Bison effort falls short, 42-41, to streaking Storm

Friday, November 11, 2016
Isaac Larson (3) picks off Elkhorn South Pass to extend the lead in the 4th quarter as the Bison fall to the Storm 41-42 in overtime at Weiland Field ...Photo By Steve Towery/McCook Gazette

McCOOK, Neb. -- Anyone seeing red after Friday's stinging 42-41 playoff loss only witnessed heroes walking off McCook's Weiland Field.

"I told the guys if they approach every day of life the way they did this football game, they will all do real well," Bison coach Jeff Gross said about his Red-clad Bison's oh-so-near stop of a 24-game Elkhorn South win streak.

"They are (rated) No. 5 all-class, then we can't be far behind that," he added.

Bison Jr Zach Schlager combined for 6 scores and runs for 5 and passes for another as the finish the season 10-2 Photo By Steve Towery/McCook Gazette

Sure, that sounds like classic coach talk.

And yes, the worst memories will always focus on one or two plays that could have decided this unforgettable battle with mighty Elkhorn South.

Bitter Bison fans could even consider blaming the Ten Commandments for not including a crucial subtitle easily connected to modern life.

"Thou shalt not cover the Moses named Bryant with one defender on a last-minute pass play."

Leading 28-21 and only 45 seconds from the upset, McCook saw Storm star Moses Bryant make perhaps his biggest of five touchdowns.

Bryant caught a pass, cut across field and dashed 42 yards to the west end zone.

The following extra point would force overtime at 28-28.

"Yeah we could have covered with more than one man," Gross confirmed. "The help didn't get there quite in time."

However, the streaking defending Class B champs (25 straight wins) weren't any better at catching 'Z' from McCook.

Junior Zach Schlager outrushed Bryant by more than 100 yards, 218-117, matched the all-stater's five touchdowns and even threw a go-ahead TD pass to classmate Hunter Potthoff.

Schlager motored seven and 10 yards in overtime for scores, the second apparently setting up a third OT series.

"It seemed like this one might go all night," Gross observed.

Who would have cared considering these two teams traded scores six times. Never once did either football power lead by more than seven points.

Yet sadly, the Bison "blinked" and cost them this classic's single biggest point.

The snap, no hold and nothing close to a tying kick on this botched PAT.

Elkhorn South tackled the final Bison that touched this football and celebrated easily their narrowest escape all season.

Only only other team -- Omaha Skutt on Sept. 1 -- had come within 10 points of beating the Storm (33-24 final) this season.

Ironically, the Skutt Skyhawks will get a second chance against South in next week's Class B state title game.

The Bison (10-2 final record) will have to settle for playing one of their finest playoff games in an awesome football history.

"I talked to (Omaha World-Herald sports writer) Stu (Pospisil) and said our win over Beatrice in '05 was the best," Gross said on a radio interview about the 24-17 McCook victory. "But I think this one Friday tops it."

"It might not have been in Lincoln, but this was like a state title game," he concluded.

One story probably can't even cover all the fantastic Bison performances.

McCook twice shook off first-half deficits. Leading 7-0, the Storm looked for more until senior Kaleb Taylor stopped consecutive plays.

First, Taylor stuffed Mosest to set up third down and five, then he chased quarterback Braden Wright out of bounds that forced a punt. Not too many moments later, Schlager's first TD run covering 19 runs and a Trae Koetter PAT kick caught the Storm at 7-7.

The visitors led again 14-7 only to see Schlager shake loose and rumble 46 yards for his first big run. He would leave more than a couple missed tacklers slapping the ground in frustration on this night.

Pushed to third down, the Bison still didn't blink and scored again on Schlager's one-yard plunge. Another Koetter kick made it 14-14. The entire third quarter was scoreless thanks to heroic Bison like senior Easton Gillen.

When the Storm approached midfield, it was Gillen who took that football from a receiver and celebrated South's first turnover. Yet the bigger takeaway arrived on senior Isaac Larson's interception of a Bison slant pass. Larson returned it to the South 21-yard line and set up more heroics.

Anyone joining McCook junior Hunter Potthoff in laughing at his speed or focus should probably check out Friday's game highlights.

Trailing Elkhorn South 21-14, it was Potthoff who rose among the Storm defenders and caught a five-yard touchdown pass.

The Bison had capitalized on senior Isaac Larson's fourth-quarter interception, and a third Koetter PAT kick put McCook ahead 21-14.

Yet the Storm struck quickly against McCook's Class B-top ranked defense, forcing another deadlock at 21-21 on all-stater Moses Bryant's second of five touchdowns.

