Cole Bixler defensive gems send Omaha North to Finals.

Omaha North defensive hero, Cole Bixler.

It was a game that will be remembered as Classic in the annals of Class A high school playoff history. A game that stilled pounding hearts for the waning minutes of the battle and sent a team to the sidelines that had left every ounce of spirit and energy on the Memorial Stadium artificial turf. Omaha North used two sparkling defensive gems by linebacker Cole Bixler to best Grand Island 39-34 and and advance to the Class A State Championship game on November 26th. An overflow crowd of 4,000+ witnessed one for the ages on a night the city of Grand Island hasn't seen in 23 years.

A post game view after 48 hours of thought:

It was one of those battles you hated to see anyone lose, especially with the stakes so high. It was a semi final clash between two programs with the word "Classy" attached to their school names. Omaha North was trying to get back to Memorial Stadium to pick up where they left off a year ago. Another opportunity to write a different ending to a 2nd straight story book season. Grand Island was simply trying to advance to a place they haven't seen since 1990. You can't bluff your way this deep into the playoffs. Your football team has to be the real deal, one of 4 elite programs in the state to have reached this point. No pretenders here.

Not many that follow high school football could have predicted the Islanders would get this far, but apparently the GI coaches and players had different thoughts. Grand Island had disposed of two highly regarded Metro schools in Bellevue West and Omaha Burke the previous two playoff match-ups. Remember, the same Bellevue West team the Islanders beat 35-27 in the 1st round of the playoffs had beaten Omaha North 35-30 just two weeks earlier.

Grand Island opened the game with a double reverse flee flicker that fell incomplete, followed by 2 more incomplete passes. After a punt to the Omaha North 46, the Vikings promptly took the ball and 4 plays, 1:16 seconds later Calvin Strong sprinted 25 yards for a touchdown. Was this going to set the tone for the entire game? GI answered that question with a 15 play, 7:56 second drive that featured some nifty running and pinpoint passing by Pierce Almond. Jake Mayer crashed in from the 2 yard line and the game was on.

The two teams traded scores until it was knotted at 14 at the half. Back and forth they went in the second half. No turnovers, no punts, no penalties, just error-free top notch football. North's Calvin Strong, who entered the game with 2,577 yards, was absolute workhorse throughout the entire contest. In the 2nd half Viking coach Larry Martin leaned on the 172 pound junior and the spectacular runner came through with shining colors. But Strong, who finished the game with 221 yards, worked for every single grueling yard he gained all night. It took 39 carries to hit that mark and the Islanders puts the stops on any gain longer than the aforementioned 25 yard TD scamper.

Omaha North took the lead to open the 3rd quarter on an 8 yard Calvin Strong run but just a minute and a half later Grand Island's Pierce Almond hit a streaking Trevor Wojtalewicz (Watt-a-lev-itch) with a 54 yard touchdown pass. Wojtalewicz sprinted away from the speedy North defenders like a runaway train. The Vikings regained the lead with 1:37 left in the 3rd quarter but muffed an extra point kick that loomed huge at the time. Omaha North led 27-21 after 3.

GI scored with 9:19 left in the game on a 2 yard run by fleet Braden Knuth. Brandon Wentling added the important extra point and the Islanders had a 28-27 lead.

The Islanders held the Vikings deep in their own territory midway through 4th quarter and forced the only punt of the game. Following the North punt the Islanders looked firmly in control with 6 minutes left and the ball at the Viking 49 yard line, leading by that 28-27 count. One sustained drive would put Grand Island up by two scores.

The Islanders drove to the Viking 36 yard line. Knuth then blasted through the heart of the defense for 9 yards. 2nd and 1 on the Omaha North 27. Pierce Almond then rolled to his right on the next play, floated a flair pass and linebacker Cole Bixler timed the toss perfectly, picked it off and raced 66 yards for a touchdown. The point after pass failed but the Vikings were up 33-28.

