The changing of the seasons, occurred shortly before 9:30 Friday night in York. It’s the Dukes’ favorite season — smack between fall and winter — playoff season.
The Dukes will officially find out their fate late Saturday morning for the 2014 Class B playoffs. It’s most likely a trip to Elkhorn to take on the currently second-ranked Antlers, but they were defeated on Friday night by third-ranked Omaha Skutt.
In the perfect Class B scenario, Skutt topped Elkhorn and fourth-ranked Elkhorn South beat the lone unbeaten left the class — Gretna, 42-35 on Friday. It moved Skutt (7-2) to the top-seed. Gretna is second.
Class B is, simply, wide open this season. Anyone could win. I’d even go all the way down to the 13th-seeded Aurora Huskies, who controlled the football all night in York, but were stymied by five turnovers. You can bet the B title will be won with defense; a whole bunch of it. And, that’s how the Dukes like it.
“We like to tell our kids that you win the hardware in October and November,” York coach Glen Snodgrass said after the Dukes 21-12 district title win over Aurora on Friday night. “We’ve got two plaques and a nice banner in our school because of how we have played the last two years.”
York’s defense was in championship mode most of Friday night. While they allowed 395 yards to the Huskies they buckled down in the red zone. They forced three turnovers inside their 20, stopped Aurora on downs twice inside the 30 and sophomore Alex Kowalski returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown that sealed it with 9 ½ minutes left in the game.
Some, maybe all, will look at Duke losses to Pius and Norris early and think the Dukes might not be much. Snodgrass would like to point out the 10 turnovers in the two losses and that York played most of those games without standout back-linebacker Jonah Otte.
“We knew we’d be ok, we just had to get through the injuries and start taking care of the football,” Snodgrass told KAWL Radio after the game last night. “We have been taking care of the ball lately and we’ve been playing well.”
The injury, a four-wheeler accident that required nearly 150 stitches and 30 staples for Otte, also allowed Kowalski to gain valuable experience in the backfield. While, Otte led the way on Friday with 102 yards on 17 attempts, Kowalski added 87 on just five and a 53-yard touchdown.
It’s given something Snodgrass he didn’t have in August.
“We said on our last drive (that ended at the Aurora 1) we were just going to hammer it,” Snodgrass said. “If it was three yards a pop, we’d go for it on fourth down. The power game got it done when it needed to at the end. I love Jonah and Kowalski in the backfield at the end. They are both closers.
“They get those tough yards and it’s a perfect combination for what we do offensively.”
And, don’t look now, but the third longest winning streak in Class B — just five games — resides in York County.
Let’s Rewind
Junior Jays grind out win over PLVS
Kowalski, T-Birds hold off Central
Skyhawks top Elkhorn, earn top seed
Freshman makes big plays as Storm upset Gretna
Waverly clinches district; stops Plattsmouth
Late score lifts Crete past Norris
SV wins ‘playoff game’ against Doniphan-Trumbull
Battle Creek pulls away from LHNE
Parting Shot
Grand Island Independent stringer Terry Douglass was disappointed late Thursday night. He had seen Fullerton’s Garrett Sonderup romp for 484 yards on 40 carries in a season-ending 60-46 win over High Plains. And, then, he couldn’t get an internet connection. He missed deadline. And, that’s a good thing. His re-write and profile of Sonderup is worth the time with your cup of coffee.
