Aurora Offense, Special Teams Sparkle in 43-13 win over rival GI Northwest.

Aurora star Carlos Collazo is one of the finest 2-Way players in Class C-1 this season and nearly impossible to stop with a football in his hands.

AURORA, NE (Friday, August 26, 2022)

Aurora special teams capitalized on Northwest mistakes, forced Northwest turnovers, turning them into touchdowns, while the Huskies offense was its usual quality self, resulting in an Aurora 43-13 opening night win over longtime rival GI Northwest.

Two thousand yard rusher Carlos Collazo battered the Vikings defense with 127 yards on just 17 carries and 3 touchdowns and even got in on the aerial fun with a slick 64 yard touchdown toss to speedy Koby Nathtigal.

Meanwhile, the Aurora defense was frustrating the Northwest running game and keeping an efficient Vikings passing offense between the 25 yard lines.

The game actually unfolded like a normal Northwest/Aurora defensive, head-banging rivalry game, with the teams trading punts. That changed late in the opening stanza when Aurora linebacker Devin Danielson shot through to block a Tyler Douglass punt.

The Huskies recovered the loose ball on the Northwest 30 yard line and the Huskies were set to strike.

It took just one play for Aurora quarterback Drew Knust, a Master of Trickery, to send Carson Staehr on a beeline route for the left end zone pylon. The seasoned senior laid the pass right on the money as Staehr caught it on the fly for a 30 yard scoring play.

Knust ran in the double PAT and the Huskies had themselves an 8-0 advantage with 5:29 left in the first quarter.

Northwest answered back with 11:49 left in the 2nd quarter.

Vikings senior quarterback Austin Payne faked a handoff to classmate Tyler Douglass, then spotted him all by himself downfield. Payne put the pass right on the money and Douglass was off to the races with a sweet 47 yard touchdown reception.

Peyton Atwood converted on the PAT kick, and the Vikings trailed just 8-7.

But that’s when things began to unravel for Northwest.

Aurora took the ensuing kickoff and covered 80 yards in just 5 plays. It was the Carlos Collazo show, as the senior seemed to get fired up after a big hit by a Northwest defender. One play after the solid pop, Collazo reeled off a spectacular 39 yard touchdown run, crushing Vikings would-be tacklers along the way.

Five minutes later, Collazo ran it in from 17 yards out after the Huskies pounced on a loose ball, the result of a blocked punt by Aurora.

Disaster struck the Vikings again at the 2:33 mark of the 2nd stanza when Aurora pounced on a loose ball, the result of a high snap from center that sailed over the head of Northwest punter Tyler Douglass.

Drew Knust then promptly scored on a nifty 40 yard scoring jaunt around his left end, the result of some nice downfield blocks and great foot speed by the Aurora field general.

The touchdown run and the Alex Wheeler PAT gave Aurora a 29-7 halftime advantage and some great momentum going into the second half.

Aurora tacked on another score in the 3rd quarter when Carlos Collazo collected his 3rd touchdown on a 2 yard plunge, making the score 36-7 Huskies.

Northwest actually mounted a great drive in that 3rd stanza. After notching a first down at their own 35, Vikings quarterback Austin Payne took a step back after receiving the center snap, charged forward, hurdled an Aurora defender at the line of scrimmage and continued downfield on a beautiful 53 yard dash.

Payne was pulled down from behind by Aurora speedster Koby Nachtigal at the Vikings 13 yard line. The drive unfortunately stalled after the Huskies defense stuffed the Vikings on three straight plays, forcing a field goal that fell far short of its mark.

Aurora put some icing on the cake 12 seconds deep into the 4th quarter when Carlos Collazo appeared to be sweeping around the Vikings left side. But the crafty senior suddenly pulled up and lofted a pass to an “all by himself” Koby Nachtigal.

The pass was actually a bit underthrown, but once Koby gathered in the pass, it was Katie bar the Door, as Nachtigal turned on the jets for a 64 yard touchdown reception.

Northwest added a late score with 3:35 left in the contest on a Tyler Douglass one yard blast, but it only closed the gap to 43-13, that being the final count.

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Aurora Head Coach Tyler Peterson seemed satisfied with his team's all-around performance in a post game speech, but reiterated that his forces should stay humble in victory and strive for continuous improvement each week in practice.

Peterson’s post-game talk reminded me of a year ago, when he delivered a similar speech following a heart-breaking 55-44 loss to eventual state champion Bennington. That speech came after an opening game loss to a powerhouse Class A North Platte squad (42-14).

I also recall (after the Bennington loss) telling Coach Peterson not to worry because his team would not lose another regular season game and would march through post season play, and make it to the Class B Championship game in Lincoln.

The prediction was right, but the fact Aurora bounced back from that 0-2 start, made it all the way to Lincoln before dropping a second game to Bennington, makes it crystal clear that this current Huskies football team may very well be on their way to a memorable 2022 season in Class C-1.

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My unofficial stats had Aurora rushing for 252 yards and collecting another 178 through the air on 11 of 18 passing. Drew Knust accounted for 87 of those yards on 8 of 15 passing and a score. Carlos Collazo was 1 for 1 for 64 yards and a touchdown and young sophomore Booker Scheierman added a little glory to his name by coming in alte to complete his 2 passing attempts for 22 yards.

The stout Aurora “D” held Northwest rushers to just 108 yards on 28 carries, 53 of those coming on the Austin Payne burst/

Payne had a nice night passing the football, completing 18 of 25 tosses for an unofficial 182 yards, including his last 7 in a row for close 96 yards.

Next week Aurora stays at home to face always tough Boone Central, who opened up the 2022 season with a 42-21 victory over Broken Bow.

Northwest again hits the road with a long trip to meet Omaha Skutt, who dropped their season opener 44-13 to defending Class B Champion Bennington.

…………………………….1……..2……..3……..4……..Final

GI Northwest (0-1)....0…..…7……..0……..6……….13

Aurora (1-0)..............8…….21…….7………7……….43

1st Qtr……………………………………………………………………………NW-Aur

AUR-Carsen Staehr 30 pass from Drew Knust…PAT-Knust run (5:29)..0……8

2nd Qtr

NW-Tyler Douglass 47 pass from Austin Payne..PAT- Peyton Atwood kick (11:49)..7……8

AUR-Carlos Collazo 39 Run…………PAT-Knust to Ohlson pass (9:38)…..7…..16

AUR-Carlos Collazo 17 run……………………………..PAT-kick failed (4:24)…7….22

AUR-Drew Knust 40 run………………………………..PAT-Alex Wheeler kick (1:33)..7….29

3rd Qtr.

AUR-Carlos Collazo 2 run………………………………PAT-Wheeler kicK.(6:57)..7…..36

4th Qtr.

AUR-Koby Nachtigal 64 pass from Carlos Collazo. PAT-Wheeler kick (11:38)..7…..43

NW-Tyler Douglass 1 run……………………………….....PAT-kick blocked.(3:35)...13….43