Staying Dry

Look, it wasn’t a perfect football Friday (stat sheets were a chore didn’t make it through the first quarter), especially if you were ill-prepared for what was thrown your way. But, man, if you were a lineman and the game was decided right where you work — in the rain and the mud, or that rubber field turf — Friday night was just glorious.

At halftime, we hit the halfway point of the high school regular season and now we are on the downhill slide. Some more big wins for many teams across the state and now we can even start looking at score comparisons a bit more to see where the playoffs (might) shake out. That’s our job; not the coaches.

Let’s take that Saturday morning trip around the state. And give us a follow on social media — Twitter and Instagram — as we’ll have a video recap of each Friday Night Drive game during the season. Last week, “between the bricks.”

Sometimes You Just Survive

NORTH ROAD, HALL COUNTY: Northwest football coach Kevin Stein wasn’t counting, but he knew it had been seven years since his Vikings had beaten Scottsbluff. Not many expected Friday’s result to be any different.

Sixth-ranked Scottsbluff. The team that lines it up and runs it right at you.

And Northwest. You know. One win, three losses. Played four ranked opponents but can never seem to beat them consistently.

Yet there was Kevin Stein on Friday night, well past 10:00 (this was a doozy) hugging his mom, Marcia (and others), after the Vikings 35-34 win over the Bearcats. Yeah, Kevin Stein’s mom has seen a few football games in her day. She had to walk away from this one for a little bit.

“Thursday night MACtion football,” the coach quipped after the teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards in two completely different ways. There are multiple ways to win a football game, and maybe Coach Stein’s mom just wanted to see someone — anyone — make a tackle.

Hey, you step in front of Sebastien Boyle. You try to chase down Chase Wiegert.

This one had it all, literally. The Vikings were outgained 487-469, they botched the end of the first half going in to tie the score at 21. Nonetheless, they scratched and fought and clawed their way in the final 24 minutes.

They got even for a second time at 21 on their opening possession of the third quarter. Quarterback Cam Jensen hit Joe Stein crossing the field and he bullied his way for a 29-yard score. Then, the Viking defense got a stop and NW used the rest of the third quarter to take their first lead when Lincoln Flagle scored from the one with 44 seconds left in the period. Flagle had 139 yards on the ground, most of them after halftime.

“Defensively (against Scottsbluff) it’s just the little things — pad level, effort, tackle, rally to the ball,” he said. “With what Scottsbluff does you just have to load the box up, roll the dice and stop them.”

When both units clicked, it gave the Vikings just enough cushion to survive. After another stop the offense went to work again and Jensen — who connected with Wiegert on 59 and 66-yard pass plays in the first half — scored from the one for a 35-21 lead.

“Offensively, we made three small, but critical adjustments in the second half,” Stein said. “When we were throwing the ball so well, they had to get guys out of the box to help, that allowed us to run the ball in the second half.”

There was 9:07 left. You thought Scottsbluff was done? Ha.

It only took them two minutes to answer when quarterback Nate Kelley threw 42 yards to Carson Reisig. “I couldn’t believe how fast they scored,” Stein said.

On Northwest’s next possession (we told you it was a wild one), a touchdown was called back on a hold, the Vikings drove deep into the Bearcat territory only to have a snap sail over Jensen’s head and then he was sacked on a third and long. Punt, in a game that didn’t have many.

The Bearcats needed seven points. They were 95 yards and 4:13 away, with just one timeout. Boyle — he had 115 yards on 24 carries — scored from the 3 with 1:20 left. But, Keon Delgado’s kick hit the right upright.

Northwest recovered the onside kick. Just survive. Marcia Stein could open her eyes again.

“Kids need a shot in the arm,” coach said. “We have been in every game for these first five games. To squeak out two of them, we’ll take it.”

The Rest of Friday

DOMINATION: Eight-man style for our friend Mike Sautter on Friday night for the Pinnacle Bank Game-of-the-Week and Class D-2, No. 5 Johnson-Brock made life miserable for sixth-ranked Nebraska City Lourdes in a 47-0 home win.

