Gonna Know We Were Here

Sometimes the nights where you think there aren’t as many great games on tap lead to the postgame drive home that makes you go, “Whoa.” Statement win. We had a few of those with Ella on Friday night; she reads me the NE Score Feed and controls the Spotify. That’s why the newsletter can be so fun. Let’s go find a few games and chat about them, shall we?

Time for our Saturday morning trip around the state. It probably won’t take as long as York’s trek back home from one of those statement wins — 14-10 over Scottsbluff out in the panhandle.

Let’s go to work.

Wild One

DUNCAN FIELD: There is something about a sunset at Duncan Field.

And, Friday’s homecoming version was a 12/10. The football game, might have been better. Class C-2, No. 10 St. Cecilia 29, No. 3 Bishop Neumann 25. An all-timer between the bricks.

The game, in essence, came down to conversions. St. Cecilia had five points and Neumann just one.

And, oh, that final drive by St. Cecilia. Just prior, Conor Booth’s fourth touchdown helped Neumann return from down 22-13 to ahead 25-22 with 6:40 left in the game.

The Hawks had a final chance.

“We just always talk about, it doesn’t matter (the situation) we attack,” Bluehawk mentor Clint Head said after the game. “After they scored, we just kind of said, ‘if you hang your head, it’s over so let’s just go play it out.’”

That they did. It took 17 plays. It took 6 minutes and 14 seconds, but it ended perfectly. A Chase Evans screen pass to running back Quinn Rosno — they had done most of the heavy lifting all night — for a 9-yard game winner with 26 seconds left.

The Hawks faced four third downs on the drive and Evans executed masterfully. A 19-yard out to Jenson Anderson with 9 yards to go, an 8-yard bulldog run with 4 yards to go, stopped short on 3rd-and-2 with under a minute left but came back to convert fourth down. The game winner was on third-and-goal.

Evans might need a whirlpool. He was 10-for-21 passing for 171 yards, with six balls going to Anderson for 117 yards. He ran 28 times for 145 yards and three more touchdowns. Rosno added 95 yards on 20 totes as the Bluehawks racked up 411 yards.

For as much as he wanted to praise his offense, Head was just as pleased with the defensive effort that held the Nebraska commit Booth — he’s really, really good — to 124 yards on 24 carries, but he also had a 95-yard touchdown catch on a short swing pass that gave Neumann a 13-7 second quarter lead.

Still, the Cavs got just 36 plays from scrimmage all night.

“I am not sure if Braxton Wiles had a tackle tonight, but he did everything we asked of him to turn that sweep back inside,” Head said. “They just live on that play and he defended it so well and Dawson Kissinger had a heck of a game defensively, too.”

It was a wild one, with crazy momentum swings and big plays from both teams. It was exactly what high school football is all about.

GAME THREAD // POST-GAME WITH COACH HEAD

The Rest of Friday

JAYS FIGHT BACK: Mike Sautter has found himself right in the middle of trying to handicap the Class C-1 race. On Friday, in the Pinnacle Bank Game-of-the-Week he got his eyes on two more teams as No. 6 Pierce moved to 3-1 with a 37-28 win over No. 3 Omaha Roncalli.

In a back-and-forth game that saw Roncalli lead 28-24, Pierce got the go-ahead touchdown from Keenan Valverde with just over three minutes left. Then, the Bluejay defense got a stop and Valverde made another house call on 4th and 2 with under a minute left for the final tally.

Mike Sautter with Pierce coach Darin Suckstorf after the game and some final thoughts on the Bluejay victory.

STATEMENT NO. 1: Millard South is playing well enough to make sure no one is “crowning” Omaha Westside just yet. The Patriots will get after you defensively and it showed in a 38-7 win over Gretna on Friday night. Game thread // Post-game with Dylan Kuhl // KETV Highlights

STATEMENT NO. 2: Omaha Skutt has bounced back nicely enough from that crazy Week One ending with defending champion Bennington. The No. 3 Skyhawks moved to 3-1 with an 45-0 blitzing of No. 8 Elkhorn behind three Bennett Turman touchdowns. Jacob Padilla game thread

