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Bison loss in OT means playoff rematch with Ogallala
There were probably a few questions of 'what if?' spread around the McCook football players, coaches and fans after Friday night's 13-7 overtime loss to Ogallala.
The Bison couldn't capitalize on two scoring chances late in the fourth quarter. After McCook was stopped short of the goal on fourth down on their first overtime possession, Ogallala scored on its second play from scrimmage in the extra period to claim the win and the Class B-7 District championship.
No doubt Bison players, coaches and fans were wondering what would have happened if McCook hadn't lost a fumble on the Ogallala 10-yard line in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter.
McCook owned most of the fourth quarter in the battle at Weiland Field. The Bison scored early in the period after a short Ogallala punt gave McCook possession on the Indians 31-yard line. Five plays later, quarterback Chad Stull bulled into the end zone from 2 yards out, and Shane Wallen kicked the extra point to knot the score at 7-7 with 9:37 left in regulation play.
Ogallala took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter after McCook missed a field goal. The Indians drove 80 yards in 11 plays, capped by a 14-yard touchdown pass from Trent Neill to Gatlin Moul. Neill completed five of six passes for 59 yards during the scoring march.
After McCook's tying score in the fourth quarter, the Bison held Ogallala on downs and forced a punt. The hosts took over 64 yards away from the goal line with just over eight minutes left.
Running back Andy Smith ran 15 yards on an option pitch, and wide receiver Mark Nichols caught a 19-yard pass from Stull to help move the Bison deep in Ogallala territory. Fullback Deon Allen ran 11 yards for a key first down to set up McCook at the Indians 18.
The Bison were plagued by turnovers in a 35-21 win over Holdrege a week earlier. McCook hadn't committed a turnover all night against Ogallala, but the Indians recovered a Bison bobble at the Ogallala 10 with just under three minutes remaining to end the McCook threat.
McCook's defense stepped up again and forced another three-and-out, and the hosts would get the ball back with just under two minutes to go in regulation play.
The Bison were slowed by penalties in the win over Holdrege a week earlier. But McCook had just one penalty against the Indians -- until the final drive of regulation.
The Bison were flagged for an illegal block on the return of Ogallala's last punt, negating a good return by Brad Baumbach. A pass interference penalty on Ogallala moved the ball to the Indians 45. McCook then drew three flags in the next seven plays from scrimmage, with a chop block penalty, an illegal shift and delay of game that helped stall the Bison drive.
McCook punted from midfield with seconds remaining, and Ogallala ran one play to end regulation and send the game into the extra period.
Bison go first in OT
McCook got the ball first in overtime as Ogallala won the coin toss and elected to go on defense. The Bison gained nine yards in four plays, coming up just short of the end zone on the fourth-down run. Ogallala lost a yard on its first play of overtime. On second down, running back Derek Blessing bolted through a big hole and ran untouched 11 yards for the winning score.
"I always say, whether it's the NFL or whatever, a lot of overtimes are won or lost on that coin flip," said McCook head coach Jeff Gross. "You hate being on offense first because it puts a lot of pressure on your defense in the second go-round. We're sitting there with a fourth and two, and you have to make a decision. Do you kick the field goal and go up by three? Then all they've got to do is score a touchdown and they win. Or do you go for it and try to get in?
I felt like we made the right decision to go for it. That's not because we didn't trust (kicker) Shane Wallen. If we'd have kicked the field goal and led 10-7, we would have still lost 13-10 (after Ogallala scored). Overtime's about touchdowns."
Coach Gross thought his team played well against the Indians.
"Our kids played hard. We did some great things up front blocking them," Gross said. "We rushed for 201 yards against a very good defense. We struggled throwing the ball a little bit, but we did come up with three or four big receptions that were good for us. All in all I was very pleased with our effort.
"We talked about the things that kind of caught us the last couple weeks when we had not played well caught us at the very end of that ball game. The penalties were gone all game until the end. The turnovers, we hadn't put the ball on the turf until the last drive. We just have to continue to overcome those. If we wouldn't have fumbled the ball twice on that late drive -- one put us in a second-and-long situation, and the other obviously turned the ball over to them. At a minimum, I feel, like Shane kicks the field goal there and we win 10-7 in regulation."
McCook's strong defensive effort
The McCook defense turned in a strong effort. Ogallala crossed midfield twice in regulation play -- once on the second-quarter scoring drive, and the other in the third quarter when the Indians punted from the McCook 46-yard line. The Bison drove into Ogallala territory several times, including once in the first quarter when McCook missed a field goal, and again in the second period when a fourth-down pass from the Indians 21 fell incomplete.
"As the game wore on we played better and better and better," Gross said. "We need to build off of that and say 'All right they scored on the one drive. They put one drive together through four quarters, and we put four or five drives together.' If we can go from the get-go next week and keep putting those drives together and getting points -- we had four or five drives where we got into their territory or down close to the red zone and didn't score. If we can get those drives finished off and put points on the board and play defense like we did last night -- when you hold Ogallala to 166 total yards and you hold Derek Blessing to 85 yards on 22 carries, you've done some great things defensively and you've given yourself a chance to win."
Blessing, the Ogallala senior running back, was averaging about 160 yard rushing per game entering Friday's contest.
Playoff rematch
McCook ends the regular season with a 6-3 record. Ogallala improved to 7-2. Both teams advance to the Class B state playoffs, with a rematch scheduled in the first round. Ogallala jumped to the fourth seed in the west bracket of the 16-team Class B playoff field. The Indians will host fifth seed McCook next Friday. with kickoff set for 8 p.m. CDT.
Coach Gross said he would rather not have the rematch with Ogallala to start the playoffs. But he said the Bison know they can play with the Indians and his team also knows they let a win slip away last Friday.
"Please we're not begging to play Ogallala again by any means," he said. "But there's a silver lining in every cloud. We can rectify the wrong by going there and playing well.
"Round two, here we go."
Ogallala 0 7 0 0 6 -- 13
McCook 0 0 0 7 0 -- 7
OGA -- Gatlin Moul 14 pass from Trent Neill (Jesse Barnes kick).
MC -- Chad Stull 2 run (Shane Wallen kick).
OGA -- Derek Blessing 11 run.
McCook statistics
Rushing -- Andy Smith 21-97, Chad Stull 20-68, Deon Allen 12-44.
Passing -- Chad Stull 4-13-0 54 yards.
Receiving -- Mark Nichols 3-39, Cody Goltl 1-15.