| Lincoln, NE - The atmosphere was filled with storms of excitement as the Spartans prepared to tackle the tenth rated Bearcats from Kearney. At game time the skies were turning nasty and so were East's fortunes. Kearney kicked off with the wind and shutdown East before the Spartans had to punt into that brutal wind and give the ball back to Kearney on the East 48 yard line. One completed pass from Luke McNitt to Trey Anderson and a 44 yard field goal from Andrew Stuchlik is all Kearney needed to go on a defeat the Spartans 13-0. The game was delayed over an hour and finished in the rain with both defenses stubborn as the weather itself.
East managed only 15 yards the first quarter with four straight three and out possessions. Kearney's second possession started from the East 45 yard line before the game was delayed at 7:16 to remaining in the 1st quarter. Both teams headed for locker room to wait it out for over a hour while cheerleaders and parents headed for the cars. By the time the game resumed the home field band and fan advantage had gone on home. East defense came out after the delay and put on a big defensive stop against the Bearcats and because the wind was gone, Kearney was forced to punt on East's 34 yard line. East punted to the East 47 yard line before Spencer Lindsay returned the punt 12 yards and had a 15 yard face mask tacked onto the return. From the East 20 yard line Derek Shriner made short work of the remaining 20 yards and scampered up the middle to give Kearney a 10-0 first quarter lead. Brett Nelson came up with the lone Spartan highlight as he returned the kickoff 26 yards to the East 34 yard line.
Second quarter saw both teams battling great defenses with the lone highlight coming from a Ryan Schrad end around pass to Cody Jones for 43 yards and the ball on the Kearney 21 yard line. Unable to move the ball any further the Spartans kicker Eric Connor sent a 40 yard field goal try wide right. East only gave up 10 yards rushing and 8 yards passing in the 2nd quarter and was lead by Aaron Bohl who had a game high 17 tackles. Kearney continued to lead as they both went into the locker room at half 10-0.
To start the 3rd quarter, East sent the kick off 24 yards and gave Kearney the ball on Kearney 36 yard line. Spartans forced the Bearcats to punt after seven plays but, again East failed to get beyond a 3 and out situation. With 3:40 to go in the third quarter, Anderson broke through the East line and blocked a Kubert punt to set the Bearcats up at the East 10 yard line. The Spartans defended their territory and held them on the three straight plays before Lindsay hit a 28 yard chip shot to give them a 13-0 lead and only 59 seconds to go in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter, both teams had four possessions to try and dent the defenses but, both teams were unsuccesful . East did win the turnover advantage in the fourth and the game when Cody Jones and Gabe Morton forced fumbles recovered by Weston Kalloff and Jared Nelson. Besides the great tackling night from Bohl, the Spartans saw eight tackles from Connor Kaiser, seven tackles from Tahner Pinkman and six from Jared Nelson. Josh Gawrick, John Schneckloth, Cody Jones and Blake Whitney were credited with five tackles. Tim Kubert had a 53 and 64 yard punt during the game before getting one blocked.
Next week, the Spartans look forward to a cross-town matchup with rival Lincoln Southwest, who also rates in the Class A top ten.
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