No problem, because it was Potthoff and junior quarterback Zach Schlager's turn again.

Potthoff dashed behind the Storm defense this time. Schlager launched a long pass downfield that turned into one perfect over- the-shoulder catch.

Potthoff carried this more than 40 yards be- fore defenders finally brought him down inside Elkhorn South's 10.

"Yeah, it was over the shoulder. Zach threw a great ball," Potthoff said. "I'm not the fastest. Yeah, I could hear them (defenders) behind me."

Potthoff set up first-and-goal where -- sure enough -- McCook's offensive line with Schlager carrying the football took over.

Schlager blasted eight yards to this latest score with 2:02 remaining. McCook's super-tough offensive line of seniors Eric Langan, Andrew Eschliman, Jon Colburn and others were big reasons why Schlager totaled his 218 rushing yards.

Those same front liners were a big reason why McCook outrushed Elkhorn South overall, 241-179.

"We did a good job of stopping the run," coach Jeff Gross said. "They hurt us with the pass, though."

Indeed. The final touchdown of regulation was highlighted on Page 11, as Bryant caught a pass from quarterback Braden Wright and carried it 42 yards to playoff paradise.

Elkhorn South kicked its fourth of six successful PATs to force overtime at 28-28.

High school football follows a similar OT format as colleges except teams start series at the 10-yard line rather than 25 yards from goal lines.

Perhaps that's why nothing seemed capable of stopping the Moses Bryant-Zach Schlager scoring duel.

"If Moses is in the top 20 players in Nebraska, they'd be crazy not to include Zach," Gross observed.

Both scored twice in OT before McCook's infamous botched final PAT try -- ending it at 42-41.

An obviously painful and anticlimactic final moment. Yet perhaps Potthoff reflected best on a game where every Bison could be proud.

"It doesn't get any better than that," he said and smiled despite the disappointment. "There was nothing separating us from them. It was a great game."


Box Score

Elkhorn South (12-0)7701477-42
McCook (10-2)01401476-41

Scoring Summary

ES: Stanzel 32 pass from Wright (Albers PAT)

MC: Schlager 19 run (Koetter PAT)

ES: Bryant 3 run (Albers PAT)

MC: Schlager 1 run (Koetter PAT)

MC: Potthoff 5 pass from Schlager (Koetter PAT)

ES: Bryant 2 run (Albers PAT)

MC: Schlager 8 run (Koetter PAT)

ES: Bryant 42 pass from Wright (Albers PAT)

Overtime

MC: Schlager 7 run (Koetter PAT)

ES: Bryant 10 run (Albers PAT)

ES: Bryant 2 run (Alberts PAT)

MC: Schlager 10 run (PAT no good)

Team stats

Rushing yards: McCook 241, Elkhorn South 179.

Passing: Elkhorn South 239, McCook 122.

Total: Elkhorn South 418, McCook 363.

Penalty yards: Elkhorn South 15, McCook 5.

Individual Stats

Rushing

McCook: Zach Schlager 33 carries-218 yards-5 touchdowns; Dunncan Rogers 4-18, Cade Cappel 4-5.

Elkhorn South: Moses Bryant 22-117-4 TDs; Braden Wright 10-46, Brayton Haley 10-13.

Passing

McCook: Schlager 10 completions-17 attempts-122 yards-1 TD.

Elkhorn South: Wright 17-25-239-2 TDs-1 Int.

Receiving

McCook: Hunter Potthoff 4 catches-76 yards-1 TD; Rogers 2-20, Jared Matson 1-11, Isaac Larson 1-9, DJ Gross 2-6.

Elkhorn South: Nathan Stanzel 3-59-1 TD; Bryant 3 -57-1 TD; Matt Slominski 4-57, C.J. Wright 4-35.

Total tackles

McCook Bison only: Schlager 10 (4 assists), Larson 10 (5 assists), Eric Langan 7 (2 assists), Kaleb Taylor 7 (2 assists), Rogers 7 (3 assists), Cappel 7 (3 assists), Sam Smith 7 (3 assists), DJ Gross 7 (3 assists), Gabe Sehnert 7 (4 assists), Easton Gillen 5 (1 assist), Mattson 4 (1 assist), Jon Colburn 2 (1 assist); Andrew Eschilman, Frank Hernandez, Paxton Terry and Alec Bunger with 1 each.

Tackles for loss: Taylor 2, Langan 1, Matson 1.

Takeaways: Gillen (fumble recovery) and Larson (interception).

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