McCook Bison face improved GINW

Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette McCook High School senior Craig Fritz, left, needs 13 yards to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight season.

Vikings notched

1st win last week

The 1-7 record for Grand Island Northwest is misleading, said McCook High School football coach Jeff Gross.

GINW has only been blown out of one game -- a 48-0 loss to Crete in Week 4. The Vikings' six setbacks have been by 21, 17, 7, 3, 11 and 4 points.

The Vikings earned their first victory of the season last week with a 24-14 decision over Gering -- a team McCook blasted 48-6 in Week 4. McCook drilled Holdrege 35-0 for its second straight shutout and fourth of the season.

McCook, 8-0 and ranked No. 1 in four polls, hosts the improved Vikings at 7 p.m. Thursday in the final game of the regular season and Class B-5 district finale at Weiland Field.

"They have been in every ball game," said Gross, whose team has won 50 straight regular-season games and has not lost a regular-season contest since Week 3 of the 2001 campaign.

"At the beginning of the year, Grand Island Northwest was a top 10 team," he said. "Sometimes things don't go as planned. They've had a lot of injuries and illness, including illness for the coach.

"Now they are as healthy as they have been all season. They've had opportunities to win. They got it done against Gering. Our kids will be focused. We would like to finish the year undefeated. This stands the potential to be a good game."

Gross said the Bison defense will have to contain the Vikings' 1-2 punch of tailback Cody Raile and tight end John Ring. Raile rushed for 213 yards against the Bison in last year's meeting.

Ring is a big target at 6-foot-6, 250 pounds.

The key offensive lineman is 230-pound junior Hadley Cooksley. The quarterback is Ryan Kleselhorst.

"We have to stop a very dangerous tailback," Gross said. "He's been battling injuries this year. He'll run the ball 25-30 times against us. We've got to play solid defense against them.

"We don't think we're playing a 1-7 team. We don't want to limp into the playoffs. We want to be playing well. It's going to be a challenge."

McCook will present a challenge to the Vikings. The Bison average 258.75 yards a game on the ground and another 69.25 in the air.

Senior Craig Fritz has eight 100-yard games and has rushed for 987 yards. He also has 13 touchdowns.

Sam Frazier has 523 yards rushing. Quarterback Josh Cherry has rushed for 340 yards and passed for 554.

GRAND ISLAND NORTHWEST VIKINGS (1-7)

@ McCOOK BISON (8-0)

Thursday, Weiland Field

Game time: 7 p.m. CT

Pre-game shows: 6 p.m. CT

Radio: KICX 96.1-FM (Rich Barnett and Mitch Lyster); US 93.9-FM (Steve Stein and Bruce Lester).

Rankings: McCook No. 1 in Class B in four polls.

Last year's records: McCook 12-1 (lost in state finals 6-0 to Omaha Skutt Catholic), GINW 5-4.

Last five meetings: McCook defeated GINW 51-6 in 2002, 33-7 in 2003 regular season, 42-14 in first round of 2003 playoffs, 35-0 in 2004, 55-12 in 2005.

Last week's results: McCook 35, Holdrege 0; GINW 24, Gering 14.

Key stat: McCook has outscored its opponents 275-38 in eight games with four shutouts. Of GINW's seven losses, six are by 21 points and less.

Other key games this week in Class B: Schuyler at No. 2 Elkhorn, No. 3 Beatrice at Waverly, No. 4 Crete at Norris, Ralston at No. 5 Gretna, Platteview at No. 6 Omaha Skutt, No. 7 Aurora at Seward, No. 9 Scottsbluff at No. 8 Cozad, Plattsmouth vs. No. 10 Omaha Gross at Omaha Bryan Stadium.

McCook (8-0) 7 21 7 0 -- 35

Holdrege (6-2) 0 0 0 0 -- 0

M -- Craig Fritz 3 run (Josh Cherry kick)

M -- Fritz 3 run (Cherry kick)

M -- Cherry 14 run (Cherry kick)

M -- Dillon Goltl 28 pass from Cherry (Cherry kick)

M -- John Swanhorst 11 pass from Cherry (Cherry kick)

McCook stats vs. Holdrege

Rushing

Fritz 18-120, Frazier 9-86, Cherry 7-45, M.Berry 6-42, Barenberg 4-13, Weiser 4-7, Morgan 2-6, N.Berry 1-5.

Passing

Cherry 7-9-0-89.

Receiving

Goltl 4-52, Mullen 1-21, Swanhorst 1-11, Bryant 1-5.

