Bison expect 1-5 Indians to still be a threat

McCOOK, Neb. — Can the Ogallala Indians respond from back-to-back beatdowns against 6-0 football foes?

They certainly won’t get any sympathy or hopefully help from McCook Bison Friday night at Weiland Field.

The Bison (4-2 record) are recovering after their own rough defeat against 4-2 Hastings last weekend with stellar quarterback Tucker Synek.

Plus McCook fans would love to retaliate for last year’s 34-14 setback at Ogallala last October — a loss that helped keep those Bison out of any state playoffs.

And despite their 1-5 record, the Indians will bring a similar “smash-mouth” approach that gave McCook trouble in 2023.

“They ‘pack you in a phone booth’ on defense with their double wing offense,” Bison coach Joe Vetrovsky said. “Their offensive line is physical and their wingbacks who get the ball run hard. Their fullback Zach Plasch does a good job blocking for them as well.”

The Indians scored a strong 28-26 win at returning state playoff-team Broken Bow on Sept. 6.

They tallied 50 points through those first two contests — but only 28 in four games since.

Ogallala’s last four opponents also own a pretty powerful 21-3 combined record this season.

Plus as McCook and most southwest Nebraska teams have known for many years, the Indians are never afraid to put up a good fight.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Weiland Field.

“They play an aggressive style of defense and force you to be sound in everything that you do. They don’t make it easy to run the football,” Vetrovsky confirmed. “That will be the challenge ahead of our offense this week.”

Ogallala’s returning starters on defense which troubled McCook last season include 6’1” 185-pound Plasch at linebacker, junior 6’ 210-pound end Jacob Fanning, 6’1” 195-pound Kolby Nowak at outside linebacker, 6’1” 195-pouond junior Sawyer Smith at safety and 5’10” junior outside linebacker Eden Cain.

Cain quarterbacks the Ogallala offense again, though he has only completed 10 passes for 124 yards with five interceptions — quite a contrast to Syntek’s 335 yards just against McCook last week.

The Bison will feature sophomore Lee Davidson making a start at fullback where he gained 27 yards on six totes last week.

McCook’s defense is mostly healthy except for injured senior lineman Quentin Terry, who’s planning on returning for a Bison playoff run.

The seasons so far:

McCOOK (4-2)

Sept. 20 Crete (0-6) W 34-0

Sept. 27 At Gering (4-2) W 24-23

Oct. 4 Hastings (4-2) L 23-38

Friday OGALLALA (1-5) 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 At Scottsbluff (5-1) 8 p.m.

Oct. 25 Lexington (1-5) 7 p.m.

OGALLALA (1-5)

Sept. 13 At Cozad (5-1) L 6-47

Sept. 20 Gering (4-2) L 8-26

Sept. 27 Chadron (6-0) L 14-34

Oct. 4 At Sidney (6-0) L 0-46

Friday At MCCOOK (4-2) 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 Chase County (3-3) 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 At Alliance (1-5) 7 p.m.