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Nebraska Class B state football playoffs: Bison to take on Ogallala again
Gross: Indians are better
than team McCook
blasted 49-0 in Week 3
The Ogallala team that McCook will play Monday in the Nebraska Class B quarterfinals is better than the Indians' squad McCook blew out 49-0 in Week 3, said Bison head football coach Jeff Gross.
The first meeting took place Sept. 17.
Monday's rematch takes place at Ogallala. Kickoff is 6 p.m. CT/5 p.m. MT.
The Bison will put a 10-0 record and a 36-game winning streak on the line at Ogallala.
The Indians (6-4) are sky-high after rolling past Gering 49-31 Wednesday. McCook had a tougher time, but put away Crete 31-0 for its seventh shutout of the season.
Gross said Ogallala started to roll once it installed Eric Washa at quarterback and stopped deploying several athletes as two-way players.
"When we played Ogallala the first time, they were pretty banged up and they were changing quarterbacks," Gross said. "They made some changes on the line and everybody's able to focus on one side of the ball.
"They have had a great year. At the beginning of the season I said this is a team that will make the playoffs and win some games. Coach (Chip) Kay is too good a coach.
"I have the utmost respect for Ogallala. We've improved a lot since we played them, but we need to be prepared to play a much better team."
Gross noted that the Indians contained a tough Holdrege team down before losing 21-0.
The Indians possess several potent skill positions, most notably tailback Billy Chandler, who scored three touchdowns in Ogallala's win over Gering.
Washa threw three TD passes -- one each to Matt Weber, Kaleb Samuelson and Joel Pelster.
"Billy Chandler still makes them go -- they are a running football team," Gross said. "We have got to contain him. I'm glad this is the last time we will have toplay against Billy Chandler -- this is the sixth or seventh time we've faced him. He's a heck of back and you can't stop him -- you have to contain him.
"We have to play total team defense and play ball control offense. Our best defense is to have our offense on the field. We have to play great special teams."
The Bison, who have scored 408 points and average 452.5 yards of total offense a game, are led by junior tailback Brendan Liess, who has rushed for 1,603 yards and scored 21 rushing TDs (23 overall).
Senior fullback Alex Beam has 954 yards rushing and nine TDs.
Junior quarterback Tony Purvis has passed for 644 yards and rushed for 529. Purvis has scored eight TDs and thrown four TD passes.
Liess has nine catches for 136 yards and Brian Winder eight for 156.
When McCook played Ogallala in Week 3 on Sept. 17 at Weiland Field, the Bison rolled up 344 yards rushing and added 78 passing.
Purvis ran for 105 yards, Craig Fritz 74, Liess 71, Beam 58 and Jeff Klug 31.
The Bison used big plays to beat the Indians. Liess had a 76-yard interception return for a TD, Brian Winder caught a 34-yard TD pass and Fritz ran 41 yards for a TD.
The Bison defense has allowed just 35 points in 10 games, including the seven shutouts.
McCook has limited opponents to just 160.5 total yards per game.
No. 1 McCOOK BISON (10-0)
@ OGALLALA INDIANS (6-4)
Date: Monday, Nov. 8
Kickoff: 6 p.m. CT/5 p.m. MT
Last matchup: McCook 49, Ogallala 0 (Week 3 Sept. 17).
Last week's scores: McCook 31, Crete 0; Ogallala 49, Gering 31.
Radio pre-game show: 4:30 p.m. CT/3:30 p.m. MT.
Radio: KICX (96.1-FM McCook)
Play-by-play: Rich Barnett.
Analysis: Ken Wellman, Bob Gaulke
McCook stats
Offense (5052 total yards)
Rushing (479-3881): Brendan Liess 161-1603, Alex Beam 134-954, Tony Purvis 95-329, Craig Fritz 28-364, Jeff Klug 43-278, Joel Arterburn 4-97, Brad Ackermann 2-25, Ryan Bedore 6-16, Drew Wilson 5-14, Austin Gessleman 1-1.
Passing (35-74-3-644): Tony Purvis 35-74-3-644 (47 percent).
Receiving (34-632): Brian Winder 8-156, Brendan Liess 9-136, Jeremy Young 4-102, Alex Beam 3-60, Jeff Klug 2-72, Derek Ruppert 2-48, Mark Rogers 2-30, Zach Volquardsen 2-29.
Returns (39-901): Brendan Liess 18-524, Jeff Klug 5-137, David McCorkle 7-51, Rico Quezada 3-100, Josh Cherry 2-48, Paul Kenny 2-18, Derek Ruppert 1-4.
Scoring (408 points): Brendan Liess 138 (23 TDs), Alex Beam 58 (9 TDs, 2 PAT2s), Josh Cherry 52 (43 PAT1s, 3 FGs), Tony Purvis 50 (8 TDs, 1 PAT2), Jeff Klug 36 (6 TDs), Craig Fritz 30 (5 TDs), Joel Arterburn 12 (2 TDs), Brian Winder 6 (1 TD), Derek Ruppert 6 (1 TD), Rico Quezada 6 (1 TD), Jeremy Young 6 (1 TD), Jared Muehlenkamp 2 (1 PAT2).
STARTING LINEUPS
McCOOK OFFENSE
WR 31 Brian Winder, 6-3, 165, sr.
WR 6 Derek Ruppert, 6-1, 170, sr.
TE 1 Zach Volquardsen, 6-5, 215, sr.
TE 87 Jeremy Young, 6-3, 210, sr.
T 64 Jayce Dueland 6-0, 210, sr.
G 56 Ryan Saalfeld 6-1, 195, sr.
C 62 Karl Shaddock, 6-2, 215, sr.
G 63 Jeff Lyster, 6-1, 195, sr.
T 55 Tony Aguilar, 5-10, 220, sr.
FB 32 Alex Beam, 5-10, 180, sr.
TB 44 Brendan Liess, 6-1, 175, jr.
QB 5 Tony Purvis, 6-1, 160, jr.
DEFENSE
DE 62 Karl Shaddock, 6-2, 215, sr.
DT 55 Tony Aguilar, 5-10, 220, sr.
DT 64 Jayce Dueland 6-0, 210, sr.
DE 87 Jeremy Young, 6-3, 210, sr.
ILB 63 Jeff Lyster, 6-1, 195, sr.
ILB 32 Alex Beam, 5-10, 180, sr.
OLB 44 Brendan Liess, 6-1, 175, jr.
OLB 10 Drew Wilson, 5-9, 180, sr.
CB 19 Paul Kenny, 5-10, 155, sr.
CB 12 Rico Quezada, 5-7, 145, sr.
DB 6 Derek Ruppert, 6-1, 170, sr.
NB 3 Jeff Klug, 5-10, 165, jr.
FS 5 Tony Purvis, 6-1, 160, jr.
SPECIAL TEAMS
K 2 Josh Cherry, 6-1, 150. so.
P 31 Brian Winder, 6-3, 165, sr.
H 7 Joel Arterburn, 6-0, 155, jr.
LS 62 Jayce Dueland, 6-0, 210, sr.
KR 44 Brendan Liess, 6-1, 175, jr.
KR 3 Jeff Klug, 5-10, 165, jr.
KR 19 Paul Kenny, 5-10, 155, sr.