Another exciting chapter to the Ansley/Litchfield vs Anselmo-Merna football rivalry was written Thursday night at Clark Adams Field in Merna. The Spartans jumped out to 14-0 nothing lead early on thanks to two touchdown runs by Hunter Arehart. AM would come back to tie with touchdown runs by Carter Johnson and Cort West. Hunter Arehart would score again with 3:59 remaining in the 2nd quarter to make the score 20-14 at halftime. As the third quarter started to come to a close, Anselmo-Merna would take their first lead of the game on a 16 yard touchdown run by Carter Johnson and a two point conversion to make the score 22-20. The turning point in the game came with 9:59 to go in the fourth when Ansley/Litchfield’s Calvin Finley recovered an AM fumble and returned it 52 yards to put the Spartans back in front. On the following possession Anselmo-Merna would turn it over again and the Spartans would cash in on an 18 yard touchdown run by Cooper Slingsby to make the score 34-22. The Coyotes would quickly get back in it though thanks to a 54 yard touchdown run by Bryce Schmidt to climb to within six with 8:27 to go in the game. The score would stay that way until the final play of the game as Ansley/Litchfield intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown to make the final score 40-28. Hunter Arehart finished with 58 yards rushing and Cooper Slingsby had 55 to lead the Spartans running attack. Carter Johnson had a huge night running the ball finishing with 162 yards on the ground to lead the Coyotes.
Ansley/Litchfield Takes Advantage of Anselmo-Merna Turnovers and Holds on to Edge Coyotes
