Howells-Dodge comes up short of reaching State Championship in Semifinal loss to East Butler

Dwight-The Howells-Dodge Football Team came up one game short of reaching the Class D-1 State Championship game as the Jaguars fell 22-12 at East Butler in the Semifinals Monday night.

After no one scored in the 1st quarter, the Tigers' Dalton Bohac connected with Camden Robley on a 52-yard TD strike to make it a 6-0 game in favor of East Butler with 10:04 remaining in the 2nd quarter.

The two connected again from 17 yards out with just over a minute left to go until halftime, and the Tigers led 14-0 at the break.

The duo hooked up for the third time on a 20-yard TD connection with 6 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter, and East Butler extended their lead to 22-0.

The Jaguars got on the scoreboard at the 2:02 mark of the 3rd period as Dylan Horejsi scored from 4 yards out to make it a 22-6 ball game in favor of the Tigers.

Howells-Dodge's Dax VanLengen hooked up with Jon Yosten from 17 yards away with 10:54 left to go in the game to make up the final score.

Horejsi was limited for the Jaguars as he only had 59 yards rushing on 25 carries.

VanLengen went 8-16 for 71 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Connor Blum totaled 17 tackles while Kade Hegemann made 15. Ryan Macholan notched 11 while Yosten made 9.

East Butler amassed 222 yards of total offense, including 171 through the air, while the Jaguars totaled 133 yards of offense, 72 coming through the air.

Head Coach Mike Speirs. "We were never able to establish anything run wise, and you got to credit their D-line. Big kids, they're tough. We knew coming in it was going to be a heck of a matchup for us. And we'd seen that they'd improved. Watching film that they'd improved. And we'd hoped that we'd improved enough. But apparently they improved a little more than we did."

Speirs sums up his thoughts on the game."For the most part we played really good defense I thought. We just had a couple breakdowns in pass coverage. And the Robley kid and the Havlovic kid they present matchup problems. They're big kids, they catch the ball. Havlovic made a catch on our sideline that's as good a catch as you're going to see in High School Football. Too many mistakes. And you can't do that against a good team at this time of year."

Howells-Dodge ends the season with an 11-1 record.

VanLengen finished with 871 yards passing and 15 touchdowns on the season while Horejsi racked up 1,622 yards rushing and 25 touchdowns on the year.

Jordon Brichacek had 362 yards receiving and 7 touchdowns on the season.

Hegemann made 164 tackles on the season while Yosten notched 133.

Speirs was asked about his expectations when the season got underway. "We knew we returned a lot of experience. We knew there were some teams out there like East Butler that was returning a lot of experience. So a lot of it comes down to how your regular season goes and how you get seeded in the playoffs, and when your matchups happen. And really wasn't sure to say that we had any expectations of this or anything before the season. We were just trying to be the very best that we could be."

Assistant Coach Luke Dobbins. "The boys gave everything they had and fought to the very end. This senior class is really going to be missed, they provided us with great leadership and showed the younger guys what it takes to be successful."

The Jaguars say goodbye to VanLengen, Blum, Ely Henrickson, Yosten, Brichacek, Macholan, and Zach Lund.

These seniors were very valuable members of this Howells-Dodge team for the 4 years they suited up in the Green, Black, and Silver, and will be sorely missed, you can bet on that.

The Jaguars have to be saddened by who they lose to graduation, but excited by who they bring back.

Howells-Dodge welcomes back Horejsi, Luke Rocheford, Josh Brester, Kade and Lane Hegemann, and Mitch Yosten, among others.

The Jaguars have a good strong core nucleus coming back, and I look for Howells-Dodge to come back stronger than ever next season.

The Howells teams of old always won their state championships with the power run game, and by overwhelming people and being the more physical team.

And I thought the Jaguars did that up until this last game against East Butler. The Tigers shutdown Howells-Dodge's run game though, and I thought that was the biggest difference in the game.

So knowing that that happened the way it did, the Jaguars have to work on getting bigger, faster, stronger, and more physical in the weightroom and on the playing field this offseason.

I think Howells-Dodge has a great chance to be in this position again next year, but the Jaguars need a big offseason of growth and development.

Big second half propels Howells-Dodge past Johnson-Brock in State Quarterfinals

Howells-The Howells-Dodge Football Team used a big second half to beat Johnson-Brock 54-42 at home in the Class D-1 State Quarterfinals Tuesday night.

