YORK — For 48 minutes on a cool, cloudy, misty opening Friday night, Class B, top-ranked Elkhorn South looked the part of defending state champion. For half of that time, third-ranked York looked like a team who will challenge for the state title.
And, then, in a flash in the third quarter everything changed.
But on the opening series of the second half the Dukes, down just 7-3, lost quarterback Damon Kaliff to a leg injury. Then after a Duke punt, Storm star running back Moses Bryant broke loose for a 46-yard run on South’s second offensive snap after halftime.
That big play set up Bryant’s 8-yard touchdown scamper which led the way to a 34-3 Storm win in the Channel Seed Game-of-the-Week.
“We went in at halftime and thought that we had some things scheme-wise that we weren’t executing like we did in practice,” South coach Guy Rosenberg said. “We wanted to just come out in the second half and put some plays together.
“We talk about being like a fast break basketball team. You have to score some baskets to get the press set.”
The Storm had no trouble setting the press in the decisive third quarter as York couldn’t recover. After Bryant, who finished with 115 yards on 10 carries, gave them the 14-3 lead just three plays later, Matt Slominski recovered a Garrett Snodgrass fumble and went 21 yards for a touchdown.
It wasn’t just Kaliff who was on the sideline for the Dukes. They also played most of the second half without senior Alex Kowalski and Nebraska commit Masry Mapieu who were on the sidelines with cramping issues.
“For a long stretch in the third quarter, we had most of our JV kids playing against the state champions,” Snodgrass said. “We tried every precaution to prevent the cramping. It’s frustrating. I thought when we were healthy, we were right with them in the first half.
Indeed, Kaliff ran for 79 yards and threw for 135 yards before his game ended in the third quarter. York had just 52 yards of offense outside of Kaliff and Elkhorn South outgained the Dukes 165-28 in the third quarter and took a 27-3 lead to the final frame.
“It was just really good execution by our team in the second half,” Rosenburg added. “And, I was really pleased with how we took care of the football.”
Returning quarterback Braden Wright led the Storm offense that racked up 401 yards on 60 offensive plays. He threw for 147 yards on 11-19 passing and added 41 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns.
Up next for the Storm? A date with second-ranked Omaha Skutt. No rest for the weary.
Let’s Rewind
Class A | THURSDAY: No. 1 Omaha North upends second-ranked Millard North
Class A | Turnovers spark No. 3 Millard West
Class A | Burke’s Back: Bulldogs hammer No. 5 Central
Class A | LSW defense holds back Papio
Class A | Prep rumbles past Westside
Class A | Bearcats end GISH streak
Class B | Harms, Crete outlast Seward in OT
Class C1 | Neumann edges top-ranked Norfolk Catholic
Class C1 | Big second quarter propels Wahoo
Class C2 | Sutton edges Doniphan-Trumbull
Class C2 | Cross County runs past LHNE (NebraskaHSFootball)
