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Big catch, pick six, smothering 'D' powered latest Bison win
McCOOK, Neb. — A little clubbin’ before the big parties proved just what McCook High needed Friday evening.
The Bison were already stuffing Crete’s Cardinals, but only leading 7-0 with Homecoming halftime rapidly approaching at Weiland Field.
That’s when McCook decided to bring junior receiver Miles Pollmann and his tightly-bandaged hand into this contest.
In other words: time to break things open!
Junior quarterback Trenton Raile lofted a fade pass traveling close to 50 yards where Bison fans, cheerleaders and Starz dancers were getting ready for their big show.
Nothing could compare to Pollmann’s third touchdown catch this season.
“Trenton threw a really nice ball. He had a nice week throwing the ball in practice and it carried over into the game,” Bison coach Joe Vetrovsky said. “But Miles literally caught with a club on his one hands. We wanted to create some explosive plays and that was a huge one.”
Pollmann’s 36-yard touchdown with an ensuing Gunner Kaps PAT doubled the Bison lead at 14-0.
Considering Crete (0-4) has only scored 20 points through four games, making up 14 in just two quarters definitely damaged any Cardinal party-crashing hopes.
“Most every team gets better each week and so has Crete,” Vetrovsky observed. “We gained some momentum and weathered the storm. We didn’t feel at halftime we had played as well as we could have, so we challenged our guys to score some more points.”
The Bison (3-1 record) immediately did — but it wasn’t with their offense.
Another less expected junior has suddenly become quite the pass catcher when it comes to spotting the other team’s throws.
Junior linebacker Gabe Roberts had intercepted throws in McCook’s two games including a “pick six” TD return against Aurora two weeks ago.
Any good summer baseball player like Roberts would gladly take a three-for-three.
And this one was almost a gift: Crete’s quarterback Nick Wendt threw one perfect ball directly to Roberts early in Friday’s third period.
Roberts was barely hindered while showing again that wrestlers really run. He covered 35 yards with his third INT, and Caps’ third extra point made it 21-0.
“It showed if you read your keys and be in the right position, good things will eventually happen,” the head coach observed.
The same can be said about other Bison defenders whenever Crete attempted its own pass downfield.
Vetrovsky noted the Cardinals “have a good basketball program and some of those basketball players are coming out for football.”
The Cardinals made one memorable catch among their rather meager 52 passing yards.
Meager because they could almost never get behind or escape new Bison “lockdown defender” Ty Junker.
Junker didn’t make his fourth pick of the season Friday night, but he was certainly a welcome sight after missing last week’s loss at Waverly.
Junker brilliantly defended virtually every ball thrown anywhere in his area.
“I have to say Ty Junker had an awesome game. He’s really been spot on with his coverage and ball skills,” a much smarter observer Vetrovsky confirmed.
Meanwhile, senior Alex Landry also delivered perhaps his finest game yet. He caught a Bison-best four passes from Raile including one memorable grab that basically clinched the Homecoming victory.
Junker made a 14-yard reception on third-and-eight to extend this Bison drive.
Raile rolled right again, didn’t really spot anyone open until Junker raised his hand running across the middle of this end zone.
It was a somewhat risky throw that drifted from Junker — yet Landry was ready to catch the 20-yard touchdown behind Crete’s last defender.
Great job by Alex Landry finding an open spot in the end zone and ensuring the catch,” “Alex had a big night for us catching the football.”
The Bison also revived their running game behind junior Tristan Campbell’s 104 yards and two TDs. Senior Ethan Schmidt averaged better than 10 yards on his four carries.