In what turned out to be a welcome change of fortune following two years of winless football, the Plains Horsemen put a thick layer of icing on the victory cake with a resounding 77-26 road win over Darby Thursday afternoon.

It didn’t look promising for the visiting Horsemen who fell behind 6-0 when the Tigers took the opening kickoff the distance on a 54-yard romp into the Plains end zone. They missed the point after touchdown (PAT) try but were out front first in the scoring festival that was about to take place.

Their lead did not last long as Plains junior quarterback Darren Standeford broke loose on the Horsemen’s first possession and galloped down the sidelines on a 51-yard touchdown run two plays later. The Horsemen PAT try was good and in the wink of an eye Plains was up 8-6.

There was more, a lot more, to come from the Plains offense, which won their third game of the season in this, their season-ender. The ensuing kickoff, a squibber that trickled through the Darby line, was recovered by Plains on the 27 yard line. On the next play from scrimmage, Standeford connected with Nick Hill on a touchdown pass. The PAT was no good, but Plains extended their lead to 14-8. The Horsemen followed that touchdown with another one on their next possession, this time a 71-yard catch and run from Standeford to Aden West. The PAT was successful and with lots of time left in the opening quarter, the Horsemen had built a 22-6 lead.

The Standeford to West connection lit up the scoreboard a short time later in the first quarter, this time on a 30 yard scoring pass. The PAT try was good and the Horsemen were out in front 30-6.

Darby fought back on their next turn with the ball in the form of a 51-yard kick return touchdown run. A failed PAT try put the score at 30-12 in favor of Plains.

Plains coach Mike Tatum then reached into the trick plays bag for a reverse that resulted in a 43-yard touchdown. The PAT was good and with time running out in the first quarter, Plains held a 38-12 lead.

The Horsemen scored again before the half ended, this time on a 1 one touchdown pass by Standeford. It was the fifth touchdown Standeford had a hand in and boosted the first quarter score to 45-12.

Plains got the ball back early on in the second quarter with much the same results. Standeford broke loose outside and scampered 33 yards for a TD. The PAT kick was good and Plains’ lead rose to 52-12. With the Mercy rule clock running mostly non-stop the rest of the game, Plains still found time to add to their huge lead. Standeford threw another one-yard TD pass that, coupled with a through the uprights PAT kick, boosted the Horsemen to a 59-12 advantage.

Darby struck back on their next possession, and scored on a 44-yard run play. The two-point run PAT cut the Plains lead to 59-20.

With time running out in the first half, the Horsemen struck again, this time via a 10-yard touchdown run by senior fullback Will Tatum. The PAT kick was no good, but as the first half came to an end, Plains was up 65-20.

Plains added two more touchdowns in the second half, one on a nine yard run by Standeford, the other 15 yard TD throw from Standeford to Zeph Dines. Darby would add one more six pointer of their own in the second half, a 12-yard drive-capping run that produced the final 77-26 score.

Standeford finished with a team high 97 yards rushing and 247 yards passing.

After the game, coach Tatum, who is in his second stint as Plains head coach, having coached the team several years ago, said he felt confident the Horsemen would have a solid final game of the year.

“We went down there (Darby) with pretty good confidence,” Tatum said. “We gave up the touchdown on the opening kickoff, so I figured I’d see how the Horsemen would do being behind within the first few seconds of the game. We responded admirably. Darren Standeford scrambled 51 yards for our first touchdown and that was all she wrote”.

Tatum had high praise for Horsemen on both sides of the ball.

“Beau Crabb on defense was a beast, knifing through the Darby line multiple times from his linebacker position for several tackles behind the line of scrimmage,” he said. “He was also the cause of two Darby fumbles and led the team with seven tackles. Aden West had six tackles and also caused a fumble”

And despite the gaudy numbers put up by several players on the offensive side of the ball, Tatum reserved special words for one particular player.

“The highlight came from Konrad Maicher, our German exchange student,” he said. “He has tried to kick an extra point off and on all season without success. He connected on his first three in the Darby game. He was so excited along with the rest of the team”.