Bison drill Haymakers

McCook to host

Crete in West

bracket finals

on Saturday

Except for one big play, McCook's No. 1-ranked defense put the clamps on the Cozad Haymakers Monday night at Weiland Field, and the Bison rolled to a 42-7 victory in the Nebraska Class B quarterfinals.

McCook's win, combined with Crete's 42-17 romp over Holdrege Monday, earned the Bison one more home game.

"It's great when you can win all of your playoff games in a dominating fashion," Gross said. "We had fun tonight."

McCook (11-0), the No. 1 seed in the Class B West Bracket, will host No. 2 seed Crete (10-1) Saturday. Kickoff is 4 p.m.

This is the second straight year McCook will host all of its playoff games.

After McCook jumped out to a 7-0 lead on Craig Fritz' 6-yard touchdown run at the 9:21 mark in the first quarter, Cozad answered back.

The Haymakers' workhorse tailback Eric Love took a handoff at the Cozad 21-yard line, broke a tackle 6 yards down field and broke loose for a 79-yard TD run with 2:55 left in the quarter.

McCook took the lead for good when quarterback Josh Cherry sprinted 25 yards for a TD with 16 seconds left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, McCook's Nate Berry scored on a 4-yard TD run and Fritz added an 8-yard TD run and the Bison led at halftime 28-7.

Not all the news was good, however, as Cherry suffered a shoulder injury and was relegated to kicking duties in the second half.

Cherry was replaced by sophomore Matt Berry, who guided the Bison to two more TDs.

Fritz scored on a 2-yard run in the third and a 7-yarder in the fourth.

"Matt Berry is a very capable guy," Gross said.

When Cherry booted his sixth extra point of the game (with Josh Mullen snapping and Eric Rippen holding), the Bison had a 35-point lead at 42-7. Time ran out on Cozad's season.

The Bison rolled up 14 first downs and 306 yards rushing. Cherry connected on 5-of-6 passes for 68 yards, giving McCook 374 total yards.

Fritz rushed for 146 yards on 23 carries. Sam Frazier added 62 yards on 10 carries. Cherry had 40 yards on 6 carries.

Nate Berry had 20 yards on 5 carries. Mitch Green 19 on 1 carry, Austin Barenberg 14 on 3 carries, Matt Berry 3 on 2 carries and Caleb Morgan 2 on 1 carry.

Matt Berry caught 2 passes for 37 yards. Dillon Goltl had 1 catch for 14 yards. Josh Mullen had 1 catch for 13 yards. Frazier had 1 catch for 6 yards.

In addition to the picks by Bryant and Fritz, McCook also got a fumble recovery by Chris Schleeman late in the fourth quarter.

Fritz also threw Cozad's backup quarterback Kyle Gill for a 10-yard loss on a trick play.

Love's 79-yard TD run was Cozad's offense for the game. The Bison held Love 26 yards on his other 12 carries, giving him a final total of 105.

Cozad rushed for 120 yards and quarterback Lance Fox completed 2 passes for 34 yards to Jake Wolf but was intercepted twice.

Fritz and Jon Bryant each picked off a pass for the Bison.

McCook's No. 1 defensive unit has allowed three TDs and two field goals this season in 11 games.

The Haymakers, who moved up to Class B from Class C-1 for the 2006 season, finished the season 8-3.

In the East Bracket, Elkhorn defeated Gretna 45-10 and Beatrice knocked Omaha Skutt Catholic 28-21.

In the East Bracket finals Saturday, Elkhorn (11-0) will play at Beatrice (9-2).

The Class B state championship game is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18 at the University of Nebraska's Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.

M -- Craig Fritz 6 run (Cherry kick)

C -- Eric Love 79 run (Lance Fox kick)

M -- Cherry 25 run (Cherry kick)

M -- Nate Berry 4 run (Cherry kick)

M -- Fritz 8 run (Cherry kick)

M -- Fritz 2 run (Cherry kick)

M -- Fritz 7 run (Cherry kick)

Team Statistics

McCook Individual Statistics

Rushing: Fritz 23-146 (4 TDs), Frazier 10-62, Cherry 6-40 (1 TD), N.Berry 5-20 (1 TD), Green 1-19, Barenberg 3-14, M.Berry 2-3, Morgan 1-2.

Passing: Cherry 5-6-0-68.

Receiving: M.Berry 2-37, Goltl 1-14, Mullen 1-13, Frazier 1-6.

Cozad Individual Statistics

Rushing: Love 13-105 (1 TD), Luong 3-21, Knauss 3-6, Fox 2 (minus 2), Gill 1 (minus 10).

Passing: Fox 2-8-2-34.

Receiving: Wolf 2-34.

NEBRASKA CLASS B

STATE PLAYOFFS

Wednesday, Nov. 1

First round games

EAST BRACKET

Elkhorn 24, Blair 0

Gretna 24, Ralston 10

Beatrice 43, Omaha Gross Catholic 21

Omaha Skutt Catholic 24, Lincoln Pius X 17

WEST BRACKET

McCook 35, Ogallala 0

Cozad 28, Aurora 22

Holdrege 28, Scottsbluff 27

Crete 28, Hastings 10

Monday, Nov. 6

Quarterfinals

EAST BRACKET

Elkhorn 45, Gretna 10

Beatrice 28, Omaha Skutt 21

WEST BRACKET

McCook 42, Cozad 7

Crete 42, Holdrege 17

SATURDAY, NOV. 11

East bracket finals -- Elkhorn (11-0) at Beatrice (9-2)

West bracket finals -- Crete (10-1) at McCook (11-0), 4 p.m.

SATURDAY, NOV. 18

Class B state championship game -- 7 p.m., Memorial Stadium, Lincoln.