Trailing 28-18 at the break, the Jaguars' Dylan Horejsi scored from 3 yards out at the 10:32 mark of the 3rd quarter to make it a 28-26 game in favor of the Eagles.

Howells-Dodge took the lead for good with 3:33 left to go in the 3rd period when Jon Yosten hauled in a 29-yard TD pass from Dax VanLengen to put the Jaguars up 32-28.

In the 4th, VanLengen scampered in from a yard out with 7:54 left to play to give Howelks-Dodge a 40-28 lead.

VanLengen then hit Jordon Brichacek (Bruh-kaw-check) on an 18-yard TD pass with 4:52 left in the game, and the Jaguars led 48-28.

Johnson-Brock refused to go down without a fight though as Kaden Glynn found Ty Hahn from 10 yards out a minute later to make it a 48-36 game in favor of Howells-Dodge.

VanLengen ran one in from 3 yards out with 2:20 left to go in the game to give the Jaguars a 54-36 lead.

Glynn found Hahn for a 44-yard TD pass with 1:32 remaining in the contest to make up the final score.

The Eagles came ready to play in the 1st half as Hunter Oestmann found pay dirt from 2 yards out to put Johnson-Brock in front 8-0 at the 9:24 mark of the opening period.

The Jaguars got on the board with 6:45 remaining in the 1st quarter with a safety on a bad snap that went out the back of the end zone.

Horejsi and Howells-Dodge capitalized as Horejsi ran in a TD from 7 yards away to put Howells-Dodge in front, 10-8, with 2:01 remaining in the 1st period.

Johnson-Brock Quarterback Cole Fossenbarger, who would later leave the game with an injury, gave the Eagles a 14-10 lead with a 55-yard TD strike to Hahn 10 seconds later.

Brichacek scored the final touchdown of the quarter to make it an 18-14 game in favor of the Jaguars as he ran one in from 10 yards out with 14 seconds left.

Fossenbarger hit Ben Bohling on a 63-Yard TD pass with 11:18 left to go in the 2nd quarter, and Johnson-Brock went in front 20-18. Oestmann scored on a 14-Yard TD run with 3:06 left to go until halftime to make up the 1st half score.

Horejsi ran for 242 yards on 41 carries, and scored two touchdowns for Howells-Dodge (11-0). Brichacek totaled 78 yards rushing on 12 attempts, and scored one TD.

VanLengen was 8-10 passing for 126 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

Kade Hegemann made 16 tackles while Yosten and Lane Hegemann registered 13 and 11, respectively. Connor Blum had 9 while Brichacek recorded 8.

The Jaguars racked up 484 yards of total offense, including 358 rushing, while the Eagles totaled 419 yards of offense, 333 coming through the air.

Head Coach Mike Speirs says the first half was rough. "We turned the ball over twice inside the 10. And that last one Dax just didn't even see the linebacker sitting there. We had Jon Yosten in the back of the end zone wide open. And put a little more air under the ball and we're going to be fine. And we had a holding penalty on a drive in the 1st half that killed a drive. So that's three drives right there that we should of capitalized on two for sure. And on the 3rd one you don't know what would of happened if we don't hurt ourselves with the penalties. That's what we told the kids at halftime. Really what we're doing offensively is working."

Speirs. "There's a lot of good athletes out there. Our matchup with No. 7... he's as good as there is in the state. Ty Hahn is as good a kid as you can find in the state. And he made some plays. And Jordon Brichacek was on him all night. Jordon was able to make enough plays to make a difference I guess"

Howells-Dodge advances to play East Butler on the road in the State Semifinals on Monday at 7:00 p.m. in a game that can be heard on 107.9 the Bull.

The Tigers upset Creighton 40-28 on the road Tuesday in the Quarterfinals.

East Butler is a team Howells-Dodge defeated in their first game of the season, 26-20. "That game we had to intercept 2 balls in the last two minutes of the game. So there were 3 turnovers total in that game, in the last 2 minutes. And they're good, they're awfully good. And we know that. They're big, they're physical. Hopefully we can match up with them physical wise. I guess we'll go down there and find out," Speirs said.

It should be a great game Monday night. I honestly thought it would be Creighton against Howells-Dodge in the Semifinals, but it goes to show anything can happen in High School Football, especially the playoffs.

The Jaguars can definitely win this game, but the Tigers definitely have what it takes to get revenge too.

Howells-Dodge has to play like they did the entire second half of the Johnson-Brock game for a whole game Monday night.

The winner gets either South Loup or Medicine Valley, and it would be pretty cool if Howells-Dodge and South Loup met for the Class D-1 State Championship.

