| Lincoln, NE. - The Spartans got the 2004 campaign rolling with a 17-0 shutout of No. 9 Lincoln Southwest Thursday afternoon at Seacrest field. On this very hot day in front of 3,183 fans the Spartans took the opening kickoff straight down the field before Southwest pounched on the first fumble of the evening.
Later in the first quarter the Dylan Paulsen ran for 61 yards to set up the games first score by Judd Stutzman. East threathened to score again before halftime before Southwest created another Spartan turnover at the 14 yard line.
The second half started out shaky when Southwests Ryan Suiter intercepted a Spartan pass and raced to the 3 yard line. But, Eric Rosenberg kept the shutout alive when he recovered a Silverhawk fumble on the East 2 yard line.
Spartan Trey Ottley set up the next Spartan score with a 50 yard punt return before Spud Mann connected on a 38 yard field goal with little time left in the 3rd quarter. The Silverhawk gave the final score to the Spartans with a bad snap punt that resulted in the Spartans taking over on the 1 yard line. Jim Epke finished the score with a 1 yard quaterback sneek.
Overall this was a very good start for the 2004 Spartan program. Despite some turnovers that prevented the score from becoming a route the Spartans showed some offensive preformance and a great defensive stand lead by another senior dominated team. The Spartans were ranked 8th coming into the game.
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