In a treat made for Halloween, Guardian Angels Central Catholic defeated Howells-Dodge 40-34 in the second round of the Class D1 football playoffs on Wednesday night, as heard on 107.9 The Bull.
Howells-Dodge started the game with authority, scoring on the very first play of the game as Dylan Horejsi raced 57 yards for the score, going up 8-0.
GACC fumbled on their first possession, giving the Jaguars the ball on the Bluejays 24-yard line. Horejsi reached the end zone for the second time in the first quarter, this time from two yards out. The score was 14-0 in favor of the Jaguars with 8:12 left in the first.
The Bluejays were able to get on the scoreboard on their next possession, capping off a 49-yard drive with a two yard run by Jared Minnick. The score was 14-6 with 4:01 in the first.
The Jaguars scored on their third straight offensive possession in the first half, a 25-yard pass from Darrin Pokorny to Luke Rocheford, making it 20-6 Howells-Dodge.
After Being forced to punt, the Bluejays were able to hold Howells-Dodge on fourth down from the GACC 30. GACC then took two plays to score again, a 49 yard run by Minnick, making it 20-14, still in favor of Howells-Dodge.
Howells-Dodge punted on the next possession, and GACC set up at the Jaguar 27 following a bad snap on the punt. The Bluejays tied the game on a 11 yard pass from Cody Steffen to Minnick, making it 20-20 with 1:40 left in the first half.
The Jaguars weren't done just yet however, as they would go 51 yards in 18 seconds, thanks to a 33 yard touchdown run by Horejsi, and Howells-Dodge would take a 26-20 lead into halftime.
There were two key injuries in the first half. Howells-Dodge's Trevor Schumacher was injured earlier in the first half and was taken off the field in an ambulance. GACC's Jared Minnick pulled his hamstring late in the second quarter. Both players missed the second half.
GACC got the ball to start the second half, starting at their own 5. Steffen raced 63 yards for a touchdown tying the game 26-26 with 10:54 in the third.
Howells-Dodge was turned away on fourth down from midfield on their first offensive possession of the second half. The Bluejays took advantage and finished the drive with a 45 yard scoring pass from Steffen to Jadyn Smeal. The two point conversion was good, and GACC led 34-26 with 7:08 in the third.
The Jaguars answered right back, however, marching 48 yards and ending the drive on a three yard touchdown run by Horejsi, his fourth of the night. The two point try tied the game at 34-34 with 3:44 in the third.
GACC punted and then Howells-Dodge fumbled, with the Bluejays recovering at their own 28 yard line. The Bluejays finished the drive with a 29 yard touchdown run by Noah Hass, giving GACC a 40-34 lead with 10:53 left in the game.
Howells-Dodge started marching down the field to tie or win, and got down to the GACC 15 where they went for it on fourth down and were stopped.
GACC took over at their own 15 with 6:49 left in the game and were able to pick up enough first downs to eventually run out the clock, securing the 40-34 victory.
Horejsi was the S&W Welding Player of the Game for Howells-Dodge, and Steffen earned the award for GACC.
Minnick of GACC was the recipient of the CharterWest Sportsmanship Award.
Steffen was 9-15 passing for 119 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran the ball 12 times for 101 yards and a touchdown. Minnick ran the ball 10 times for 72 yards, scoring twice.
Nate Yosten made 17 tackles while Steffen notched 15. Blake Pojar made 11 while Minnick had 9. Casey Doernemann and Cash Meier each made 8 while Jadyn Smeal totaled 7.
The Bluejays amassed 356 yards of total offense, including 237 on the ground.
The defense gave up 289 yards of total offense, 264 of them rushing.
Head Coach Dave Ridder says his players weren't physical enough in the 1st half. "Yeah we just told them we have to stick with it. We always know it's a long game, and they're a very good physical team and very well coached. Came out and they just hit us in the mouth and we didn't respond very well in the first few series in the half. And then we start figuring out that we need to play a little bit more physical to be able to be competitive, and we came out and played a lot more physical ball. But we're still not where we want to be there."
GACC improves to 9-1 on the season, and will face Exeter-Milligan/Friend (10-0) on the road in the D1 Quarterfinals Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. in action that can be heard on 107.9 the Bull.
EMF won 40-28 at home over Fullerton in Wednesday's 2nd round.
Ridder on the matchup. "They're tough cause we go to camp up in South Dakota and we saw them up there. And with them and Friend together they have a lot of good athletes and a lot of good players and speed. So it's going to be a heck of a challenge for us."
It does figure to be a very tough game for the Bluejays, but I think GACC can definitely win.
Minnick is supposed to play from what I hear, and if he's healthy the whole time then the Bluejays should really be in business.
What a great job by GACC winning without him on Wednesday though.
I have to admit after he went out on Wednesday I thought Howells-Dodge might run away with things.
That wasn't the case though.
The Bluejays stuck with it and persevered, and kids like Steffen, Hass, and Smeal really stepped up.
That's what it's going to take for GACC to win again on Tuesday night.
The Bluejays are going to have to play as a close knit team and unit once again.
GACC has a very tough and difficult hurdle to climb, and the winner will really be challenged in the Semifinals.
The road to Lincoln is certainly not an easy one for the Bluejays, but I think GACC is going to be a very tough out.
The Bluejays have to have the same kind of offensive balance they had against the Jaguars, and must slow down EMF's running game.
If GACC can make EMF one dimensional like they did Howells-Dodge then I think they stand a good chance to win.
Defense is going to be big in this one I feel.
Both defenses and offenses are good, and I think these teams are about dead even so it should be a great game.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. with pregame at 5:30 on the Bull.
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