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.
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