NORTH ROAD, GRAND ISLAND — In a game that had a bunch of big plays and emotion, it was Aurora that made the final one on Friday night at Viking Field.
Hunter Pursley recovered a fumble at the Aurora 13 yard line — and his team leading 42-34 — with just over two minutes left and he and his Class B, fourth-ranked teammates were able to run out the clock to preserve victory over ninth-ranked Northwest.
It was the ninth turnover of a game where neither team gave an inch. Aurora won the turnover battle 5-4, they lost the yardage battle 480-377, but where it was important the Huskies were an 8-point winner. A win that sets up a showdown with unbeaten, third-ranked York next Friday for the district championship and, possibly, the top-seed in the Class B playoffs.
“I guess we probably made the last play,” Aurora coach Kyle Peterson told the Grand Island Independent. “It was just the back-and-forth of turnovers and big plays. It’s what makes high school athletics so much fun — the highs and lows and back and forth and momentum swings.”
It’s also what will make both teams a tough out in the Class B playoffs.
Despite consecutive losses to York and Aurora the past two weeks, the Vikings still have much to play for. Unofficially eighth the Class B points standing through last night’s game, the Northwest could be playing for a home playoff game when they travel to Seward next week.
“Our guys were focused and excited when we talked after the game,” Northwest coach Kevin Stein told GI Family Radio last night. “I think if I’d have told them we had to go 100 yards west and practice, they’d have done it right there. We just have to get ready for Seward, they won’t give us anything.”
The offense numbers were mind numbing. Todd Honas had nine receptions for 153 yards and, maybe the play that turned the tide, when he picked up a Hunter Holliday fumble — after Holliday had intercepted Christian Ellsworth — and went 80 yards for a score in the third quarter. For Northwest, Ellsworth, ran 22 times for 98 yards and was 36-for-55 through the air for 353 yards.
Highway 6 Rivalry
It’s always interesting to watch a team take on the personality of its community and fanbase.
Simply put, Sutton coach Steve Ramer has built a team that reflects the attitude and spirit of the community. Ask Nebraska fans if that is something they’d like to see on Saturday’s instead of their coaches favorite running play being a handoff to a sprinting wide receiver.
So, when I say the Sutton football team is a just like their community — one that would like to line up face-to-face and go right at you with power and fight — I know they’ll take that as a compliment. In a day and age when towns the size of Sutton, have had to turn to the 8-man game, the Mustangs pridefully roll out a list of 31 boys. More are coming in the junior high ranks as well.
Hastings St. Cecillia, drawing athletes from a town of over 20,000 and with 36 kids on their roster, was a bit too much last night in a 36-22 victory in a game between two of the top-three ranked teams in Class C-2. But, you don’t think longtime HSC coach Carl Tesmer doesn’t appreciate the Mustangs? Think again.
“They are so good, so good,” he said after the game, that saw his team run 36 plays to 74 for Sutton. “Defensivley, we tried everything we had from our 4-4 defense to try and stop them and we couldn’t do it, but maybe a couple of times. We tried to make it look like a 6-2 and it didn’t matter.
“They just get going right at you.”
Last night, the Mustangs, who took a 30-23 win in Sutton from HSC last year, ran 68 times for 348 yards. Garrett Leach had 50 carries for 254 yards. Yeah, the Mustangs know who they are. And they might just be built for run in the November playoffs.
Let’s Rewind
Class A
Physical Millard West, stays unbeaten, wins district
Kowlaski, Bellevue West get past Prep, Central awaits
THURSDAY: Defense fuels Mustangs rout
MORE THURSDAY: Doty leads GISH romp of LNE
Back-up, special teams lead Westside past Omaha North
Class B
No. 2 Elkhorn South trips up defending champs
Schulz, No. 3 Dukes bounce Seward; Aurora awaits
Norris stuns No. 7 Beatrice with late kick
Class C-1
THURSDAY: No. 1 NC keeps rolling; pounds Pierce
Neumann stays course; upsets city rival
Boys Town holds on; beat A-G 42-41
Eight-Man
CWC beats Osmond 80-44 in battle of unbeatens