Here's Why:

My Dad was the quarterback for Callaway's 1975 State Semifinal Playoff Football Team (Callaway and Arnold make up South Loup), and Joel Janecek, who will succeed Tom McMahon after football season, won a state title for Dodge, and also happened to broadcast Bobcat football while working for KBRY Radio in Broken Bow.

So I just think it would be neat for those two to play, and honestly I would have to root for both teams. What would make it more unique though is if Howells-Dodge won the state title with Joel taking over for Tom after the game.

Anyways, back to analyzing the Howells-Dodge/East Butler game...Horejsi needs to have another big game running the ball for the Jaguars and Howells-Dodge has to be physical at the line of scrimmage.

The season opener was tight, and I think Monday night's game will be a similar type contest.

I look for things to come down to the wire, and perhaps the final minute or seconds.

It should be a great and electric game, atmosphere, and finish, and my golly...a trip to Memorial Stadium is on the line so strap up and giddy up and get ready for a dandy of a ball game!

The Jaguars and Tigers will go at it at 7:00 p.m. The game will be carried on 107.9 the Bull, online at www.kticradio.com, and on the free KTIC Radio App with pregame at 6:40 p.m.

It should be one to remember, that's for sure.

Howells-Dodge outlasts Nebraska City Lourdes in 2nd round of Playoffs

The Howells-Dodge Football Team won 54-32 at home over Nebraska City Lourdes in the 2nd round of the Playoffs Wednesday night.

Here is the scoring recap from the game:

First Quarter

Howells-Dodge 09:48 #28 Dylan Horejsi runs for 29 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #28 Dylan Horejsi good)
Lourdes Central Catholic 05:51 #1 Thomas Ragland pass complete to #5 James Mason for 37 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #5 James Mason no good)
Howells-Dodge 00:25 #28 Dylan Horejsi runs for 5 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #4 Dax VanLengen to Team no good)

Second Quarter

Howells-Dodge 05:19 #4 Dax VanLengen runs for 1 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #23 Jordon Brichacek good)
Howells-Dodge 00:25 #4 Dax VanLengen pass complete to #23 Jordon Brichacek for 19 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #28 Dylan Horejsi good)
Lourdes Central Catholic 00:03 #1 Thomas Ragland pass complete to #24 Andrew Aldana for 2 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #1 Thomas Ragland to Team no good)

Third Quarter

Howells-Dodge 06:47 #28 Dylan Horejsi runs for 71 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #23 Jordon Brichacek no good)
Howells-Dodge 04:40 #28 Dylan Horejsi runs for 3 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #28 Dylan Horejsi no good)
Lourdes Central Catholic 02:51 #17 Colter Fulton pass intended for Team. Intercepted by #22 Jon Yosten. (Two point conversion run by #28 Dylan Horejsi no good)

Fourth Quarter

Lourdes Central Catholic 03:36 #6 Thomas Carpenter runs for 12 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #17 Colter Fulton to Team no good)
Lourdes Central Catholic 00:31 #28 Sam Baumert pass complete to #3 Christian Watkins for 8 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #28 Sam Baumert to #12 Johnny Heng good)
Howells-Dodge 00:31 Kickoff by #3 Christian Watkins to the 31 yard line. #1 Luke Rocheford return for 69 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #12 Jacob Tomcak no good)
Lourdes Central Catholic 00:00 #28 Sam Baumert pass complete to #8 Harrison Benedict for 18 yards. Touchdown!

Horejsi finished with 210 yards rushing on 26 carries, including four touchdowns.

Jon Yosten racked up 17 tackles while Kade Hegemann made 16. Ryan Macholan had 9 while Ely Henrickson totaled 7.

The Jaguars racked up 289 yards of total offense, including 261 rushing.

Really good win for Howells-Dodge. The game wasn't as close as the final score indicated.

10-0 Howells-Dodge hosts 6-4 Johnson-Brock in the quarterfinals of the Class D-1 football playoffs Tuesday evening.

Jaguars head coach Mike Speirs says Johnson-Brock is full of talent. "I think this is a very dangerous team for us. If our offensive and defensive lines don't really come to play we could be in a lot of trouble just because they're able to put a lot of athletes on the outside. And a couple of those kids are going to be tough matchups for us."

Johnson-Brock Head Coach Mitch Roberts says the game will be decided at the line of scrimmage. "The line of scrimmage. They like to run the football. We like to establish the run too so whoever can control that front line of scrimmage is going to win this football game."

