Lincoln , NE - Rival Southwest and the Spartans met for the rights to go to the Class A state playoffs and the Silverhawks prevailed 47-13. The Spartans quickly turned the ball over on the second play and the interception lead to a Southwest score. Later in the first quarter Southwest romped 73 yards to put the Silverhawks on top 14-0. In the second quarter Southwest went up 21-0 on another 4 yard run. Thinking the rout was on, the Spartans drove down the field on a great drive and Tyson Clark made a super catch from Scott Sunderman and the Spartans were on the board.

The momentum may have started to switch the second half when East kicked off and the muffed kick by the Southwest returner went out of bounds and the Silverhawks had poor field advantage. The Spartan defense felt the momentum and shut down Southwest and forced them to give the ball back to East. East drove down the field and scored on yet another spectacular catch by Clark from Sunderman. The air was kicked out of the ball when the extra point went wide right. Only down 21-13 the Spartans gave up huge chunks for real estate on defense and Southwest scored 3 unanswered touchdowns giving them a 41-13 advantage. Southwest had inserted second team members into the game and East had also backup units on defense.

Southwest had the ball with 4 down on the 33 yard line and 4:00 to play, when they threw a 33 yard bomb for a Silverhawk score. Maybe they should have shown some class and try up the middle or even give a kicker a try at a 50 yard field goal. But, Coach King calls for the bomb and Southwest scores on the 33 yard pass. The pass kind of left a sour taste in the mouths of the Spartan fans, coaches and players. East has always kneed the ball when the game is secure and a respect for the opponents is always prevalent. Not that it's a big deal that Southwest wins 41-13 or 47-13. But, a larger score may sway some opinions on next year Lux 8th graders. Of course it's exciting for a sophomore to be able to score in a varsity game but, the right Tom Osborne type answer would be to kneel down in class and walk home with the victory.

Last season King screamed sour grapes when East won the game and told the newspapers about the East players to yelling things to the Callahan kid. The East players were scolded for that and life's lessons were learned. However, in the same game no one mentioned the punching, kicking and vulgarity from the Southwest players. If you watch the replay of that game and this years game in slow motion it's very obvious that rough play after the whistle is part of the Southwest agenda. The rival exists between the kids because many starters for Southwest were Lux students together with the East players. Lux is in the East district but, somehow they end up at Southwest. Hard to figure since recruiting is forbid in Lincoln but an open school policy exists. This of course is sour grapes from an East standpoint but, why do we have some coaches that care about the kids and obey the rules while others seem to work the rules for their own agenda.

One thing that can be said for the Spartan seniors is they are a big group of boys that worked hard for four years and developed their bodies with weights and are a super bunch of kids.  In fact, they were almost too nice this football season but, I'll guarantee that this group of seniors will go far in life and they will always remember their Spartan memories.  This class lost six games and five of those losses are teams in the state playoffs.   The sixth loss was to a North Platte team that was ranked throughout the season. The underclassmen will have the same schedule next season and we hope for some Spartan revenge.   However, next season starts now in development and you must learn to play EVERY play.  No plays off and remember that it is a game of inches.