Sabetha Channel Broadcast – ACCHS vs. Sabetha – click here to watch.

Despite three turnovers in the first half, the Sabetha BlueJays football team remained undefeated on the season with a dominant second half performance in a 57-8 rout of ACCHS Friday night in Effingham.

Things didn’t start well for the Bluejays, as the Tigers and head coach Corey Thomas elected to go with an onside kick to begin the game which caught Sabetha off-guard.

The ACCHS offense, though, wasn’t able to capitalize on the great starting field position going three-and-out without gaining a yard. Sabetha made the Tigers pay, as Joe Gruber ran for 55 yards before Wyatt Beyer finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to put the Bluejays up 7-0 just over two minutes into the contest.

The Tigers would go on to force Sabetha into three turnovers in the first half recovering a muffed punt, a fumble and an interception, but couldn’t get anything going offensively compiling just 54 total yards in the first two quarters.

Sabetha overcame the three giveaways scoring two more times in the first half, as Joe Gruber scored from seven yards out midway through the first quarter before Brandon Brownlee capped off the second quarter with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Riley Herrmann to make the score 21-0 in favor of the Bluejays at halftime.

Sabetha wasted no time putting the nail in the coffin in the third quarter, as Joe Gruber rushed for a 40-yard score less than two minutes into the second half to put the Bluejays up 28-0. Sabetha would score three more times in the third quarter on a 5-yard run by Gabe Garber and a pair of touchdown runs by Mason Engelken of 35 and eight yards.

Engelken capped off the Bluejays scoring with a 56-yard touchdown run to begin the fourth quarter, while the Tigers only score came on a 45-yard scoop and score by Trystin Myers late in the fourth quarter for the second consecutive week.

Sabetha finished the contest with just under 500 yards of total offense, while holding ACCHS to under 100. Joe Gruber led the way once again for the Bluejays rushing for 122 yards and two touchdowns on just four carries, while Mason Engelken added 113 yards and three scores on just five carries.

The victory kept Sabetha (6-0, 5-0 Big 7) undefeated heading into a huge matchup with also unbeaten Nemaha Central (6-0, 5-0) next week in week one of district play, while ACCHS (0-6, 0-5) looks to pick up win No. 1 on the season at Maranatha (1-5, 1-4 NEKL).