East chose the wind instead of the ball to start the game and the defense came up big with a three and out stand on Northeast’s first possession.  A poor 10 yard punt gave the ball to East on the Northeast 41 yard line to make the choice an excellant choice.   Two incomplete East passes and a short 2 yard game forced the Spartans to punt back to the Rockets.  With a stiff wind behind Tim Kubert hit a 39 yard punt for a touchback. Northeast was out of trouble and back with the ball on its own 20 yard line.   Northeast managed to drive the ball 51 yards down field to the East 29 yard line on 9 plays before throwing a 4^th down incompletion. After the end of the first quarter the game was tied at 0-0 and Northeast had over 8:03 of possession time.

First play of the second quarter Matt Peppmuller hit Sam Ayars on a hitch and go to score on a 51 yard pass play.   East stopped Northeast on one three and out during the second period and East recorded an interception and a fumble.  On the fumble East gave the ball to Northeast on the East 16 yard line but, the defense came up big and Northeast missed a 23 yard field goal.   Northeast stopped East for 7 yards rushing and the Spartans held the Rockets to 17 yards rushing in the second quarter.  Northeast held a slim 7-0 lead at half time

The third quarter started the same way the game starter when East stopped NE on their own 29 yard line with a three and out situation.  Punter Sam Ayers helped Rockets get the ball into Spartan territory with a 31 yard punt against the wind.  On the next Northeast possession, Cory Jones gained 40 yards on a Peppmuller pass to move the ball into East territory. Five plays later Peppmuller rushed for a 13 yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.   With 1:35 to go in the third quarter Grant Ozaki found Eric Connor up the middle for a 49 yard touchdown pass to bring the Spartans back.  A key extra point was missed and Northeast still had the advantage at 14-6 after three quarters of play.

The fourth quarter Northeast was driving on a 10 play drive when Peppmuller threw an interception to Connor on the East 10 yard line.  The interception was the first for the Spartans of the season.  East operating against the wind only managed 3 yards on their possession and a 21 yard punt against the wind found the Rockets back in business on the East 37 yard line.  Northeast took advantage of their wind possession and Peppmuller found Ayars again on the first play with a 37 yard touchdown pass and a 21-6 lead with 7:34 to go in the game.

East started their drive after Mason Terrell gave the Spartans great field position with a 44 yard kickoff return.  The drive stalled briefly as Ozaki was intercepted by Trent Robbins at the Northeast 44 yard. Austin Kilgore followed Robbins and came up with a huge jarring hit and forced a fumble and Dalton Smith pounded on the ball at the East 36 yard.  The drive continued for 8 more including a 21 yard pass from Ozaki to Tahner Pinkman and a rush by Terrell for 17 yards.  On a 4^th and 5 on the Northeast 14 yard line Ozaki went back to pass and slide up the middle for a rushing touchdown.   East went for two and came up short with the score 21-12.  Both teams traded insignificant drives and the game ended with Northeast on top. Linebacker Aaron Bohl led the Spartans with 18 tackles, followed by Blake Whitney with 12 tackles, Connor Kaiser with 12 tackles, Weston Kalloff with 8 tackles and Josh Gawrick with 8 tackles.

Next week East will see the #2 team in the state, Grand Island Islanders come with their 7-0 record to Seacrest field.  East is depleted with injuries as more than 12 teammates were in street clothes this past game.  East plans to get a few of those boys back for the game and put together a game plan to stop Grand Island.  As of last week the Spartans had the toughest schedule in Class A with a 40.37 rating from all its opponents including a 39-15 record.  The opponent record and rating was far above the next team.   Millard South who won the state title when the schedules were produced has the 27^th out of 28th toughest schedule.  North Platte, East and Columbus have the least number of students in their schools and maintain 3 of top 4 toughest schedules.  A tough schedule has proved that hard hitting week after week produces injuries and injuries result in losses.  The Spartans are great kids and show wonderful sportsmanship, but a leader needs to step forward and lead the Spartans this week against the Islanders.