Lyons-Decatur Northeast loses to Lawrence-Nelson to end season

The Lyons-Decatur Northeast Cougars competed hard against Lawrence-Nelson in the first round of the playoffs on Thursday, but lost 38-22.

The game was tied at 8 at the end of the first quarter and at halftime. The Raiders exploded for 24 third quarter points and held Lyons-Decatur Northeast to 6 to lead 32-14 at the end of three.

The Cougars won the fourth quarter 8-6.

Marcus Hegy rushed for 138 yards on 31 carries, and scored twice. Montana Riecken ran the ball 28 times for 66 yards.

Riecken was 10-15 passing for 157 yards with a touchdown. Jon Christiansen hauled in four passes for 71 yards. Tyler Kroger had 51 yards receiving on two catches, and scored a touchdown.

Bren Shatto and Tyler Hardeman made 9 tackles each while Riecken notched 7.

Lyons-Decatur Northeast racked up 362 yards of total offense, 205 coming on the ground.

The Cougars gave Lawrence-Nelson all they could handle. Lyons-Decatur Northeast has absolutely nothing to feel terrible about.

The Cougars finish the 2015 campaign with a 5-4 record.

It was a good final season for the Lyons-Decatur Northeast Cougars. This team really upped their game after the first few games of the season, and went on to do some nice things.

I think Lyons-Decatur Northeast maximized their abilities in the middle to late part of the season, and didn't necessarily save their best for last, but the Cougars still played at a high level at the end of the year.

Lyons-Decatur Northeast says goodbye to Hegy and Jayden Vetick.

These two seniors meant a lot to this year's team, and there's no doubt the Cougars would not have been as good without them.

Look for Christiansen, Riecken, Benny Estrada, Hardeman, Shatto, and Kroger to make a big impact on the co-op team next year.

A lot of Lyons-Decatur Northeast players should start on next year's co-op team with Bancroft-Rosalie.

At this time next year the Bancroft-Rosalie-Lyons-Decatur Wolverines will be in full effect.

The Lyons-Decatur Northeast Cougars made some memories and no doubt made their communities proud by the way they played this season.

It was a good way for Lyons-Decatur Northeast to go out as a program.

Now it will be interesting to see if the co-op team can continue the success both Bancroft-Rosalie and Lyons-Decatur Northeast have had in recent years.