Lincoln - There is nothing like an old fashion barn burning football game between cross-town rivals on a field with bank against band, student body against student body and athlete against athlete when Lincoln Southeast and Lincoln East get together. For twenty years Southeast had the upper hand against East until the last three years  which were owned by East but,  the games were always close to the end.  Friday night was no different when Southeast brought there newly rebuilt 6-1 Knights to Seacrest against a beat up Spartans 2-5 team.  A big dose of desire and a will to play as a team gave the Spartans the shot they have been looking for all season and they almost played spoiler to the third ranked Knights season.  Seventy yards, 56 seconds and a tie game 10-10 quarterback Derrius Vick pulled a Virginia Tech look alike pass to Derek Shouse, who had shook his defender and was wide open down the sideline.  Sixty -Nine yards later Justing Hill knocked Shouse out of bounds at the Spartan 1 yard line.  Southeast fans could breathe again when Zach Taylor capped off the final yard to give the Knights a 17-10 victory.

On the third play of game Vick rushed over left end for the Knights and Drew Zobel forced a fumble and Eric Rice was all over it for the Spartans.   East moved the ball from Southeast's 36 yard line down the 3 yard line on power running and team blocking before Southeast pounced on an unfortunate fumble by the Spartans.  A golden opportunity for East to set the tone had been spoiled by the Knights.  Southeast moved the ball away from the East end zone and down the field on rushes by Jacob Salomon.   Salomon rushed for 31 yards on 7 carries and Tyson Youngquist reversed for 39 yards to give Levi Cockle a 27 yard field goal and a 3-0 lead with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter.  The finish of the first quarter and most of the second quarter was dominated by both defenses.   With 3:22 remaining in the second quarter East pulled off one of the best drives of the season starting from the East 38 yard line.  Eight plays and 61 yards later Bryce Bostwick scampered up the middle 25 yards to give the Spartans a 7-3 lead.   Momentum had swung to the Spartans side and Vick helped the Spartan cause with an interception throw to Justin Hill, third of the season, on the East 47 yard line.  A pass from Bostwick to Nick Masada for 24 yards put the Spartans in field goal territory. A Spartan penalty made Kohler’s field goal five yard further from 37 yards.   Kohler's second attempt after the penalty cleared the goal easily and the Spartans when into the locker room with a 10-3 lead.

The third quarter started out rough for the Spartans when a costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty forced the Spartans to punt from their own 35 yard line rather than from the 50 yard line.  With the Spartans on their heels, Taylor scampered up the middle for 28 yards and had another 5 yards tacked on for a face mask and quickly the Knights were on the Spartans 17 yard line.  Taylor using some nice shirt blocks rushed the final 15 yards to tie the game 10-10.  Both defenses dominated the rest of the third period and a dramatic finish was set.

Starting the fourth quarter, Southeast drove down the field 60 yards, using 15 plays and 6:45 of clock before Pete Meginnis stopped the drive with two tackles for negative yardage.  Southeast attempted a 43 yard field goal but, Cockle's kick was short and wide left and the game was still tied 10-10.   East failed to move the ball and they were forced to punt. Salomons took the short Zobel punt at the Southeast 45 and returned it 35 yards to the East 20 yard line.  Once again the Spartan defense rose to the occasion and Marshall Ozaki forced a Taylor fumble and Zobel  gathered the leather.  The teams traded possessions but, the stingy defenses did not allow any penetration and it appeared we were headed for overtime.   Vick had something to say about that when he tossed his game winning pass to Shouse.

The Knights great season is still alive and the Spartans were bruised and in tears.  They had given it their all and came up short, but for the first time they played as one unit and consequently played an outstanding football game.   Championship football started with desire playing as one unit and this club may have found those characteristics. Next step will be to play every down and every inch.  Even the great teams of 2006 and 2007 found out you can lose by one play.  You have to have someone step up and make that one play and everyone play every down.   The Spartans of those years lost 5 games on 6 plays.   The 2009 squad moved a large step forward playing as a team with desire.  Those characteristics will be important as they move forward in their lives.  When you look back on a game and find one play or one inch that could of, would of changed a game then you are ready to focus next time and play championship football and not even a third rank team can hold you back. T.C. Kirkendall lead the Spartans with a season game high of 13 tackles followed by Meginnis with 11 tackles. Most of the game the Southeast ball carriers were surrounded by 3, 4 and 5 tacklers.

Next week brings another cross-town rival Southwest to Seacrest and East will have a second opportunity to spoil a Lincoln teams season.  Same desire and team effort along with a focused concentration of your assignments may find the Spartans with an upset.