| Lincoln, NE. - The Spartans won all aspects and statistics of the game but, Bellevue West finished with 10 unanswered points to erase a 20-14 halftime Spartan lead. The No. 8 ranked Thunderbirds defeated the No. 7 Spartans 24-20 when the Spartans turnover the ball four times the second half.
Bellevue West struck pay dirt first when J.T. Fluellen hooked up with his brother from 12 yards out in the first quarter. East wasted no time coming back to score on a Ben Johnson 42 yard run and with Spud Mann's extra point the Spartans were in the lead 7-6. But, the first quarter was not done with Bellevue West's Souder matched Johnson's run with a 42 yard run of his own. Only turnovers was going to stop the Spartans on this day as they accumulated 218 yards on the ground. Five of those yards came on a Jim Epke end around scamper and Judd Stutzman hauled another 3 to give the Spartans their halftime lead.
Bellevue West shut down the Spartan scoring in the second half and the Fuellen combination gave the Thunderbirds the lead for good. East tried to make a valiant come back but turnovers prevented them from pulling off the comeback.
The Spartans homecoming loss was tough since they dominated Bellevue West for most of the game. Simply mistakes, missed assignments, and not taking care of the ball prevented the Spartans from a 2-0 start.
|
