Bison host Cozad Friday: McCook playing final regular-season home game

The McCook Bison football team will be playing its final regular-season home game Friday night at Weiland Field against a tough Cozad team.

McCook is 6-0 and Cozad is 4-2, but the Haymakers lost one game in overtime and led by 14 points in the other loss.

Kickoff is 7 p.m.

Playing their final home games in the "Bison Red" home uniforms are Colton Cochran, Cory Gaston, Eric Rippen, Brady Hess, Alex Smith, Chance Unger, John Haag, Andrew Reitz, Mitch Green, J.D. Stone, Matt Bair, Sam Frazier and Kendell Foster.

Seniors not playing are Chris Stull and Justin Spector because of injuries.

"The seniors want to go out and play well in their final home game," said McCook head football coach Jeff Gross. "The seniors also want to insure another home game in the playoffs."

The Bison and Haymakers played twice in 2006 with McCook winning both times. The Bison won 17-0 during Week 7 and 42-7 in the Nebraska Class B state quarterfinals.

Gross said the Haymakers, 2-0 in Class B-6 district play, will be a challenge.

Cozad will be led by senior tailback Jason Luong, who has rushed for 1,108 yards this season. He ran for 229 yards and two touchdowns in the Haymakers' 18-12 win over Grand Island Northwest last week.

Cozad ran for 372 yards against the Vikings.

"Cozad could easily be 6-0 and are 2-0 with the district win," said Gross, whose squad blasted Lexington 48-8 last week. "They only need to win one of their last two games to make the playoffs. This is a huge testament to coach (Ron) Bubak and his coaching staff. Cozad is the smallest Class B school."

The Haymakers lost three standouts to graduation from last season -- lineman Luke Pinkelman, tight end Jared Crick and tailback Eric Love. Luong started at wide receiver last year.

"They do possess one of the best tailbacks in Class B (Luong). He played cornerback, wide receiver and slotback and sat behind Eric Love. He's a talented back and a tough kid and he's as fast or almost as fast as our kids.

"He's got a good fullback in front of him in Ryan Leavell. The offensive line has made many holes for him. They have enough other weapons, but we need to know where he is at all times. But we don't want their tight end, wide receiver or fullback to hurt us because we're worried about one guy.

"The game will come down to our ability to control the line of scrimmage. We put so much pressure on our linemen to go out and perform, I view this as a playoff atmosphere. It will come down to turnovers and field position. We can't give them anything. If we excel at the little things, we give ourselves a pretty good chance to win the football game."

Gross said senior fullback/linebacker Sam Frazier and senior cornerback/wide receiver/kick returner Andrew Reitz will be close to 100 percent healthy for the Cozad game.

Senior Kendell Foster, who returned last week after suffering a hamstring pull in the Bison soap scrimmage, played some last week and will back up the starting linebackers.

Bison stats -- Junior tailback Zach Wieser leads the Bison with 499 yards on 82 carries in six games.

Junior quarterback Matt Berry has 319 yards rushing and has completed 27-of-43 passes for 289 yards.

Junior fullback Chris Schleeman has rushed for 276 yards, followed by Frazier with 212, backup quarterback Mike Grabowski 97 (96 in last week's win over Lexington), Tyrone Sellers 62, Brock Kotschwar 51, Deon Allen 42 and Andy Smith 27.

Sellers has 6 catches for 67 yards. Colton Cochran, Brady Hess and Cory Gaston each have 5 catches, Frazier 3, Weiser 2, Andrew Reitz1 and Eric Rippen 1.

Berry has scored 12 touchdowns, Wieser 6, Schleeman 3, Frazier 2 and Sellers 2.

Jeff Lorentz is 26-of-28 in extra points but missed his only field goal try. He has seven touchbacks in 36 kickoff attempts. Gaston averages 37 yards a punt.

On offense, McCook has picked up 1,914 total yards in six games (1,616 rushing and 298 passing).

McCook has outscored its opponents 210-28 with three shutouts. The Bison are No. 1 in Class B in total defense, allowing just 251 yards rushing and 318 passing for 569 total yards.

Schleeman has 45 tackles for the season (including 8 TFLs). He leads the Bison in defensive points with 105.

Sellers has 47 tackles (8 TFLs) and 98 defensive points. He has three blocked punts. Taylor Garcia has 48 tackles and 80 defensive points.

COZAD HAYMAKERS (4-2)

AT McCOOK BISON (5-0)

Friday, Oct. 12, 2007

Weiland Field

Game time: 7 p.m. CT

Pre-game shows: 6 p.m. CT

Radio: KICX 96.1-FM (Rich Barnett and Mitch Lyster); US 93.9-FM (Steve Stein and Bruce Lester).

