other rushing scores by senior running back Samuel Kollbaum in the triumph that improved the Hornets to 9-1 on the season.

Stanford Olympia, a member of the Sangamo Conference, saw its season close at 6-4.

Nashville led by two touchdowns twice during the contest, including scoring the first two TD's of the game.

Kollbaum set up the first Hornets' tally with a 42-yard run to the Olympia one-yard line before picking up his first score on a run a play later for a 7-0 advantage.

74-yard time consuming drive took 17-plays for the second score for Nashville with Kollbaum and Klingeman gaining most of the yardage.

Kollbaum scored his second TD again from a yard out to push the advantage to 14-0 with 11:21 left in the second quarter.

Olympia got on the board finally with a 67-yard run by Alexander setting up the Spartans to set up a first-and-goal at the Nashville eight.

Three plays later Alexander ended the drive with a three-yard touchdown and the subsequent PAT made it 14-7 Hornets.

Nashville struck back with a 50-yard drive after recovering an on-side kick and moving the ball with a 20-yard pass completion from Klingeman to senior tight end Daven Hug and culminated with a 13-yard scamper by Klingeman to push the lead back to two scores.

The Hornets were helped by a pair of defensive stops before the half on Olympia drives.

Senior defensive lineman Dilan Murray sacked Olympia quarterback Ian Tackett on a fourth-and-seven from the Nashville 38.

Then on the Spartans next possession, they drove into Hornets' territory with under a minute left in the half.

Hug, who also plays linebacker for Nashville, got to Tackitt on the final play of the half with another tackle for loss as the teams went to the break with the Hornets up 21-7.

Olympia score on the opening drive of the second half by pounding the ball inside to sophomore back Jimmy Loller.

The sophomore accounted for five of the seven runs in the 65-yard march, including a one-yard score the whittled the Nashville advantage to 21-14.

The Hornets increased the lead quickly on its next possession as three plays accumulated 62-yards.

The final 41 came on a run by Klingeman, who broke free down the left sideline for the long touchdown romp.

The PAT pushed it back to 28-14 at the 8:30 mark of the third quarter.

A five-yard pass from Tackett junior tight end Bobby Fairburn made it 28-20.

Sophomore kicker Kasey Salvator had his PAT kick blocked leaving Olympia down eight.

“We made a few adjustments on offense at halftime,” said Olympia head coach Eric Lyons. “We made some plays offensively and that's what we expect from our kids. They have tremendous character. They battled all year. We tell them we're never out of the game until the final whistle blows so to comeback and take a one-point lead says a lot about who they are.”

Following a Hornets' punt, Olympia failed on a fake punt that turned the ball back over to Nashville.

Facing a fourth-and-twelve from its own 38, Alexander took the snap from punt formation and took off up the field only to be stopped three-yards short on a tackle by senior defensive back Brance Luessenheide as the host took over at the Olympia 47.

Klingeman made the Spartans pay on the next play.

The senior sprinted past the first wave of defenders and headed down field into the endzone for a 47-yard score.

Although the PAT kick failed, the Hornets were looking good at 34-20.

Olympia had another drive stopped by the Nashville defense as Luessenheide intercepted a Tackett pass and returned it to the Hornets' 23.

The Spartans forced another punt and on the first play from scrimmage, Alexander took off to the right side of the field and went the distance to cut the lead to 34-27 with 3:33 left.

The fumble Nashville on a hand-off on the next series and the Hardimon run put the Hornets in a bad situation.

But the Nashville quick response, taking less than a minute gave the Hornets the win.

Luessenheide came up with a big kickoff return that got the Hornets to the Olympia 40.

A two-point conversion pass from Klingeman to Luessenheide put the hosts up by seven.

Olympia got to the Nashville 48 with just :04.1 left.

On the final play of the game, Tackett threw a long pass down the field that was incomplete as the Hornets' advanced.

Unofficially the Hornets were led by Kollbaum with 15-carries for 150-yards while Klingeman carried it 15-times for 166-yards.

Olympia ended up with two rushers with over 100-yards on the day.

Alexander came up with nine-carries for 209-yards while Loller rushed 21-times for 111-yards.

Hardimon ended up with 81-yards on 11-attempts.

“They (Nashville) are a very well coached team and you can tell why they have been to a couple of state championship games,” said Coach Lyons. “Their kids stepped up and made plays.”

Nashville's opponent next Saturday (Greenville) went 8-1 during the regular season and shared the South Central Conference championship with Vandalia and Pana.

The Comets' rolled past Fairfield 48-6 in the first round.

“It will be quite different (next week) today was 'ground and pound' but Greenville likes to throw it around,” said Coach Kozuszek. “It will be fun. Right now you're just playing for another week.”