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Cool belief sends Bison blazing into second half
McCOOK, Neb. — Staying cool sent the McCook Bison blazing through a 28-point second half Friday night.
That’s how the Bison handled being blanked, 3-0, through a frustrating first half against 2-5 Gering.
No fire and brimstone speeches?
No steam escaping when the Bison left that halftime gathering?
No sportswriters wishing they skipped day-old corndogs Friday afternoon?
Well, maybe.
But otherwise...
“Nope. We knew we were going to be in for a tough contest. We expected nothing less,” Bison coach Joe Vetrovsky said about the 28-9 comeback win. “There’s a lot of pride in being a Gering Bulldog, they’re different than other years.”
“Defensively, we just had to settle down and play with better technique,” he explained. “Offensively, we just had to keep grinding away and something would break.”
Of course, defenses break faster when you can fire a missile that moves like turbo buttons on any video-game console.
Junior Jacob Gomez-Wilson returned from his shoulder injury suffered in the previous Bison game three weeks earlier.
The first half focused on using JG-W during certain plays, but he wasn’t leaving during this game’s pivotal stretch.
A brilliant first drive of the second half finished with Gomez-Wilson darting 13 yards to McCook’s first offensive touchdown since that same Sept. 17 home contest vs. Seward.
Senior Matt Nichols’ 27-yard catch-and-run put McCook in perfect scoring position.
Senior Hunter Hansen kicked his first of four successful PATs and suddenly the Bison led 7-3.
“I’d be remiss to not say it was good to see No. 20 (Gomez-Wilson) back in pads tonight,” Vetrovsky confirmed.
Junior Adam Dugger’s seven-yard TD run finished the next fine Bison drive.
Dugger faked left, “bootlegged” out to his right and beat every potential Bulldog tackler while diving across that goal line.
However, these not-your-big-brother’s Gering Bulldogs showed why they owned the same record as McCook entering this contest.
They quickly drove downfield and scored on a super leaping 31-yard touchdown pass.
“(Bison defensive back) Hayden Norgaard was all over that pass. It was great coverage,” coach observed. “They responded with a great play. They (Gering) cut it to five, so we needed another drive.”
Sure enough, the Bison (3-4 record) delivered their best drive in weeks.
J.G-W rumbled 15 yards before Dugger hit Lucas Gomez-Wilson for a 10-yard pass completion along the sideline.
Dugger finished seven-for-11 in one of his best passing performances this season.
Junior fullback Alex Anthony followed with what he does constantly whether it’s tackling a foe or taking down opposing wrestlers.
Anthony smashed full-speed through Bulldogs and rumbled 15 yards.
The Bison were really moving behind an offensive line not committing any stalling penalties.
“I feel (senior) Max Weimer and (junior) Eli Kehler do a great job of rallying the guys together and getting them going,” Vetrovsky said. “These guys battled hard and came back against a good defense. Gering’s guys upfront were all well over 200 pounds.”
No problem, because Gomez-Wilson soon dove across the goal line from two yards away.
Now McCook owned a commanding 21-9 lead and that three-game slide was less than five minutes from its finish.
“That drive was pivotal,” coach confirmed.
Junior Garrett Kaps soon followed with a perfectly-timed blitz sack of Gering’s quarterback.
Now facing desperation, a fourth-down throw resulted in sophomore Canyon Hosick making his first varsity interception.
Hosick ran deep into Bulldog territory which set up Dugger’s second TD run.
Senior Jayson Pilgrim teamed with sophomore Brett Fraker to make one QB sack. Watch for more details later this week.