Johnson-Brock is coming off a 66-22 win over Pender in Wednesday's 2nd round.

These two teams met in Howells last year in the 1st round of the playoffs with the Jaguars winning 48-24.

The Eagles lost 42-32 to Nebraska City Lourdes and 48-26 to East Butler, two common opponents the two squads have.

Howells-Dodge's offensive and defensive lines have to show up, but Horejsi, Brichacek, and VanLengen all need to have big games too.

The whole Jaguar team has to show up ready to play and prepared to go.

No win is a given in the playoffs as we've seen this postseason.

Wins are earned this time of year...they aren't given.

Howells-Dodge has to show up ready to go and prepared to tear Johnson-Brock apart.

If the Jaguars play up to their potential they should win like they did last year though.

I really think Class D-1 in the East is going to come down to Creighton and Howells-Dodge next Monday.

That's a potential matchup the Jaguars can't be looking ahead or forward to though. First things first, Howells-Dodge has to come out and take care of business against the Eagles.

The Jaguars have to bring the lunch pail, and be ready to lay the smackdown and hammer on Johnson-Brock from start to finish.

It has to be a complete team effort. Howells-Dodge has to be relentless with their play.

Kickoff Tuesday night is at 5:00 with the game heard on 107.9 The Bull. Pregame is set for 4:40 p.m. The game is being played in Howells.

West Point-Beemer loses shootout to Pierce in State Quarterfinals

Pierce-The West Point-Beemer Football Team attempted to knock off Pierce for the second time this season Friday night, but the Bluejays had other ideas as they raced out to a 21-0 lead en route to a 54-34 home victory over the Cadets.

Pierce's Collin Tinker scored the first touchdown of the game on a 5-yard TD run at the 10:22 mark of the 1st quarter to put the Bluejays in front 7-0.

Tinker scored again with 5:51 left to go in the 1st quarter, this time from a yard out, to give Pierce a 14-0 lead.

Tinker added a third rushing touchdown from 4 yards away with 3:09 remaining in the 1st quarter, and the Bluejays led 21-0.

West Point-Beemer got on the board with 11:03 left to go in the 2nd quarter as Hunter Pilakowski scored an 11-yard rushing TD to make it a 21-7 ball game.

The Cadets got back into the game when Blake Anderson broke free for a 47-yard TD scamper at the 6:39 mark of the 2nd quarter to pull West Point-Beemer within a touchdown at 21-14.

Pierce responded with a 63-yard rushing TD from Dalton Freeman 21 seconds later, and just like that, the Bluejays led 28-14.

Freeman then hit Cody Yawn on a 34-yard TD pass with 40 seconds remaining until halftime, and Pierce enjoyed a 35-14 lead at intermission.

The Cadets made it a two touchdown game again in the 3rd quarter as Cole Hughes connected with Ben VanderGriend on a 23-yard TD strike to make it a 35-21 ball game.

Brett Tinker got into the act for the Bluejays later in the quarter, scoring on a 2-yard TD run to put Pierce up 41-21.

The Bluejays tacked onto their lead in the 4th quarter as Freeman found Jadon Magdanz for a 5-yard TD pass that gave Pierce a 47-21 advantage.

Hughes hit Anderson for 49 yards for a touchdown with 4:56 left to go in the game, and West Point-Beemer got to within 19 at 47-28.

The final Pierce touchdown was scored by Carson Oestreich, who hit paydirt from 19 yards out to extend the Bluejays' lead to 54-28 26 seconds later.

The final touchdown of the game and the season for the Cadets was scored by Pilakowski, who brooke loose for 78 yards at the 3:29 mark of the 4th quarter.

Pilakowski had 189 yards rushing on 15 carries, and two touchdowns for West Point-Beemer while Anderson registered 121 yards on the ground on 13 attempts.

Hughes was 9-17 passing for 140 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Cadets.

Hughes made 15 tackles while Cade Hughes had 9. Greg Johnson made 8 while VanderGriend and Gage Vance notched 7 each.

The Bluejays racked up 514 yards of total offense, including 475 rushing, while the Cadets had 462 yards of total offense, including 322 rushing.

What a great season West Point-Beemer had. These boys had a marvelous and fantastic season.

West Point-Beemer ends the year at 9-2.

The Cadets had a year to remember.

West Point-Beemer started the year 8-0, with wins coming over the likes of Wayne, Pierce, Fort Calhoun, and defending Class C-1 State Champion O'Neill.

