Bison ready for the 'spotlight' vs. mighty No. 1 Bennington

cCook head coach Joe Vetrovsky talks during a Nebraska statewide telecast which showed the Bison’s 34-21 Class B state playoff victory over Hastings Friday evening. Player-Of-The-Game junior Tristan Campbell (25) rushed around great Bison blocks for 245 yards and four touchdowns. McCook improved to 7-3 in Class B after two years of playing Class C-1 football.

R.B. Headley/McCook Gazette

McCOOK, Neb. — McCook High coach Joe Vetrovsky provided these remarks about Friday’s Class B state quarterfinal at No.1-ranked and defending champion Bennington.

The No. 9 Bison (7-3 record) will kickoff this challenge at 6 p.m.

“Bennington is a well-coached and disciplined football team.

They are your typical quarterfinal playoff opponent in that they check all the boxes in regards to being a solid team.

Bennington is led on offense by their QB #11 Houston Hill and RB #20 Will Gutz who is approaching 1,000 yards rushing on the season.

Houston Hill has a strong arm and can make all the throws that he is presented with. Will Gutz is just a young sophomore, but plays much older than that. He is a tough runner and has great vision. Their offensive line does a good job with their blocking assignments.

We are going to have to find ways defensively to get them off schedule.

Bennington has one of the top defenses in Class B.

They are led by their two defensive ends #57 Jack Jensen and #27 Tyson Fleischman.

They are athletic and are two players we must game plan for. Overall, their defense pursues the football really well and they do a great job tackling in space.

They have done an exceptional job forcing turnovers this season as well and generating points from those turnovers.

Our team is excited for the challenge ahead of us in this playoff matchup.”

Bennington’s fresh off a rather “ho-hum” 41-7 playoff win over Grand Island Northwest last week, who those Badgers also defeated 44-7 on Sept. 13.

They only needed 51 offensive plays to score 41 points.

A Bison win Friday would mean the Nov. 15 semifinal vs. No. 4 Scottsbluff or No. 5 Elkhorn North. McCook will travel either way.

Bison season leaders

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook Bison leaders through 10 games entering Friday’s Class B state quarterfinal at Bennington. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. The Badgers are 48-1 in their previous 49 contests.

OFFENSE

Rushing

Tristan Campbell 1,339 yards (6.9 a carry)-15 touchdowns.

Lee Davidson 294 yards (8.4 a carry)-1 TD.

Trenton Raile 237 yards (3.9 a carry)-5 TDs.

Ethan Schmidt 169 yards (5.28 a carry)-2 TDs.

Passing

Trenton Raile 841 yards-49-for-108-11TDs-8 Ints.

Receiving

Miles Pollmann 14 rec.-336 yards (24 yards a catch)-6 TDs

Alex Landry 7 rec.-151 yards (21.57 avg.)-2 TDs

Tristan Campbell 9 rec.-122 yards (13.56)-3 TDs

Ethan Schmidt 8 rec.-128 yards (16-yard avg.)

Gabe Roberts 4 rec.-43 yards (10.75 avg).

DEFENSE

Total tackles: Gabe Roberts 76, Kallen McCorkle 75, Davien Hanson 72, Oliver Corbett 58, Tripp Raile 49, Tristan Campbell 49, Trey Tiller 35, Andrew Pochop 28, Quentin Terry 27, Edios Klein 21, Spencer Steinbeck 21, Simon Garcia 19, Ty Junker 16, Miles Pollmann 15, Lee Davidson 14.

Solos: Kallen McCorkle 38, Davien Hanson 34, Gabe Roberts 30, Tristan Campbell 27, Oliver Corbett 25, Tripp Raile 22, Trey Tiller 14.

Tackles for loss: Gabe Roberts 6, Davien Hanson 5, Oliver Corbett 4, Kallen McCorkle 4, Quentin Terry 3, Spencer Steinbeck 3, Trey Tiller 2, Simon Garcia 2.

Takeaways: Gabe Roberts 4 (interceptions), Ty Junker 3 (interceptions), Tripp Raile 3 (2 fumble recoveries, interception), Quentin Terry 2 (fumble recovery, interception), Oliver Corbett 2 (fumble recoveries), Kallen McCorkle 2 (fumble recoveries).

The seasons so far:

McCOOK (7-3)

Sept. 20 Crete (1-8) W 34-0

Sept. 27 At Gering (6-4) W 24-23

Oct. 4 Hastings (6-4 L 23-38

Oct. 11 Ogallala (3-6) W 14-12

Oct. 18 At Scottsbluff (9-1) L 14-20

Oct. 25 Lexington (1-8) W 52-0

Nov. 1 At Hastings (6-4) W 34-21

Friday At BENNINGTON (9-1) 6 p.m.

BENNINGTON (9-1)

Sept. 13 Hastings (6-4) W 42-7

Sept. 20 At G.I. Northwest (4-6) W 44-7

Sept. 27 Gretna (5-5) W 58-35

Oct. 4 At Blair (2-7) W 35-7

Oct. 11 Elkhorn (4-6) W 35-7

Oct. 18 At Omaha SKutt (9-1) L 30-38

Oct. 25 G.I. Northwest (4-6) W 41-7

Friday MCCOOK (7-3) 6 p.m.