OSCEOLA — The Osceola Bulldogs have played a few playoff games for coach TJ Nielsen since they switched to the eight-man version.
But, even those didn’t seem quite as big as last night when his fourth-ranked Bulldogs took on fifth-ranked Humphrey St. Francis – the top-ranked team in the class in the preseason – in what may turn out to be the district championship.
And, while the Bulldogs scratched and clawed for most of the first 28 minutes, things went south for about five minutes of real time in the third quarter. It made all the difference in a 40-8 Flyer win.
Trailing 16-8 at the half, it appeared Osceola had finally forced a stop when they got the Flyers into fourth-and-12 from the 19 on their opening drive of the second half. But, Damien Baumgardt realized quickly he had no open receivers and he zipped through the defense for a score to give HSF — 10-1 a season ago with 28-26 quarterfinal loss to Exeter-Milligan — a 24-8 lead.
“I wouldn’t trade him for the world,” HSF coach Eric Kessler quipped of his quarterback.
Four plays later — on fourth-and-2 from their own 23 — Nielsen wanted a punt. But, instead Luke Ericson got a short snap as the up man and was stopped for a 1-yard gain. On the next play, Kyle Wemhoff, who had 195 yards on 35 attempts, scored on a 24-yard toss play.
“Little things like special teams,” Nielsen said. “We knew it would come down to that. We messed up that punt, they got a safety on us. We just couldn’t get anything going in the second half. But, they are really good. This was a good opportunity for our kids.”
On the ensuing kick Peyton Watts — who had two interceptions of Baumgardt — slipped to a knee fielding the ball and three plays later quarterback Caden Theis was sacked in the end zone by Cole Wemhoff for a 32-8 lead.
The Bulldogs, who ran just 12 plays for 13 yards in the second half, now have to quickly put this one behind them as upstart Palmer awaits. The Tigers, now 3-3 after win over Heartland Lutheran last nignt, have legitimate playoff hopes.
Thriller in York
On a day where four divisional round games of the Major League Baseball playoffs were played, it was appropriate that one the night’s best high school football games was in the outfield at York’s East Hill Park.
Class B, No. 3 York 26; No. 9 Northwest 24. Forty-six first downs; 815 yards of total offense.
The Dukes got down 14-0 and 17-13 at halftime, but overcame two early second half turnovers with stops and, after jumping ahead 26-17 they held on after a late Northwest score.
“Some teams might have folded going down 14-0, but our kids don’t do that,” York coach Glen Snodgrass told The Grand Island Independent after the game. “In a big game like this, they showed they are going to play great in the big moments.”
Alex Kowalski had 24 carries for 139 yards and backfield mate Jackson Coffin added 94 yards on 17 carries as the Dukes rushed for 365 yards on 58 attempts. Northwest quarterback Christian Ellsworth threw for 247 yards and ran for 82 yards as the Vikings had 80 plays in the game.
Hip, Hip in Central City
The Central City Bison took a big step toward hosting their first-ever playoff game and winning a district title with a 38-32 upset of No. 9 Holdrege on Friday. Coach Troy Huebert said the community support at the game buoyed his team.
“The support from our community has been overwhelming,” he said at sunrise on Saturday. “We had just a great crowd out last night and that’s been huge for us. For these kids, that’s what it is all about.”
Central City jumped to a 24-3 halftime lead and played “about as good as we can play” in the first half, Huebert said. They held Duster star running back Cooper Rogers to 13 yards on 13 carries in the first half.
Quarterback Mitch Carlson continued his fine senior season by delivering on 29-of-38 passes for 279 yards. Rogers finished with 210 yards on 28 carries as the Bison held off a furious Holdrege rally.
“It seemed like they had been down a few times this year and always came back in the second half,” Huebert said. “They did it on us, too. We’ve got to be a little bit better about staying focused in the second half.”
Now holding the tiebreaker in the district, the Bison can clinch a playoff berth with a win next week against St. Paul (1-6). In the wild card points, Central City sits tied for second with Wahoo, who upset No. 2 Columbus Scotus last night.
Hastings Bound
Six Striv softball schools will be heading to the NSAA state softball tournament next week in Hastings. Play begins Wednesday in Class A at 9:00 AM, Class B at 11:30 and Class C is at 2:00.
Millard West in Class A, York and Grand Island Northwest in Class B and Cozad, Twin River and Milford in Class C will be participate. Unofficially, York is the top-seed in Class B and Cozad the second-seed Class C.
Let’s Rewind
Class A
Late score lifts Bellevue West past Millard North
Five turnovers later, No. 3 GISH upset by Millard South
No. 8 Norfolk outlasts Rockets, 35-33 | NebraskaHSFootball Report
Class B
No. 1 Omaha Skutt hammers Gretna in district opener
First Time for Everything: No. 2 South finally beats Elkhorn
Class C-1
No. 1 Knights roll past Wayne
Eight-Man
Hass, GACC sparkle in win over Pender
Streak Ended: No. 2 FCSH halts top-ranked E-M
