Millard North "O" and "D" lines dominate Kearney, 27-13.

Posted Saturday, October 1, 2016, at 1:05 AM

Millard North will most likely play the rest of the season without Aaron Gerdes (left)and Dylan Price (right), two of Nebraska's top Prep football stars.

By Bobby Mills (1000 Yard Guy)

Do not let the final score fool you, Millard North made the long trip to Kearney in rough riding yellow Bluebird buses, then administered a tough lesson in Blocking and Tackling 101 to the 5-0 Bearcats.

Other than a 95 yard opening kickoff return by Kearney's Trey Grube and a late 15 yard TD reception by the 168 pound senior, it was all Millard North although the scoreboard read only 27-13 when the game ended.

So brutally efficient was coach Mark Chavez's defense, Kearney could only muster a meager 18 yards rushing and 88 yards through the airwaves.

Matter of fact, Bearcat QB Kanon Koster was zero for 9 through the air before connecting on 4 of his last 7 passes, three of those coming during the final 3:38 of the contest.

Koster rushed 9 times for 9 yards and that included 47 yard scamper in the 2nd quarter. In the end, every single carry but the long run, was for minus yardage for Koster except one and that was for no gain.

Koster ended up being sacked four times in the contest, 2.5 of them at the hands of Millard West transfer, Blake Minden.

When Coach Chavez and his band of defensive stalwarts were not crushing the Bearcat offense, Freddy Petito's offensive line was in full gear, plowing huge openings for QB Cade Elwood and his bruising fullback, Noah Mick.

That Millard North offensive line of #56 Cody Ritterbush (Center), tackles Justin Pederson (#68) and Dylan Dittman (#65) and guards Mason Bogacz (#71) and Cole Story (#53) just punished Kearney with their terrific surges despite lining up in a very tight formation.

Noah Mick, who was absent in the season opening loss to Omaha North because of an injury, ran about as tough as any FB I have seen in quite a few years. Mick smashed through Bearcat would-be tacklers for 187 yards on 29 carries for the game, which included a touchdown.

At one point, the 180 pound Noah Mick accounted for 54 ground yards of a Millard North 80 yard drive in the 3rd quarter, the senior giving a top notch clinic on yards after contact.

And Mustang QB Cade Elwood? The junior rushed 20 times for 137 yards and a score himself. This is the same kid that rushed 6 times for 4 yards against Omaha North. How far has he come in 6 games?

Elwood only attempted 4 passes in the win, completing three for 20 yards and a touchdown. For all practical purposes you could say he was 3 for 3 because his only incompletion was a spike just before halftime to give the Mustangs a chance to score, which they did.

On defense, Blake Minden led the well balanced Chavez crew with 6 tackles (2.5 sacks). Garrett Craig and Jack Begley added 4 stops each. 2.5 of Craig's tackles were behind the line of scrimmage.

The Mustang defensive backs played "smother ball" all night, with Jarrel Widhalm getting 2 pass break-ups. Begley, Andrew Wine and Craig each had a defended pass as well.

How efficient was Millard North tonight? In the first quarter, Kearney ran a grand total of 4 plays. Four. The Mustangs were also without outstanding All-State players Dylan Price and Aaron Gerdes, who sadly, will both probably miss the remainder of the season.

For Kearney, All-State linebacker candidate Noah Urbanek recorded 13 tackles, Ben Dinkel followed with 10 as well as DB Trey Clevenger.

Dinkel also looked like an All-State punter, averaging 41.6 yards on 5 boots.

This was Kearney's first shot at Metro competition, however all three remaining regular season contests are against Omaha area teams. The 'Cats have road games at Papillion LV and Creighton Prep, before closing at home with Omaha Benson.

Meanwhile, Millard North's remaining regular season games are with Fremont (1-5), Lincoln NE (2-4) and Millard South (1-5), all without leaving Buehl Stadium.

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

(5-1) Millard North.....6.......14.......7........0.........27

(5-1) Kearney..............7.........0.......0........6.........13

1st Quarter:

Keaney - Trey Grube 95 Kick Return......................(Palomo kick)....7-0 - :11:48

M N.........Cade Elwood 5 Run..................................(Kick failed).......6-7...:0:00

2nd Quarter:

M N.........Andrew Wine 33 Run...............................(Thomas Kopcho kick)....7-13....4:12

M N.........Matt Goetzmann 3 pass from Elwood..(Kopcho kick)....7-20...:0:06

3rd Quarter:

M N..........Noah Mick 3 Run.....................................(Kopcho kick)....7-27....3:30

4th Quarter:

Kearney...Grube 15 pass from Kanon Koster........(kick failed)....13-27....1:27