Three year starter Bronson Marsh was leading the speed for Millard South with 58 yards rushing and over 268 yard passing. Millard South, Marsh fired a 52 yard pass to Luke Theimer after 5 plays, 70 yards and 9:24 remaining on the first quarter clock. The Spartans returned the kickoff 20 yards and the next three plays managed 40 yards including a Millard South personal foul penalty. The 6 play drive however failed on downs and the Spartans turned to ball back to Millard South on the Millard South 39 yard line. Millard South next drive took 9 plays and covered 95 yards when March hit Eddie Collins for a 13 yard touchdown to give the Patriots a 14-0 first quarter lead. Two long runs and 15 yard face mask penalty on East gave Millard South their momentum on the drive.

Lincoln East first series of the second quarter found the Spartans driving downfield on the running of Aaron Kilgore and the arm of Bryce Bostwick. The Spartans stalled on 4-2 on the Patriot 8 yard line after holding the ball for 13 plays and covering 66 yards. A small let down by the Spartans helped Millard South drive the next series downfield with a 4 play 71 yard touchdown in only 1:13. With 4:20 to go in the second quarter the Patriots scored on a 1 yard plunge by Quentin Urban. Mike Mollner's 127 total yards came quickly as he broke loose twice on the drive for runs of 20 and 43 yards. East stiffened on Millard South's last drive before the half when Devon Nash intercepted a Marsh pass on the East 7.

Determined to get back in the game, East drove 79 yards in 11 plays to start the third quarter only to fail on downs when the Spartans had the ball third and one on the Millard 8 yard line. Bryce Bostwick accounted for 47 yards of his 72 total yards on the drive. Marsh found Trevor Chandler for a 17 yard touchdown with: 20 seconds remaining in the third period. Marsh and Urban used their legs to account for three rushes of 75 yards on the drive. Total drive took 2:27 of clock on 6 plays, 96 yards and ended the third quarter with a 28-0 lead.

With 11:06 remaining in the game East punted to the Millard South 48 yards line but, a speedy return by Alex Moreland gave the Patriots the ball on the East 33 yard line. The Spartans completed a 4 and out with a Marshall Ozaki sack on the East 40. The Spartans last drive with :48 remaining in the game gave Spartans fans a memory rush in Jim Ebke's corner. A Bostwick pass to Nick Kohler was just over the out stretched hands to give the Patriots a 28-0 win

COMMENTARY

Overall the game was exciting and the Spartans played with a lot of heart and desire. The game was a very hard hitting game on both sides of the ball. I haven't seen that many helmets fly in years. Millard South team is big, fast and lots of depth. They need to shore up their defense and specialty teams to be in the championship game later on this fall. If East plays with emotion then they will win a lot of games. The 7th ranked schedule will have East matching up against some of the best in the state. East was 0-3 in the red zone and 0-4 inside the opponents 40 yard line. That is a focus problem. Each player must play each and every down including the fourth and one's. Millard South made some big plays but, the Spartans contained them for most of the game. A 4th and 10 or 3rd and 11 big plays are heart breakers. Again, trusting the coaches and making the plays will defend against the big runs. Each player on the team has a role to play and when called upon then, do your job the best you can. This includes carrying equipment from the bus to the locker room after the game. When I arrived at school to meet the bus, I found the coaches having to carry the equipment. This is a breakdown on the seniors and their leadership and the role of players that are part of the team. Not only will you gain respect from the coaches, you will gain respect from the leadership when they are exhausted from the game. Good luck this week in practice and have some fun, keep learning and keep building.