The Cadets played for a district title and made it to the State Quarterfinals. Very nicely done.

I think this season puts West Point-Beemer on the map and makes them a force to be reckoned with in the future.

I think the wins show how much potential and hope there is for this program going forward, but the losses show what the Cadets need to do to become the best of the best.

Cole Hughes finished with 835 yards passing and 7 touchdowns on the season for the Cadets.

Pilakowski was the team's leading rusher with 1482 yards and 18 touchdowns on the year.

VanderGriend led the way in receiving with 479 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Cole Hughes led the way with 64 tackles while Anderson made 60.

West Point-Beemer says goodbye to seniors Cole Hughes, Tate Ernesti, Logan Knobbe, Brock Crawford, Garret Meyer, Pilakowski, Peyton Landholm, Ronny Petersen, Alex Gianella, Johnson, Chase and Austin Streeter, Jamie Palm, Devon Priestley, and Gavin Case.

These 15 seniors and their contributions to Cadet Football will be missed for sure.

Hughes, Ernesti, Case, Pilakowski, Landholm, and both Streeters in particular won't be easy to replace.

Plenty of talent returns though, including VanderGriend, Anderson, Kade Hughes, and Vance.

The biggest question mark surrounding next year's team could be on the offensive and defensive lines, but there are plenty of talented skill players to build around.

Given the success of this year's team, expectations ought to be very high at West Point-Beemer next season.

The Cadets need to have a great offseason of growth and development.

Every player has to add muscle and shed fat, and get bigger, faster, and stronger.

West Point-Beemer has to workout with excitement and passion this offseason. Now that the Cadets know what it's like to be successful, I look for the players to push themselves and each other this offseason.

Pender loses at Johnson-Brock in 2nd round of playoffs

Johnson-The Pender Football Team went into Johnson on Wednesday and left town on the wrong end of a 66-22 ball game won by Johnson-Brock in the 2nd round of the D-1 Playoffs.

The Eagles got the scoring started at the 8:37 mark of the 1st quarter as Quarterback Cole Fossenbarger hit Ty Hahn on a 37-yard TD pass to make it an 8-0 game in favor of Johnson-Brock.

The two connected again with 4:14 left in the 1st quarter, this time from 22 yards out, and it was a 16-0 game with the Eagles ahead.

Johnson-Brock's Hunter Oestmann rambled for 58 yards with 1:45 left to go in the 1st quarter to give Johnson-Brock a 24-0 advantage.

The Pendragons got on the board at the 11:06 mark of the 2nd quarter as Brady Oliver connected with Sam Mailoux on a 37-yard TD pass.

The Eagles went up 30-8 when Oestmann scored on another TD run from 6 yards out.

Fossenbarger hit Hahn for the 3rd time on an 11-yard TD pass to make it a 36-8 with 3:54 remaining until halftime.

Fossenbarger connected with Ben Clark on a 43-yard TD pass 50 seconds later, and Johnson-Brock extended their lead to 42-8.

Oliver threw a 51-yard TD pass to Tyler Nelson with 2:05 left to go until halftime, and it was a 42-16 game, Eagles still in the lead.

Johnson-Brock scored with just over a mintue remaining until halftime as Oestmann scored from 4 yards out to put the Eagles up 50-16 at halftime.

Oestmann scored his 4th rushing touchdown in the 3rd quarter from 3 yards out, and Johnson-Brock led 58-16.

Fossenbarger ran in another TD in the 4th quarter from 28 yards away, and the Eagles went up 66-16 with 4:29 left to go in the game.

Oliver connected with Nelson for a second time on a 5-yard TD pass to make up the final score.

Oliver had 9 carries for 55 yards rushing and was 15-35 passing for 200 yards and 3 TD's for Pender.

Johnson-Brock amassed 460 yards of total offense, including 233 rushing, while Pender had 266 yards of total offense, including 200 passing.

The Eagles were simply too much for the Pendragons. Pender gave it their best shot, but simply came out on the wrong end of the stick.

The Pendragons end the season at 4-6.

Pender had an interesting season. The Pendragons played a great first game, then kind of struggled until the last game of the regular season.

Better late than never though. Pender picked the right time to get hot.

The playoff win over GACC is something these boys are going to remember for the rest of their lives without a doubt.

To beat the Bluejays in the playoffs is really saying something.

The Pendragons lose a lot of talented seniors, including Nelson, Oliver, Jared Tyrrell, Jesse Thompson, Layne Heese, Gerrit Foellmer, and Quintin Saunsoci.

