The tough part of the Norfolk game is coming up with a headline for the game and thus, WOW. Some headliners that come to mind are: "Guts", "Greatest Comeback in Seacrest History", "Defense shuts Norfolk Down in Second Half", "O-Line Blows Holes for Ebke to Do His Thing", "Special Teams Finds a Way to Shutdown Kickoff", "Wake up D-1 Schools, Ebke is Available", "Spartans Spot Twenty-One Before Explosion", "When Spartans Play as a Team, Lookout". When I asked quarterback Jim Ebke what to write, he said "Jim Ebke gives away First Half before Line Bails Him Out". Ebke, is one the most modest guys I've ever met. Norfolk coach started making comparisons to Eric Crouch when he was at Millard North. Click on button and see what rivals message boards are saying about Jim Ebke.

Norfolk has to wonder why they had to draw the schedule they did. They finished 10th seed and with a 5-5 record. Their five loses came to five teams that are still left in the playoff with a combined record of 36-5 Norfollk had did their homework from the last Spartan meeting and limited the Spartans to a 21 yard field goal in the first half by Ebke. The hurry up offense of Norfolk kept pressure on the Spartan defense the first half. Norfolk managed to put a 28 yard field goal and Nate  Shively hit on 10 of 14 first half passes to put the Panthers up 10-3 at halftime.

East came out in the second half and the wheels started to fall off when Jim Ebke fumbled resulting in a Panther touchdown and then came back and threw an interception that resulted in a 63 yard touchdown and a 24-3 Norfolk lead.

Enter the Spartans. Jim Ebke with mega help from his teammates took off like wild men. The line started to break down the Norfolk line and Garek Petry and Levi Lash knocked down anything in site and Ebke did his thing. When the smoked had cleared Ebke had rushed for 252 yards in 18 minutes and the defense had forced two fumbles, and three sets of 3 and out.

The Spartans concluded a 61 yard drive with a touchdown pass from Ebke to Justin Burns and the Spartans started to feel something special. On the first play after the Spartan score Petry recovered a fumble with 1:10 in the third quarter. Spartans drove down the field and Lash put the Spartans within 8 points. Ebke missed a key extra point. Ebke puts so much competitive leadership into everything and you could feel he was going to take over the game. Two minutes later Ebke slipped through four tackles for a 72 yard run. He cut the deficit to 24-22 when he romped 19 yards for a touchdown. The two point conversion to tie the game failed.

With 5:11 to go in the game I felt like I had seen this game somewhere before. Maybe, like last Saturday Texas vs. Nebraska. Except this day the good guys were East and not the bad boys Texas. Down by two with the ball around mid-field and Norfolk driving for a first down , Lash stripes the ball and Justin Burns ponces on it. This day the good guys didn't need a field goal to win like the bad boys did. East blew out a tired Norfolk defense and Ebke rambled 59 yards . The Spartans had learned to not let a team get up when their down and shutdown the Norfolk offense on the last two possessions. Levi Lash capped a 1 yard run for a touchdown after the first defensive stop and the classy Spartans kneeled out the remaining 1:25 after the defense had shut down the final Norfolk gasp. Spartans move to 8-2 after the 35-24 victory over Norfolk.