Kyle Peterson, it appears, soaked in all in.
So although Randy Huebert was not on the sideline for Aurora, little, it seemed, changed for the Huskies as they started their season last night under their new coach.
Even the “hip, hip, hurray” chant stayed after the Huskies 40-21 season opening win over Crete at Doane College’s Simon Field.
“It’s always nice to come out and get that first win,” Peterson said afterwards. “It was a great atmosphere.”
Nearly full stands on both sides witnessed a fast start from the Huskies as they sprinted to a 27-0 lead behind new quarterback Grant Fox and a stingy defense. Aurora lined up to punt just once — and Fox successfully executed a 34-yard pass to Austin Allen on a fake — while racking up 487 yards on 75 plays.
Fox was superb in his first outing as a starter for the Huskies going 23-for-35 for 287 yards and just one interception. He completed scoring passes for 14 yards to Hunter Vettel and 1 and 4 yards to Allen.
“He’s one of my best friends,” Allen told me after the game. “He came out and did a good job of leading our offense.”
The only thing that stopped the Huskies were themselves, as they had a to-be-expected three turnovers in the season opening win. It’s something Peterson said is hard to simulate in practice.
“That’s about the only disappointment we have from tonight,” he said. “With the limited contact rules, it one thing that you try to practice, but you have to improve with game experience.”
New Crete coach Reed Manstedt said the hill was tough to climb and were cramps and a game -ending injury to running back Jose Marquez in the second quarter.
“Anytime you get down like we did, that changes everything you want to do,” he said. “We got some kids some reps who haven’t got many in practice and we might have built some depth we didn’t think we had.
“I was happy with our fight.”
New challenges and venues await next Friday. The Huskies have their home opener with Alliance, while the Cards will travel to Seward.
Let’s Rewind
Class A
– No. 1 Millard North comes back; guts out 14-10 win
– No. 3 T-Birds cruise past No. 4 Westside, 42-22
– Hartwig leads Silverhawks past LSE | Lincoln Journal-Star
– New QB, no problem for No. 10 Islanders
Class B
– Same old song: Champs Skutt shutout Beatrice
– Fumble recovery, field goal lift No. 7 York
– Scottsbluff rolls past Lexington in opener
Class C-1
– WAHOO! Warriors shock top-ranked A-G
– Rock Solid: Scotus takes down BC/NG
Eight-Man
– E-M survives Kenesaw in OT; moves streak to 27 games
Parting shot
Can someone make two of me next Friday? Two great games on the slate for Week One. In Class A, No. 1 Millard North faces No. 2 Millard West — both comeback winners this week. And in Columbus, C-1, No. 3 Scotus – a 31-14 winner over defending champ Boone Central/Newman Grove, hosts C-2, No. 1 David City Aquinas, who topped No. 3 Hartington Cedar Catholic 51-7 last night.
