Howells-Dodge loses at Nebraska Christian

The Howells-Dodge Jaguars suffered another defeat Friday night, losing 38-20 at Nebraska Christian.

The game was tied at 8 at the end of one before the Eagles outscored Howells-Dodge 16-6 in the second quarter to take a 24-14 lead into the locker room.

Nebraska Christian shutout the Jaguars 8-0 in the third quarter to push the lead to 32-14 at the end of three.

Both teams scored 6 fourth quarter points.

Here's the scoring summary for both teams:

First Quarter Summary

Howells-Dodge #10 Tyler Polacek pass complete to #22 Jon Yosten for 12 yards. (Two point conversion run by #22 Jon Yosten good)
Nebraska Christian School #44 Ben Stevens runs for 5 yards. (Two point conversion run by #11 Andrew Winsterman good)

Second Quarter Summary

Nebraska Christian School #11 Andrew Winsterman runs for 50 yards. (Two point conversion run by #32 Trevor Swanson good)
Nebraska Christian School #44 Ben Stevens runs for 4 yards. (Two point conversion pass by #12 Trevor Cumpston to #2 Logan Faeh good)
Howells-Dodge #22 Jon Yosten runs for 26 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #22 Jon Yosten no good)

Third Quarter Summary

Nebraska Christian School #11 Andrew Winsterman runs for 59 yards. (Two point conversion run by #32 Trevor Swanson good)

Fourth Quarter Summary

Howells-Dodge #10 Tyler Polacek runs for 14 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #10 Tyler Polacek no good)
Nebraska Christian School #44 Ben Stevens runs for 7 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #32 Trevor Swanson no good)

Polacek had 79 yards rushing on 15 carries, and scored once, while Jordan Brichacek rushed for 53 yards on 10 carries.

Zach Bayer made a game-high 16 tackles while Kade Hegemann totaled 14. Polacek made 13 tackles while Mitchell Prusa and Ryan Macholan totaled 8 and 7, respectively.

The Jaguars amassed 211 yards of offense, including 180 on the ground.

The defense gave up 363 yards, 321 coming on the ground.

It was definitely another tough game for Howells-Dodge. The Jaguars definitely aren't used to this type of losing. Howells-Dodge has to get things together quickly or this season could be lost.

The Jaguars (2-3) host Creighton (5-0) Friday night.

The Bulldogs beat Plainview 44-6 last time out and have yet to be challenged this season.

This is going to be a very difficult game for Howells-Dodge. The degree of difficulty is comparable to GACC and Clarkson/Leigh.

The Jaguars have to play much better than they have the last three weeks.

This Howells-Dodge team is not the same as fans have been accustomed to over the years when Howells and Dodge were separate.

I'm not sure what's going on, but for whatever reason the Jaguars are struggling more than ever before.

Howells-Dodge desperately needs to play well Friday night or they could be facing a scenario of they must win their last two games to get into the playoffs.

I still think this Jaguars' team has a lot of fight left in them, and won't go down easily, but Howells-Dodge has to start playing better, and it all begins this week against Creighton.

Polacek and Brichacek need to have breakout performances on the ground for the Jaguars, and Howells-Dodge needs to get their pass game going.

The Jaguars have struggled to throw the ball lately.

I don't know if Howells-Dodge will win Friday night, but the Jaguars desperately need to make things competitive to gain momentum for their last two games of the regular season. Howells-Dodge needs to have a better showing than they did against the Bluejays and Patriots.