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KENMARE - For one half of football, Jeff Rasmussen and the Washburn Cardinals threw the ball all over the yard.

In the second half, Kenmare-Bowbells-Burke County grounded the Cardinals.

Washburn scored 34 first-half points, but K-B-BC shut out the Cardinals in the second half on its way to a 48-34 win in the opening round of the 9-man playoffs.

"Our defense, which for the most part is a lot of the same guys on offense, they really stepped up in the second half and took away their passing game," Honkers head coach Courtney Seime said. "We made (Rasmussen) scramble a little bit. The first half he stood back there and just picked us apart. Thirty-four in one half to zero in the second half, that's a big turnaround."

Rasmussen and the Cardinals passing attack was virtually unstoppable in the first half. Rasmussen completed his first 11 passes and racked up 233 first-half yards through the air.

He also passed for four touchdowns and ran for one score as Washburn hit the locker room with a 34-26 lead.

"He's done that all year," Washburn head coach Pete Moe said. "He sees the field so well and he can hurt you with his legs as well."

But the Honkers grinded out the game in the second half, scoring three times while holding Washburn scoreless to take the win in muddy conditions at Kenmare High School Field.

The Cardinals led for most of the first half by two touchdowns of the first half, but the Honkers rallied to make a few stops and cut the Washburn advantage to just eight points heading to the locker room.

"That was real big, when we got those stops" Honkers running back Jacob Costello said. "If came from our D-line, most of them were on our O-line and it got them going. They started to get their blocks and opened up some holes for us. Once we knew they couldn't stop our push going up the middle, we just kept that going."

K-B-BC took that momentum into the second half, scoring on its second possession of the third quater. Ross Schumacher finished off a long drive with a 3-yard TD run.

"I think (wearing them down was the key)," Seime said. "Washburn's a good ballclub. At halftime we were down 2 touchdowns, we had to make some adjustments in the second half."

K-K-BC continued to ride the running of Jacob Costello and fullback Nathan Costello, as well as Schumacher. Jacob Costello finished with 277 yards and three TDs. Seime said the Honkers push at the line of scrimmage was the key.

"At halftime, I told the guys, 'lineman, we're following you boys,' " Seime said. "They pushed and my two backs in the backfield ran the ball hard. That's what it comes down to, one ballcarrier and eight lineman basically. In the second half, they realized we could push them around."

After seeing Washburn score 34 first-half points and accumulate nearly 300 yards of total offense, the Honkers' defense took command in the second half.

The Cardinals were without two starting offensive linemen and Moe said that was tough to overcome as the game wore on.

"We just missed too many opportunities," Moe said. "It's tough to beat a good team when you're in second and 20. (Conditions) were certainly more condusive to their style of play."

Washburn201400 - 34

K-B-BC1214166 - 48

Washburn - Monty Johnson 7 pass from Jeff Rasmussen (PAT failed)

Washburn - Evan Eberle 12 pass from Rasmussen (Kier Vanderwal run)

K-B-BC - Ross Schumacher 5 run (PAT failed)

Washburn - Rasmussen 16 run (PAT failed)

K-B-BC - Jacob Costello 10 run (PAT failed)

Washburn - Vanderwal 30 pass from Rasmussen (Rasmussen run)

K-B-BC - Costello 40 run (PAT failed)

Washburn - Johnson 63 pass from Rasmussen (PAT failed)

K-B-BC - Costello 26 run (Costello run)

K-B-BC - Schmacher 3 run (Costello run)

K-B-BC - Clay Nelson 34 pass from Schumacher (Costello run)

K-B-BC - Schumacher 35 run (PAT failed)

Highlights: Rushing - Washburn: Rasmussen 23-47; K-B-BC: Costello 32-277; Passing - Washburn: Rasmussen 18-28-0 - 274; K-B-BC: Schmacher 1-5-0 - 32; Receiving - Washburn: Vanderwal 7-120; K-B-BC: Nelson 1-32.