By Brice Cherry

Tribune-Herald youth sports editor

Any loss stings a little. But Midway’s loss to the Stephenville Yellow Jackets had a sting that could last a while.

Third-ranked Stephenville put a considerable hurting on the Panthers, not only handing them a 41-7 beatdown in the opener of the H-E-B Heart O’Texas Kickoff Classic, but also taking out Midway’s starting quarterback in the process.

Junior Todd Glaesmann injured his wrist when his throwing hand hit a Stephenville defender’s helmet early in the second quarter, and didn’t play the rest of the game. And though sophomore Corey Holmes showed some nice touch at times — especially on an 11-yard touchdown fade toss that produced the Panthers’ only score — he couldn’t escape the ever-swarming Yellow Jackets.

“Todd’s a leader, and besides that, he’s a really good football player,” Midway coach Kent Bachtel said. “It really hurt when he went down.”

Midway (0-1), which opened last season’s Kickoff Classic with a stunning upset of Ennis, got off to a decent start in its quest to script a sequel, playing Stephenville to a scoreless stalemate after a quarter.

But the good vibes of the first 12 minutes quickly evaporated at the start of the second quarter. On the first play, Midway junior running back John Hubert bobbled and fumbled a pitch from Glaesmann deep in his own territory, and Stephenville defensive tackle Wayne Viotto fell on the ball at the Panther 2. Stephenville’s Brad Mills punched the ball in a play later to put the Yellow Jackets up, 7-0.

On Midway’s ensuing possession, Glaesmann — who had completed four of his first five passes — dropped back on a second-and-five play and smacked his wrist on a charging Yellow Jacket’s helmet while following through on a pass. The quarterback played only two more snaps before taking a seat for the remainder of the game.

Bachtel was unsure of Glaesmann’s future status after the game, but said that a couple of doctors on the Midway sideline presumed that the quarterback could be out until the start of district play in mid-October.

Stephenville upped its lead to 14-0 when Mills slid through a massive crevice created by the Yellow Jacket line, then scooted 33 yards for a touchdown with 8:26 left in the quarter.

Three minutes later, the Yellow Jackets struck again, as Josh Emmons burst through to block Holmes’ punt attempt, which bounced down inside the Midway 5, where it was scooped up by Stephenville’s Travis Haschke for an easy touchdown. That breakdown was not aided by the absence of Glaesmann, Midway’s regular punter.

The Panthers picked up a bit of steam heading into the halftime locker room. Midway converted a huge fourth-and-four play with just over two minutes left in the half, when Holmes hit Hubert on a perfectly executed screen pass that gained 30 yards to the Stephenville 16.

Three plays later, Holmes lofted a pretty fade pass that turned downright beautiful when receiver Germaine Gilbert outjumped Stephenville’s Chris Malone in the end zone for the touchdown.

“I thought that might have turned the momentum,” Bachtel said. “If we could have just come out of the locker room and gotten a stop, that would have helped our confidence.”

Instead, Stephenville squirreled the game away with a methodical eight-play, 60-yard scoring drive.

Stephenville 41, Midway 7

Midway 0 7 0 0 — 7

Stephenville 0 21 20 0 — 41

Second quarter

Stephenville—Brad Mills 2 run (Mills kick), 11:49

Stephenville— Mills 33 run (Mills kick), 8:26

Stephenville— Haschke 4 blocked punt return (Mills kick), 5:38

Midway—Germaine Gilbert 11 pass from Corey Holmes (Ryan Kelly kick), 0:44

Third quarter

Stephenville— Trey Taylor 2 run (Mills kick), 8:17

Stephenville— Colby Lozano 2 run (Mills kick), 6:04

Stephenville — Mills 44 run (kick blocked), 2:37

Stephenville Midway

First Downs 14 9

Rushes-Yards 33-211 32-70

Comp-Att-Int 9-14-1 11-23-1 Passing Yards 99 116

Total Yards 310 186

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 3-22 2-10

Punts-Avg 2-43.5 5-35.2

Individual Stats

Rushing

Stephenville — Brad Mills 10-120, 3 TDs; Kody Spano 6-38; Trey Taylor 5-19, TD; Hayden Whiteley 3-10; Colby Lozano 5-19, TD; Colton Diffie 3-10; Micah Smith 1-(-5)

Midway —John Hubert 22-80; Todd Glaesmann 4-(-3); Josh Williams 2-5; Brian Hannan 1-1; Corey Holmes 3-(-13)

Passing

Stephenville — Kody Spano 8-11-1, 103 yards; Micah Smith 1-3-0, minus-4 yards

Midway — Todd Glaesmann 4-6-0, 57 yards; Corey Holmes 6-16-1, 59 yards, 1 TD; Brian Hannan 1-1-0, 7 yards

Receiving

Stephenville — Trey Taylor 1-7; Josh Graves 4-61; Dakota Mathis 1-16; Jordan Fornes 1-6; Colby Lozano 1-(-4)

Midway —Matt Davis 1-7; Trey Graham 5-61; Brian Hannan 2-9; John Hubert 1-30; Germaine Gilbert 1-11, TD; Kyle Matthews 1-5