But Grand Island's never-say-die football team did what they have the past two contests on the very next possession. With the ball on their own 20, Almond slipped the ball to Knuth on a simple dive play and the blazing senior tore through a gaping hole and took the ball all the way to the Omaha North 1 yard line. Knuth scored on the very nest play and the extra point pass failed and GI was up 34-33 with the clock reading 3:33.

The Vikings took the ball on their own 32 and Calvin Strong carried every play on the next drive but one....... a sparkling 37 yard pass completion from QB Payton Nelson to WR Marquise Lewis. The completion carried to the Islander 28 where Strong then ripped off runs of 2, 5, 5 and then sprinted 17 yards for the go ahead score. Omaha North led Grand Island 39-34, clock reading 1:08.

The Islander were not finished. From their own 20, Almond, who was a sharp shooter all evening, completed passes of 12, 13, 8 and 9 yards to the Viking 37. But on a 3rd and 9, Almond faded back and once again floated a pass into the right flat. Out of nowhere came #34....again. Cole Bixler knocked the ball out of the air, plucked it off the bounce and returned it 17 yards to ice the game and break the hearts of the Come Back Kids.

Omaha North had punched their ticket back into the Class A championship game and Grand Island, who fought until the end, finally saw the dream evaporate into the the chill of the Memorial Stadium night air. You could almost feel the hearts of the Islander players, coaches, and fans shatter into the pieces of a story book season that almost was.......it was a shame someone had to lose.

Conclusions: Hard to find a negative fact surrounding this game. Grand Island proved it could play with anyone in the state in Class A. The Islanders would have not only been a worthy opponent for Omaha Westside in the championship game, but a scary one at that. Westside pounded Grand Island earlier in the season 45-13, but this was not the same Islander team and a rematch would have been just what the doctor ordered for Islanders and a worrysome thought for Westside.

Calvin Strong. This is the 4th time I have seen this young man run and still say the junior sensation is the best RB since former Green Bay Packer and Omaha Central standout Ahman Green terrorized the Metro football gridirons. So powerful, so fast, so deceptive, a shake and bake runner that can take a pounding and slither, wiggle, and bounce off tacklers. It is amazing and a tribute to Grand Island's defense to have prevented Strong from breaking any run longer than 25 yards. It just hasn't happened. I dream about this kid's runs. What a player.

The sportsmanship displayed by both of these football teams was such a pleasure to behold. Some of the Omaha North players sought out some of Grand Island's dejected players after the game to give them some props. The Islanders, in the midst of a crushed dream, responded with dignity and class. Standing on the Vkings sideline the entire game, I witnessed well coached, disciplined young men that had obviously been well groomed by Coach Larry Martin and his staff. Omaha North assistant coaches like my friend Damon Benning prepared these players well. And not enough can be stated about the outsanding job Grand Island coach Jeff Tomlin and his staff have done with their players. Go far and wide and you will not find two finer groups of young men better than these Vikings and Islander players.

.................it was a shame someone had to lose.

.............................1......2......3......4.........T

Omaha North........7......7......13....12.......39

Grand Island.........7......7........7.....13......34

............................................................................................................ON....GI

1st O. North - C. Strong 25 Run (Polito kick).....................................7.....0 (10:12)

1st GI.............J. Mayer 2 Run (Wentling Kick)................................7.....7 (4:18)

2nd GI............A. Rojas 25 pass from Almond (Wentling kick)..............7....14 (7:43)

2nd O. North..P. Nelson 1 Run (Polito kick)......................................14...14 (1:55)

3rd O. North..Strong 8 Run........(Polito kick).........................................21...14 (5:46)

3rd GI............T. Wojtalewicz 54 pass from Almond (Wentling Kick)....21...21 (4:16)

3rd O. North...Nelson 4 Run......(kick fail).............................................27...21 (1:37)

4th GI.............Braden Knuth 2 Run (Wetling kick)................................27...28 (9:19)

4th O. North Cole Bixler 66 interception return (pass fail).................33....28 (4:03)

4th GI.............Knuth 1 Run (pass fail)...................................................33....34 (3:33)

4th O. North Strong 17 Run (run fail)..................................................39....34 (1:08)