ANOTHER WESTSIDE WIN IN PICTURES

STATEMENT NO. 3: Most might have chalked up Bellevue West’s trip to No. 4 Kearney as a potential yawner. And, despite not having Isaiah McMorris and Dae’von Hall, the Birds had a chance. However, Jake Kracl’s field goal with just under 90 seconds left capped his 3-for-3 night and allowed Kearney to escape, 16-14. Recap

STATEMENT NO. 4: Class D-2, No. 1 South Loup scored a 48-34 win over No. 4 Sandhills/Thedford on Friday night. From the reports we got, it sounded like a mid-November game. The QBs were fantastic: Trey Connell had 37 carries and 307 yards (seven total TDs) for South Loup and Kyle Cox ran for 101 yards and threw for 180 more (five total TDs) for S/T.

WHOA: Some final scores that caught our eye — Fillmore Central 35, Wilber-Clatonia 13 (not many do that to the Wolverines); Central Valley 75, Elm Creek 6 (impressive statement from the Cougars); Boone Central 19, DC West 14 (are the Falcons as real as that score says?); Shelby-Rising City 38, Clarkson/Leigh 14 (the Huskies announce themselves as a multi-win playoff team); Pawnee City 58, Red Cloud 22 (huge ranked-on-ranked win for PC).

ALL THE SCORES // PLAYOFF POINT LEADERS

Quick Hitters

A LITTLE VOLLEYBALL: Class A, No. 1 Papillion-LaVista South and No. 2 Lincoln Southwest headline the Gold Bracket of the 16-team Lincoln Public Schools invite after pool play. Pairings Class C-1, No. 1 Minden and No. 2 Gothenburg both went 3-0 on day one of the Harvest Festival in Gothenburg. WEEKLY VOLLEYBALL SCORES // VOLLEYBALL POWER POINTS

NERDING OUT: The Prep Running Nerd Nerdsletter just missed making it in our Wednesday newsletter, so you get it here. And, if you love running (and the running community) it’s well worth your time. Today is a fun day for running fans today as Nebraska and Nebraska Wesleyan co-host the Greeno Invitational at Mahoney Golf Course. You’ll see some great runners if you have a chance to go. All the cool nerds (and newsletter writers) will be there. WEEKLY RESULTS // WEEK TWO INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

ON THE DIAMOND: Both Papillion-LaVista and Omaha Westside are hosting invites this weekend. Loads of updates with @nebraskahssb on Twitter. And, a new Coaches Poll (linked) was released on Thursday.

MORE: ALL THE SCORES // NSAA POWER POINTS // NEBPREPS.COM COACHES POLL 

NO TYPO: Sometimes you just post the tweet and let the reader read it. Yes, Broken Bow’s Camryn Johnson shot a 65 in North Platte on Thursday. 65? Like, what?

Parting Shot: Something You Love

CHERISH MOMENTS: These Friday’s, these years, they go quick. If you are reading the Newsletter and you have a child playing high school sports, don’t miss these memories for the world. Our family has so many great lessons and memories made through sports (and activities), it’s hard to keep track.

But, it’s also hard to really appreciate them too. Especially in the hustle and bustle of keeping up with life and trying to keep one foot in front of the other. At our house, we are in the midst of a running season and having so much fun. There is nothing quite like seeing the joy of well run race, where you know you gave your absolute best.

We are also in the middle of difficult — rehabbing a torn ACL, too. That’s not so enjoyable and it’s definitely not easy. But, we have had a chance to hang out on the sidelines a little this fall and there is not much the writer would trade for that either.

We saw a good one last night, Ella. One your grandpa would have certainly enjoyed. In a very special place to play and watch football.

What would he have said if he would have seen Conor Booth? “Boy, heck of a football player.”

And, all those runs by the Bluehawks and the long drives for touchdowns — with nothing too fancy about it? “Don’t ever try to outsmart anybody.”

So moms, keep putting those sweatshirts on with your boys number on the back. I promise he won’t tell you how cool it is now, but he will when he gets married and has kids of his own. Dads, you too. Even if your boy misses a tackle or makes a mistake he wasn’t trying to make. Know that he’s learning life on the football field.

Yeah, these memories, these moments, they come to us when we might not even know it. When you get to watch a game with some you love, and someone you miss. Someone smiling down on a perfect Nebraska football night.