| Lincoln, NE - Grand Island brought their second rated Islanders to Lincoln and it only took 15 plays to score 6 touchdowns and blew out the Spartans, who had 6 turnovers, 42-14. The Spartans survived a double reverse pass from Ryker Fyfe to Sam Foltz on the first play and went on the sack Fyfe for a three and out first series victory. The Spartans did not manage a first series first down and Grand Island turned the field advantage with a 16 yard punt return by Will Bamesberger to give the Islanders the ball on the East 47 yard line. Three plays later Fyfe found Bamesberger for a 21 yard touchdown pass to give Grand Island an early lead 7-0. The next possessions by both teams managed only 5 yards. East with the ball on the East 18 yard line coughed up the ball by a force fumble and recovery by BuomKuth Lual for the Islanders. One play later Steven Cahoy found the corner of the end zone and Grand Island lead 13-0. On the kickoff, sophomore Mason Tyrrell, rambled up field 32 yards to give the Spartans great field advantage on the East 42 yard line. Two plays later the Spartans gave the ball back to Grand Island on and interception by Justin English who run 50 yards on the return to the East 11 yard line. One play later Fyfe took his own snap over for the touchdown and Grand Island lead 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter started with a new wrinkle for the Spartans when Tyrrell lined up in the wild cat formation and ran 25 yards. Three plays later with East driving to the Grand Island 24 yard line, Tahner Pinkman fumbled and Dylan Urias recovered for the Islanders. On a seven play drive, longest of the game, Urias did the honors and rushed for the 2 yard touchdown and a 28-0 lead. The Spartans finally had a 9 play drive going before stalling and then punting to Grand Island. The Islanders ran out the clock to halftime.
Tyrrell again put the Spartans on the East 37 yards line after a 31 yard open kick off run to the second half. One play and East fumbles again on the East 35 yard line. This time the defense came alive and Blake Whitney forced a fumble on English and Connor Kaiser was there to snap it up for the Spartans. Two first downs and a sack forced the Spartans to punt back to Grand Island. On the first play Grand Island, saw Fyfe, three year quarterback starter and star track sprinter run 87 yards to a 35-0 lead. Again, according to NSAA rules the clock would roll at that point. The next Spartan series found disaster again as a Grant Ozaki interception by Preston Fegley gave the ball to the Islanders on the Spartan 32 yard line. This time it took Grand Island two plays when English finished off the 22 yard touchdown run. The third quarter ended with a Grand Island 42-0 advantage.
The fourth quarter Ozaki found a wide open Austin Sankey for a 43 yard touchdown and Eric Connor provided the extra point. Braden Knuth gave to ball right back to East on the kickoff with a forced fumble by Aaron Bohl and a recovery by Ben Crusinberry. John Schneckloth carried twice and polished off the touchdown with a 4 yard run and no further action results in highlights as Grand Island won 42-14.
East is still in the playoff pictures. How’s that you say? Blame the NSAA scheduling and point system if you want. In a way it’s a reward for the Spartans having to play a brutal schedule. East has received maximum points for losses to top rated teams and that average is currently 16th in the NSAA point chart. The playoff system takes the first two places of each district. That leaves six wild cards slots for the playoffs. Omaha Westside, Papillion South and Columbus are guaranteed spots. An East loss and a Northeast win over Lincoln High and a Creighton Prep win over Papillion South would get those two teams in the playoffs. Omaha North also needs an East loss and a win over Bellevue West . If East beats Columbus then the Spartans could wind up 12th seed with a Papillion South win over Westside. Westside with an East win would leave the Spartans with a 13 seed. With an East loss, the Spartans could still get in if Omaha North losses to Bellevue West, or Northeast losses to Lincoln High, or Creighton Prep losses to Papillion South.
The embarrassment of a team 2-7 making the playoffs should reflect the scheduling. Two years ago Millard South was state champions and this season their schedule is the second easiest in the state and their record of late reflects their record and they make the playoffs in an off season. East has the toughest schedule in the state and that schedule coupled with the 26th ranked school in population has depleted a team that plays very well on defense and riddled them with injuries. The point system does not reflect margin of victory. A team that losses to an upper division team gets 38 points regardless if they lose 2-0 or 56-0.
Next up for the East is Columbus and the Spartans went to Columbus last year and upset them with by far the best game of the season. This is the last game of the season by a bunch of really nice academic kids. East has not had that error free game this season and with Columbus again automatically in the playoffs, a repeat performance is possible. A win would guarantee a playoff bid for East and they could play the 12th or 13th seed and play Lincoln Southeast or Omaha Central. A loss again still has playoff possibilities against Omaha Burke or a last trip to the locker room.
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