Last year's records: McCook 11-1 (lost in state semifinals to state champion Crete), Cozad 8-3.

Last meetings: McCook 17, Gering 0 (Week 7 of 2006 season); McCook 42, Cozad 7 (Class B state quarterfinals).

Season-to-date for McCook: The Bison defeated Scottsbluff 44-0 in Week 1, Ogallala 21-7 in Week 2, Aurora 34-0 in Week 3, Gering 35-13 in Week 4, Sidney 28-0 in Week 5 and Lexington 48-8 in Week 6.

Season-to-date for Cozad: The Haymakers defeated Gothenburg 20-12 in Week 1, lost to Scottsbluff 21-20 in overtime in Week 2, defeated Sidney 14-0 in Week 3, lost to Ogallala 28-14 in Week 4, defeated Holdrege 16-14 in Week 5 and defeated Grand Island Northwest 18-12 in Week 6.

STARTING LINEUPS

McCOOK OFFENSE

WR (42) Chance Unger 5-11 170 sr.

WR (10) Ryan Hardin 5-11 165 jr.

WR (20) Colton Cochran 5-8 150 sr.

TE (87) Tyrone Sellers 6-4 220 jr.

TE (81) Brady Hess 6-1 190 sr.

OT (54) Seth Schaeffer 6-3 210 jr.

OG (63) Jake Curl 6-4 225 jr.

C (56) Joe Vetrovsky 6-1 250 jr.

OG (55) John Haag 5-11 200 sr.

OT (73) Tyler Brown 6-3 230 jr.

QB (5) Matt Berry 5-10 160 jr.

FB (45) Sam Frazier 6-2 220 sr.

FB (36) Chris Schleeman 5-9 205 jr.

TB (22) Zach Wieser 6-0 165 jr.

McCOOK DEFENSE

DE (68) J.D. Stone 6-2 210 sr.

DT (60) Taylor Garcia 6-2 225 jr.

DT (52) Matt Bair 6-2 240 sr.

DE (87) Tyrone Sellers 6-4 220 jr.

ILB (36) Chris Schleeman 5-9 205 jr.

ILB (45) Sam Frazier 6-2 220 sr.

ILB (43) Nathan Gleason 5-11 170 jr.

OLB (85) Aaron Ruppert 6-5 215 jr.

OLB (82) Eric Rippen 5-10 145 sr.

CB (18) Andrew Reitz 5-9 165 sr.

CB (23) Mitch Green 5-10 145 sr.

FS (6) Cory Gaston 6-2 165 sr.

McCOOK SPECIAL TEAMS

K (15) Jeff Lorentz 5-6 135 jr.

P (6) Cory Gaston 6-2 165 sr.

Holder (82) Eric Rippen 5-10 145 sr.

Short snapper (56) Joe Vetrovsky 6-1 250 jr.

Long snapper (56) Joe Vetrovsky 6-1 250 jr.

Kick returners (5) Matt Berry 5-10 160 jr.

(18) Andrew Reitz 5-9 165 sr.

COZAD OFFENSE

WR (1) Brandon Woldt 5-10 145 sr.

WR (83) Jake Wolf 6-0 183 sr.

TE (6) Caleb Poore 6-1 185 sr.

LT (57) Michael Wurst 6-2 215 sr.

LG (65) Justin Standage 6-5 195 sr.

C (54) Chris Engler 5-10 155 sr.

RG (63) Andrew Lemmer 5-11 210 jr.

RT (76) Kyle Cardenas 6-0 225 sr.

QB (11) Kyle Gill 6-0 165 sr.

FB (35) Ryan Levell 6-2 187 sr.

TB (22) Jason Luong 5-10 155 sr.

COZAD DEFENSE

LE (6) Caleb Poore 6-1 185 sr.

LT (65) Justin Standage 6-5 195 sr.

RT (57) Michael Wurst 6-2 215 sr.

RE (76) Kyle Cardenas 6-0 225 sr.

OLB (11) Kyle Gill 6-0 165 sr.

ILB (35) Ryan Levell 6-2 187 sr.

ILB (63) Andrew Lemmer 5-11 210 jr.

OLB (12) Ryan Holbrook 6-2 160 sr.

CB (22) Jason Luong 5-10 155 sr.

CB (1) Brandon Woldt 5-10 145 sr.

FS (83) Jake Wolf 6-0 183 sr.