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Bison bounce back to beat Schuyler
Call it a bit of a shock. Call it a reality check. Call it a punch in the mouth.
But after Schuyler marched the football downfield on its first series in Friday night's Nebraska Class B quarterfinal game at Weiland Field in McCook, the McCook Bison regrouped and dominated the Warriors 42-7.
McCook (11-0) advanced to the Class B semifinals Saturday, Nov. 15 against the winner of Saturday's quarterfinal game between Aurora and Alliance. The was postponed from Friday because of heavy snow in Alliance.
If Alliance wins, McCook hosts the Bulldogs in the semifinals. McCook will travel to Aurora if the Huskies prevail.
"They were a little better than we thought," said McCook Bison football coach Jeff Gross. "We underestimated them. Early on, we were playing peek-a-boo on defense. Once we established the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football, we took control of the game.
"Give them credit. They won nine games for a reason. It's a Bison win and we're moving on."
Schuyler stunned the Bison when Mitch Hron, a 220-pound senior fullback, went up the middle on a 46-yard run from the Warriors' 22 to the Bison 32. Junior tailback Kyle Emanuel, another 220-pounder, capped a seven-play, 78-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. Andrew Muhle's extra point gave the Warriors a 7-0 lead.
McCook senior Matt Berry fumbled on the first play of the Bison team's first series.
McCook scored one TD in the first quarter and two in the second quarter and led at halftime 21-7.
Berry tossed a 29-yard TD pass to Dillon Goltl and scored from 12 yards out. Zach Wieser added a 12-yard TD run. The TD was set up by Taylor Garcia's fumble recovery.
Berry connected with senior tight end Tyrone Sellers on a 25-yard TD pass to start the third quarter.
The Bison put together a 13-play, 63-yard drive that ate up the last 5 minutes of the third quarter and was capped by a 1-yard TD run by Berry with 11:16 left in the fourth quarter.
Andy Smith put the finishing touches on the victory with a 9-yard TD run with 4:44 left in the game.
Jeff Lorentz was perfect on all six of his extra points for a 42-7 final margin.
McCook rushed for 202 yards on 40 carries and Berry completed 6-of-12 passes with one interception for 100 yards. Berry also rushed for 71 yards on 13 carries.
Wieser added 43 yards on 10 carries, Smith 43 yards on 7 carries and fullback Brock Kotschwar 35 yards on 10 carries.
Goltl caught 3 passes for 59 yards, Sellers 2 for 47 and Smith 1 for 4.
The Warriors rushed for 142 yards, but 78 of the yards came on the first series. The Warriors had just 8 yards passing.
Mitch Hron rushed for 81 yards on 15 carries and Emanuel 43 yards on 11 carries. Hron injured his hand. Emanuel aggravated a turf toe injury.
Schuyler finished the season with a 9-2 record.
Schuyler (9-2) 7 0 0 0 -- 7
at McCook (11-0) 7 14 7 14 -- 42
S -- Kyle Emanuel 5 run (Andrew Muhler kick)
M -- Dillon Goltl 29 pass from Matt Berry (Lorentz kick)
M -- Berry 12 run (Lorentz kick)
M -- Zach Wieser 12 run (Lorentz kick)
M -- Tyrone Sellers 25 pass from Berry (Lorentz kick)
M -- Berry 1 run (Lorentz kick)
M -- Andy Smith 9 run (Lorentz kick)