| Lincoln, NE - No, the Spartans didn't win a super bowl but, they beat cross-town rival Southeast 10-7 to make it two years in a row, that was once dominated by the Knights the previous 20 years. One of the largest Spartan crowds in recent years, including 4,606 fans, came with spirit and formed a tunnel walk that energized the Spartans to continue their 8-3 success from a year ago.
Neither team showed signs of uncorking an offense but, a Southeast's specifically designed defense by Joe Schlegelmilch, long-time Spartan quarterback and coach, may have had a lot to do with the Spartan inefficiency and the effectiveness of the Knights defense.
Harry Meginnis' 8-yard touchdown got the Spartans on the board first in the second quarter of play. Justin Burns added the point after and East lead at half-time 7-0. The Spartans drove down the field for a second opportunity to score some points before half-time, when the Spartans fumbled away a potential score.
In the third quarter the Spartans marched down the field and a diving touchdown catch by Tyson Clark fell incomplete and lead to a 28 yard field goal by Justin Burns. Coasting with a 10-0 lead and a minute left in the third quarter, the Spartan dominating defense showed signs of fatigue and allowed a 15 yard fade pass from Griffin DePriest to Max Virus to make the game a nail bitter 10-7.
Like most Southeast-East games in the past this game was coming down to the end. Graham Thurber came up big for the Spartans in crunch time. This senior nailed Southeast for 3 consecutive losses including two quarterback sacks. Burns had a huge punt with less than 3:00 minutes remaining and provided a critical stop leaving the Knights two yards short of a first down and helped kill the clock.
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