Quarterback Sloan Pelican accounted for four touchdowns for J-B (three passing and one rushing) as the Eagles jumped on the Knights quickly, leading 28-0 at the half before cruising to the victory. Eagles coach Mitch Roberts with the perfect words at halftime: “Playmakers make plays and we are making them right now.”

The Eagles put themselves squarely in the state title picture with the win. Sautter postgame with Pelican.

BADGER OF A DEFENSE: If we have figured out a few things over the first five weeks, it’s that defending Class B champion Bennington has a heck of a defense. They showed it again on Friday night in a 28-7 win over No. 8 Elkhorn. Heck, they even scored in winning their 31st straight game with a Kyler Lauridsen pick-six in the third quarter. Game thread // KETV Highlights Also: Elkhorn North with a big win over Omaha Westview

In Class A, the yawners began to open district play with six shutouts and, by a quick count, seven games that featured the running clock. The best game…

THURSDAY NIGHT: A big come-from-behind 20-16 win for Omaha North over Omaha Central. HIGHLIGHTS 

PICK CITY: If we dug through Twitter correctly, Class C-2, No. 3 Oakland-Craig intercepted No. 10 Hartington Cedar Catholic four times and then hung on for a 24-21 win. Also in Class C-2, No. 6 Bishop Neumann bounced back from a final minute loss last week, to upend No. 5 Yutan 28-20.

ODDS AND ENDS: Sidney makes history, moves to 5-0 with 28-0 blanking of McCook. Keenan Valverde — good at football and collecting crowns. On the board, Millard North gets first win of season over No. 8 Lincoln Southeast.

ALL THE SCORES // 10-11 Sports Overtime

Quick Hitters

ALMOST OVER: The Nebraska high school softball season nears it’s regular season completion over the next week and we will head to postseason play the first week of October. Amazing how fast it goes. Gretna continues on their roll in Class A and is one of four teams nationally ranked from Nebraska in the NFCA Summer/Fall Coaches Poll. This week the Dragons check in at second. Also ranked are Millard North, Lincoln East and Papillion-LaVista. MORE: ALL THE SCORES // NSAA POWER POINTS // NEBPREPS.COM COACHES POLL  

RUNNING (AND READY FOR KEARNEY): Most of the state’s cross country teams will travel to Kearney on Monday for the annual UNK Invitational at Kearney Country Club — a sort of state preview if you will. You’ll get awesome full coverage from the Prep Running Nerd team (we hear that Nerd Bird will be there) so it could be cool video time again.

Before that, do yourself a favor and read this story about Millard North Middle School runner Memphis Zabawa and the people who are part of his amazing story of survival. The running community is a special group of caring people. This story exemplifies that.

WOLVES WIN AT INDIAN CREEK: 2022 Class B runner-up and 2023 Nebraska Junior Amateur champion Julia Karamzin won the Elkhorn Invitational at Indian Creek earlier in the week with a 1-under par 71 as the Wolves (335) took the team crown by four shots over Class A Elkhorn South and Omaha Westside (339).

Parting Shot: Fighting the Elements

FOOTBALL WEATHER: The Newsletter hates watching high school football from the press box, even when it’s a quagmire outside. If counting, over almost 25 years of games, we can probably tell you we have hit the press box less than a dozen times. (They are a few cold weather doozy’s that come to mind.)

And, so it’s time we bring out our favorite weather story for the people. Year one. Fall, 1998. The young Clay County News sports editor has requested a ride to the Sutton at Hebron game on a cool, rainy early October night. The ride is from a writing mentor at the Hastings Tribune.

“You might want to bring a plastic bag so you can SEE your stats and keep them dry,” he told me earlier in the day. (All caps added) Good idea, I thought.

When we land in Hebron, I am ready to go. Camera in the bag, stat sheet and clipboard locked in. New four-color pen. And, a BLACK trash bag to keep my stat sheet dry.

“How are you going to see your stats,” my Tribune friend asked? I remained awkwardly silent. But, I did nab those dry stat sheets and a fresh copy of the Hastings Tribune on Saturday morning.

My paper didn’t print until Wednesday. (Wink) Enjoy your weekend and thanks for coming along.