With the wind out of south 15-25 mph the Spartans received the kickoff and went 3 and out. A rushed punt of 19 yards to Bryce Hatfield of Norfolk almost spelled disaster as he recovered his own fumble on the East 42 yard line. Three plays later and an East offside penalty the Panthers scored and led 7-0 with a pass from junior quarterback Lance Lawson to Nate Olson for a 19 yard score.

With Panthers fans fired up, the Spartans did not panic as they drove 80 yards on 16 plays to score with Matt Palm running the final 4 yards to score his first of four touchdowns. The classic drive against the wind had 6 first downs with Michael Knott carrying the load with 34 yards in 4 carries. A pass interference penalty on a third down from the Panther 9 kept the drive alive. The Spartan specialty teams seemed to take a break, take a play off, or miss assignments on extra points and then Lee Freudenburg managed to block a key Spartan extra point.

The entire second quarter was a defensive battle by both schools. Norfolk threatened twice in the second quarter and both times they were shutdown on 4th down rushing attempts inside the red zone. The first threat was setup on a 4 yard rushed punt with 6:23 to go in the second quarter. Norfolk turned the ball over on the Spartan 10. Sam Meginnis helped the Spartans with a 3 yard sack on the drive. The second attempt came with 1:18 to go in the half when the Spartans shut down a 4th down rush attempt on the Spartan 15 yard line.

Norfolk received the second half kick and picked up 2 key first downs against the wind to the Panther 45 and chewed up 4 minutes of the third quarter. A big punt put the Spartans in a hole again on the Spartan 18. A 9 play 82 yard drive eased the faithful when Palm finished the remaining 9 yards for an East touchdown. Palms pass to Brice Tyrell was a key extra point to put the Spartans up 14-7 with 5:38 to go in third quarter. Very key catches on the drive of 19 yards by Sam Witherby and 31 yards by Tyson Clark put the ball on the Panther 9. Norfolk,unfazed, drove down the field in two minutes to tie the ballgame with a 1 yard rush by Lawson. The extra point was good and the game was tied 14-14 with 3:30 to go in the third quarter.

Championship football returned to the Spartans as they silenced the loud Panther crowd by driving down the field with 6 plays, 79 yards and 2:15 of clock. The drive had highlights of a 19 yard run by Michael Knott, a 37 yard pass from Palm to Clark and a Palm 11 yard touchdown run to put the Spartans up 21-14 with 1:15 to go in third quarter. The first play after the kickoff to the Panthers, Justin Burns intercepted his 5th ball for the season to tie his own school record for pass interceptions. The return from the Panther 39 to the 19 followed by a face mask penalty that put the ball on the Spartan 9 to start their scoring drive. To start the 4th quarter, Palm capped off a 3 play drive from the Spartan 1 yard line to put the Spartans on top 27-14. A key missed Spartan extra point loomed for the fourth quarter.

Down by two touchdowns, the game looked similar to last year , but the roles were reversed. The star of last years game, Jim Ebke was on hand from South Dakota State to withness the Panther quarterback Lawson taking the Panthers down the field 70 yards on 6 plays with his arm and running abilities. Lawson capped off the drive with an 18 yard touchdown and only used 1:35 of the clock. The next two plays by the Spartans gained no yards and a 3rd down pass interception by Palm to the Norfolk 48 looked grim for East as the stadium began to rock for the Panthers. The senior leadership, the desire and the mighty Spartan defense rose to the occasion.

The Panther crowd motivated Norfolk in stopping the Spartans on the first two plays until Zac Smith came up with a crucial catch on third down to give the Spartans some breathing room and a first down. Palm came up 2 yards short on the Spartan 38 and the Spartans were forced to punt against the wind with 5:38 to go in the game. A fair catch on the Panther 38 started the final drive. The Spartans were tough on two plays and Norfolk had to squander their last time out before Lawson raced around right end for 37 yards to the Spartan 18 yard line. A line stuffer by Michael Yardley, Vinny Lucchino, and Knott, followed by a solo tackle by Lucchino and a swing pass stopper by Sam Meginnis left the Panthers with a 4^th down. The final pass was incomplete and the Spartan victory was secure. Having dumped all the Panther time outs the Spartans ran three straight kneels and it was time for celebration and pizza . The highway patrol must have been alerted of the Spartans fast get away from Panther territory as they headed home for Lincoln.

Next up for the Spartans is the mighty Silverhawks. Stay tuned this week for a Silverhawk pre-game special.