O'Neill dominates unbeaten Boone Central/Newman Grove

Posted Saturday, September 10, 2016, at 1:37 AM

O'Neill's punishing runner, Bailey Thompson (#22)

Albion, Ne.

By the end of the night, Boone Central/Newman Grove's magnificent looking football facility must have looked like a giant woodshed to the hometown Cardinals.

The visiting O'Neill Eagles took unbeaten and 7th rated Boone Central/NG to the woodshed and administered a good old Class C-1 whipping they will not soon forget.

The 38-0 thrashing of the Cardinals was about as close to football perfection as I've witnessed in a ton of Fridays. The Eagles did not punt the ball one single time all night and had only one drive stall when the first unit offense was on the field.

And that O'Neill defense, with that 3 - 5 look, stifled anything and everything star Boone Central quarterback Dylan Gentrup had in mind.

The 6-1, 185 pound junior, who had run for 348 yards and completed 60% of his passes for 247 yards the first two games of the season, was completely held in check on this night.

Gentrup could only complete 1 of his 8 passes for 17 yards and had a pass picked off by his O'Neill counterpart, Alex Thramer. He didn't fare any better on the ground, netting a minus 6 yards on 13 carries and a lost fumble.

O'Neill scored on their opening drive of the game (43 Yards) with Bailey Thompson doing the honors with a 2 yard TD run. Boone Central/NG did piece together a nice push on their 4th possession of the night with a 12 play drive, but Bailey Thompson broke through to sack Gentrup, causing a fumble at the O'Neill 7 yard line which the Eagles recovered.

The Eagles took over, methodically pounded the ball downfield for over 6 minutes, culminating with a beautiful Alex Thramer to to Justin Appleby 23 yard scoring pass. Thramer laid the ball right smack, dab in the hands of a flying Appleby, who pulled it in and kept his feet in bounds for the score.

Thompson added his 2nd touchdown of the half with a 19 yard dash with only 11 seconds showing on the clock before halftime. That TD followed a high punt snap that sailed over Dylan Gentrup's head. The talented junior QB did pull a Houdini and recover long enough to attempt the punt, but 160 pound sophomore Spencer Davis pounced on it at the 9 to set up the score by Thompson.

The Cardinals woodshed whipping really took place in the 3rd quarter when O'Neill's "D" took command.

On the opening possession of that 3rd stanza, the O'Neill offense drove the ball from their own 28 to the Boone 30 yard line before facing a 4th and one. Thompson then took the handoff and jetted into what appeared to be a rugby scrum, then suddenly exploded from the pile and sprinted to the end zone quicker than a sneeze through a screen door.

The 3rd quarter turned even more nightmarish for the Cardinals on the ensuing kickoff when the Cardinal's Cody Nelson was popped and rugged, 185 pound junior Shayne Campbell was there to scoop up the ball.

It took only three plays for the punishing Bailey Thompson to bowl over a couple of Boone Central would-be tacklers for a 5 yard touchdown. In a span of 43 seconds, O'Neill stretched an 18-0 lead to a 32-0 advantage with 6:21 left in that 3rd quarter.

Speed merchant Jacob (Colby) Todd added the final touchdown of the night for the Eagles by ripping the left end for a rug burning 27 yard TD gallop. The score, with 1:20 remaining in the 3rd, inflated the O'Neill lead to 38-0 and initiated the running clock.

O'Neill's punishing ground game produced 328 yards on 49 carries and saw Five backs rush for over 40 yards. Bailey Thompson led the way with 101 yards on 13 totes and 3 TDs. Junior Shayne Campbell followed with 63 yards on 11 carries, Jake Young added 55-6, Thramer gained 45 yards on just 7 touches and Todd had 41 yards on 5 carries.

As a unit, that has to be the hardest running of backs I've seen this season. The bunch reminded me of Elkhorn South's backfield with their ability to explode into the line in a hurry.

The Eagles variety of offensive formations seemed to cause problems for Boone Central/NG, but the pure and simple fact was that the Eagle Offensive line was just superb all evening. Most of the carries by those Eagle backs were right into the heart of that Boone Central/NG line too.

The O'Neill defense was equally as impressive, allowing only 127 total yards all night, with 65 of those coming when the backups were in the ball game.

As far as Boone Central goes? This is a good football that team despite suffering some big graduation losses. Remember, they were 2-0 coming in and Coach Mark Hudson is a proven winner. This Cardinal team will bounce back and play some good football with it's rich tradition that is unquestioned.

..........and O'Neill? If this football team, who has not surrendered a single point in its first 3 games, plays like they did tonight, they will be right smack in the thick of the Class C-1 title conversation. Impressive.....yes.

.............................................1........2........3........4.........F

O'Neill.................................6.......12......20......0........38

Boone Central/NG............0.........0........0.......0.........0

1st Quarter

O'Neill: Bailey Thompson 2 run (Kick failed), 7:54. 0-6

2nd Quarter

O'Neill: Justin Appleby 23 pass from Alex Thramer (PAT failed), 4:18. (0-12)

O'Neill: Alex Thramer 19 run (Kick failed), 0:11. (0-18)

3rd Quarter

O'Neill: Bailey Thompson 30 run (Wyatt Liewer kick), 7:14. (0-25)

O'Neill: Bailey Thompson 12 run (Wyatt Liewer kick), 6:21. (0-32)

O'Neill: Coby Todd 27 run (Kick failed), 1:20. (0-38) (Running clock begins)

*footnote: To the young men who took the time to talk with me after the game, I have but one thing to say to you. Pure Class.

That kind of magic just rarely has happened over the years to this guy. I'll never forget it.