McCook season stats

Rushing

Fritz 129-987, Frazier 73-523, Cherry 61-340, Barenberg 25-171, M.Berry 14-90, N.Berry 11-49, Barnett 6-37, Morgan 6-27, Green 1-21, Weiser 4-7, Kenny 1-6.

Passing

Cherry 27-46-2-554, 7 TDs.

Receiving

Goltl 8-182, Swanhorst 5-147, Fritz 4-91, Mullen 4-70, Bryant 4-48, Frazier 1-12, M.Berry 1-4.

Scoring

Fritz 78 points (13 TDs), Cherry 69 points (6 TDs, 30-32 PATs, 1-2 FGs), Frazier 24 points (4 TDs), N.Berry 24 points (4 TDs), Goltl 18 points (3 TDs), Swanhorst 12 points (2 TDs), Barenberg 12 points (2 TDs), M.Berry 12 points (2 TDs), Bryant 6 points (1 TD), Mullen 6 points (1 TD); Cappel 4 points (4 PATs).

STARTING LINEUPS

McCOOK OFFENSE

WR (80) Jon Bryant 6-0 170 sr.

WR (20) Colton Cochran 5-8 145 jr.

WR (1) Dillon Goltl 6-0 155 so.

TE (26) Josh Mullen 6-2 190 sr.

TE (88) John Swanhorst 6-4 200 sr.

OT (65) Brock Hubert 6-3 215 sr.

OG (68) J.D. Stone 6-2 205 jr.

C (61) Lucas Kotschwar 6-1 200 sr.

OG (55) John Haag 5-11 190 jr.

OT (76) Sam Sis 6-2 250 sr.

QB (2) Josh Cherry 6-2 175 sr.

FB (45) Sam Frazier 6-2 210 jr.

TB (34) Craig Fritz 6-1 175 sr.

McCOOK DEFENSE

DE (58) Daniel Schaffert 6-3 210 sr.

DT (65) Brock Hubert 6-3 215 sr.

DT (68) J.D. Stone 6-2 205 jr.

DE (61) Lucas Kotschwar 6-1 200 sr.

ILB (26) Josh Mullen 6-2 190 sr.

ILB (45) Sam Frazier 6-2 210 jr.

OLB (24) Nate Berry 6-1 175 sr.

OLB (34) Craig Fritz 6-1 175 sr.

CB (80) Jon Bryant 6-0 170 sr.

CB (18) Andrew Reitz 5-8 135 jr.

FS (2) Josh Cherry 6-2 175 sr.

Nickel (1) Dillon Goltl 6-0 155 so.

S (6) Cory Gaston 6-1 155 jr.

McCOOK SPECIAL TEAMS

K (2) Josh Cherry 6-2 175 sr.

P (2) Josh Cherry 6-2 175 sr.

Holder (82) Eric Rippen 5-9 135 jr.

Short snapper (26) Josh Mullen 6-2 190 sr.

Long snapper (65) Brock Hubert 6-3 215 sr.

Kick returners (34) Craig Fritz 6-1 175 sr.

(80) Jon Bryant 6-0 170 sr.

(23) Mitch Green 5-10 135 jr.

(5) Matt Berry 5-10 150 so.

GINW OFFENSE

TE (12) Nate Frew 5-11 185 sr.

WR (1) Mitch Jones 6-0 180 sr.

TE (81) John Ring 6-6 250 sr.

LT (75) Gerrod Ruttman 6-0 205 sr.

LG (54) Tucker Pool 5-9 165 jr.

C (62) Tim Hessel 6-2 230 sr.

RG (60) Dan Leiser 6-0 190 sr.

RT (58) Hadley Cooksley 6-0 230 jr.

FB (42) Ben Paige 5-10 165 sr.

TB (22) Cody Raile 5-9 175 sr.

or (48) Tyler Wright 6-1 175 sr.

QB (15) Ryan Kleselhorst 6-0 175 sr.

GINW DEFENSE

DE (81) John Ring 6-6 250 sr.

DT (72) Tim Taylor 5-10 290 sr.

DT (78) Rusty Parsons 5-10 270 sr.

DE (58) Hadley Cooksley 6-0 230 jr.

WLB (54) Tucker Pool 5-9 165 jr.

MLB (60) Dan Leiser 6-0 190 sr.

SLB (12) Nate Frew 5-11 185 sr.

CB (34) Austin Pomajzl 5-11 170 so.

CB (26) Devin Johnson 5-11 160 jr.

SS (48) Tyler Wright 6-1 175 sr.

FS (32) Glenn Bills 5-10 160 sr.

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