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Fassler's three touchdowns fuel Bison win
McCOOK, Neb. - Call him Thor or Zeus. Surely, McCook running back Dunncan Fassler won't mind either moniker.
After a prolonged halftime due to lightning, the senior tailback surged through the Aurora defense for three touchdowns to lead McCook past the rival Huskies 23-13 at Weiland Field on Friday night.
"I probably had three yards rushing in the first half," Fassler said of his first half performance. "But in the second half it turned around, and everyone started getting yards."
Fassler's performance, a slow first half followed by a strong second half, was a microcosm of the entire game for McCook.
McCook struck first with a 38-yard Sam Smith field goal to give the Bison a 3-0 edge midway through the opening quarter. However, those would be the only points the hosts would score the entire first half.
Aurora, meanwhile, would take their first lead of the game late in the quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run from quarterback Carter Thompson to make it 6-3 in favor of the visitors.
That score would hold up going into halftime, which was prolonged due to lightning in the area.
"We just had to make adjustments," said Fassler of the halftime talk. "Defensively, we knew how good we were. We were getting beat a little bit in the first half, but we finished the job after halftime."
McCook head coach Jeff Gross wasn't worried about the halftime deficit.
"At halftime, I was feeling really good," said the Bison skipper. "We shot ourselves in the foot, offensively, in the first half. Defensively, we made some mistakes, most of which were just alignment issues versus what (Aurora) was doing."
After struggling in the first half against a stout Aurora defense, Fassler and the McCook offense found its rhythm in the final two quarters. Thanks, in part, to an Aurora miscue.
On Aurora's opening drive of the second half, the Huskies went three plays and out. The ensuing punt was botched, and the Bison took over at Aurora's 18 yard line.
Five plays later, Fassler found paydirt.
The senior scored from four yards out to give McCook a 10-6 lead with 8:05 left in the third quarter.
"That was a momentum swing," Gross said of Aurora's bad snap. "We turn around and punch it right in. Once we stayed on schedule, on offense, we did some powerful things in the second half."
The Huskies, however, would retake the lead early in the final stanza. Thompson found Alex Kubik on a 27-yard strike to make it 13-10 Aurora with 10:45 remaining in regulation.
"That was our mistake," noted Gross. "Our safety bit on a shallow drag when they hid a post-in route behind it, and that can't happen. Kyle (Geisler) bounced back that very next series with a nice play on a curl route."
After that, it was all McCook.
The Bison would cap off a 12-play, 65-yard drive with Fassler's 1-yard touchdown to retake the lead at 17-13 with only 3:30 left in the game.
Following an Aurora punt, McCook wasted little time to put the game out of reach. Fassler ran 37 yards on the Bison's only play of the drive to make it 23-13 with only 2:21 remaining.
The Huskies had one final drive to mount a comeback, but an Eric Langan sack followed by two incomplete Hunter Holliday passes put an end to any such intentions.
"I thought our offensive line blocked really well," Gross said. "There was some tough sledding for them."
"As the game wore on, Dunncan did a phenomenal job of finding holes to run through. The beauty of that is Easton (Gillen) put us in the right hole each time. Cade (Cappel) also ran the ball well, and blocked well for Dunncan. It was a team effort all around."
While McCook's offense is ground-based, there was much curiosity surrounding the two quarterbacks heading into the season opener. Gillen had the starting experience, but junior Zach Schlager was also expected to take snaps.
Both quarterbacks played Friday night, with Gillen getting the start and Schlager being the change up.
According to Gross, "they both gotta play offense."
"The plan was to play both. Easton's the definite starter, because he's been running the best option, which is what we do on offense. But he's also gotta play safety. So we brought Zach in."
"I'd like to make sure Zach gets two series per half. If someone happens to have the hot hand, I'd like to see us stick more (with that quarterback) in the second half. It was a nice mix (on Friday)."
McCook's offense saw a balanced distribution of carries, as Cappel, Fassler, Gillen and Schlager all got at least six totes of the pigskin.
Cappel led the Bison ground game with 63 yards on 12 carries, while Schlager and Fassler were close behind with 61 and 59 yards, respectively.
The Bison found difficulties passing the ball Friday night, with Gillen finishing the game with just 24 yards through the air. His top receiver was Cappel, who had 15 yards on two receptions, while DJ Gross had the other 9 yards on one reception.
Off a 1,700 yard junior season, Aurora's Preston Dibbern ran into a McCook defense that was focused on stopping the run. The tailback finished with just 24 yards on 13 carries.
The Huskies generated most of their offense through the air with 192 yards. Kubik was a huge target for Aurora, with 156 yards and one touchdown on seven receptions.
McCook will now turn its attention to Gering. The Bulldogs are coming off a 34-0 loss at Grand Island Northwest, but Fassler isn't letting his guard down for Game 2.
"Next week we got Gering, and we'll focus on them the same way we did Aurora."
Gross shared similar thoughts.
"On paper, we will be favorites, but we're gonna focus on getting better and beating Gering. We won't even worry about that next game against Sidney until the Gering game's over. We're gonna play them one at a time, and that's what our mojo is."
As for beating Aurora, coach?
"It feels really good to beat a top ten Aurora team. It was a game of mistakes, and we'll learn from ours and run with it."
Box Score
| - | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
| Aurora | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Mccook | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 23 |
First Quarter
McCook: Sam Smith 38-yard FG
Aurora: Carter Thompson 1-yard run (Alex Kubik PAT no good)
Third Quarter
McCook: Dunncan Fassler 3-yard run (Smith PAT)
Fourth Quarter
Aurora: Kubik 27-yard pass from Thompson (Kubik PAT)
McCook: Fassler 1-yard run (Smith PAT)
McCook: Fassler 37-yard run (Smith PAT no good)
Individual Statistics
Rushing (attempts-yards) - McCook: Cappel (12-63), Schlager (7-61), Fassler (9-59), Gillen (6-14), Bradley (2-5); Aurora: Dibbern (13-24), SaBell (2-17), Holliday (5-14), Narber (5-10), Thompson (5-3), Snyder (1-0).
Receiving (receptions-yards) - McCook: Cappel (2-15), Gross (1-9); Aurora: Kubik (7-156), SaBell (2-22), Dibbern (2-12), Snyder (1-7).
Passing (completions/attempts, yards) - McCook: Gillen (3/8, 24); Aurora: Thompson (8/17, 121), Snyder (1/1, 44), Holliday (3/4, 32), SaBell (1/1, -5).