These 7 seniors meant a lot to Pender Football, and their contributions over the last four years won't go unnoticed or unremembered I'm sure.

Mailoux, Korbin Hardenbrook, and Jaydon Jump figure to lead next year's team.

It will be interesting to see what the future of Pendragon Football is like.

I've heard there's a chance Pender is dropping to D-2.

We'll see what happens, but if that's the case, the Pendragons should be very competitive.

Pender should compete in D-1 too if they stay in the class, but I would say the Pendragons have a better chance to do more damage in D-2 than D-1.

Regardless of what class Pender is in the next two years though, the Pendragons have to put in a lot of hard work this offseason.

Pender's returning players and newcomers to need to work and sweat their tails off in the weightroom and on the playing field this offseason.

This is a key year for growth and development amongst the Pendragon players, in my opinion.

Pender really needs kids to develop and mature and mold into a certain breed of football player.

We won't know a lot about some of these kids heading into next year so it will be interesting to see who steps up and emerges for the Pendragons in 2018.

One thing is for sure though....these kids have a lot to live up to given the success of this program over the last few years.

West Point-Beemer beats Columbus Lakeview in opening round of playoffs

The West Point-Beemer Football Team won 35-14 at home over Columbus Lakeview in the 1st round of the Playoffs Friday night.

The Cadets led 14-0 after one and outscored the Vikings 14-6 in the 2nd quarter to go up 28-6 at halftime.

West Point-Beemer blanked Columbus Lakeview 7-0 in the 3rd quarter to lead 35-6 at the end of three.

The Vikings shutout the Cadets 8-0 in the 4th quarter to make up the final score.

Hunter Pilakowsi had 161 yards rushing on 14 carries, including a touchdown, while Blake Anderson racked up 158 yards on the ground on 13 attempts, and scored two touchdowns.

Cole Hughes made 9 tackles while Pilakowski, Anderson, Peyton Landholm, Greg Johnson, and Chase Streeter totaled 7 each.

West Point-Beemer rolled up 386 yards of total offense, 342 coming on the ground.

This was a very good, impressive win and performance by the Cadets. I was really impressed by how easily West Point-Beemer won this game.

The Cadets (9-1) take on Pierce (6-4) in the State Quarterfinals at Pierce Friday night.

West Point-Beemer Head Coach Troy Schlueter says the Cadets are going to need to be able to run and throw the ball well to come out on top. "We got to run the ball. And when there's spots that we see we got to pass the ball. We've been pretty efficient throwing the ball this year. And I think one of the things that's good about our team is we're fairly versatile. We prefer to run, but if we have to we'll pass. So I think we're going to have to do a little bit of both." 

West Point-Beemer beat Pierce 35-28 at home in overtime in the regular season.

Pierce Head Coach Mark Brahmer says the battle in the trenches will be key. "Hopefully control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football. That's going to be our challenge to our young men. And they've got good guys up front who play very hard on the offensive side as well as on the defensive side so that's going to be a challenge for us."

The Bluejays won 36-32 at Fairbury in the 1st round of the Playoffs Friday night.

I kind of figured Pierce would upset the Jeffs, although Fairbury's star running back went out with an injury.

The Cadets defeated the Bluejays 35-28 in overtime on Friday, October 13th.

West Point-Beemer stopped Pierce at the half yard line in OT to win that game, and that was a great win for the Cadets.

Round 2 figures to be tougher though.

The Bluejays are at home, and it's the playoffs, and Pierce has a lot of playoff tradition and experience.

West Point-Beemer might be up against it, but there's no doubt the Cadets can have success and win.

If West Point-Beemer runs the ball the way they did against Lakeview they're going to be awfully difficult to beat.

The Cadets have to have a good game plan and be ready to execute it, and play their best game of the year.

As good as West Point-Beemer played against the Bluejays the first time around, the Cadets are going to have to play even better to beat Pierce again I would say.

This game has all the makings of a great one and a classic, and West Point-Beemer has to go in there ready to play their best game.

The Cadets have to play to win and not play not to lose.

Some may take the Bluejays in this game, and that's fine, but I think West Point-Beemer is fully capable of beating Pierce again.

It would be a big deal for the Cadets to make the State Semifinals, and they can definitely do it, they just need to play a great game.

West Point-Beemer has to minimize penalties and turnovers, and be smart and play level headed.

The winner gets either Boys Town or Boone Central/Newman Grove next Friday night.

Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on 107.9 the Bull with pregame at 6:40.