Southwest overcomes adversity, defeats DCS in double overtime

BENKELMAN, Neb. -- Time and time again Southwest looked in the face of adversity and didn’t blink.

Overcoming five different deficits, the Roughriders scored on two separate fourth down plays, including one to tie the game with 29 second left in regulation, then got a defensive stand to defeat Dundy County-Stratton 58-50 in double overtime Friday in Benkelman.

“All week we worked really hard on preparing to face adversity,” said Southwest head coach Nick Brost. “Dundy County is a really good team. We told our boys that they’re gonna score, they’re gonna have big plays, that’s what they do and it would be up to us on how we would respond to it.”

“We told them to just worry about making the next play,” he added. “I’m really proud of our boys and how they reacted.”

Last year’s wild 58-38 game in Bartley saw DCS pull away in the second half. Friday’s game started out on a similar note.

A back-and-forth opening half saw DCS take a 30-22 lead into intermission, thanks to touchdowns from Serbando Diaz and Romey Grier late in the second quarter.

DCS extended its lead to 36-22 early in the third quarter before Southwest began its comeback. Derek Greenlee picked off quarterback Nate Auffet and walked in from one yard out to make it 36-28. His twin brother, Logan, then scampered 64 yards before Cody Downey had a game-tying conversion run.

Phalen Sanford showed DCS’ quick-strike capabilities with a 45-yard burst to help the Tigers retake the lead just as the third stanza ended.

Starting on their own 27-yard line with 5:41 left in the game, the Roughriders marched to the DCS 10-yard line before they ran into a pivotal fourth down.

“Dundy County and us both took timeouts to talk it over,” Brost recalled. “Us coaches asked the boys, ‘what do you want to run?’ and we let them decide. We ended up going with a boot pass that gave Ryan the option to throw it or run it.”

The play worked, as Van Pelt kept the ball to score with 0:29 remaining in regulation. The Southwest signal-caller then converted a vital two-point run to even the game at 44-44 and send the contest to overtime.

DCS showed no worry on its opening overtime drive, as the Tigers took one play to score to make it 50-44 after a failed conversion.

Needing a score, Southwest was, again, faced with a fourth down on its ensuing drive. And, again, Van Pelt delivered. The Southwest quarterback called his number to score from one yard out to send the game to a second session of extra football.

In the second OT, Van Pelt put Southwest ahead with a six-yard run. Downey’s conversion run made it 58-50 Roughriders, their first lead since the second quarter, and put the pressure back on DCS.

The break Southwest was looking for came on DCS’ second-overtime drive. Sanford ran to the Southwest one-yard line to set the Tigers up for a tying score. But on the next play, DCS fumbled and Southwest recovered to give the Roughriders a key win.

Brost noted that the overtime set-up, which gave each team one possession starting at the opponent’s 10-yard line, may have been an advantage for his team.

“We’re more of an offense that tries to move the ball to get 10 yards and a first down, while Dundy County was probably limited on what they could do when they only have 10 yards to work with. We just told them to take it one play at a time. We were hoping the defense could get a stop and they did.”

295 of Southwest’s 389 rushing yards came from the legs of Logan Greenlee and Van Pelt. Greenlee ran for 195 yards and three scores on a game-high 32 carries, while Van Pelt hit 100 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries. Downey added 88 hard-earned yards on 22 carries.

Sanford accounted for 227 yards and three touchdowns to lead DCS (2-2). Guillermo Diaz had 101 yards rushing, while his brother, Serbando, added 86 and a score.

Southwest (2-2) returns home to host unbeaten Medicine Valley while DCS will regroup to host state-rated Perkins County in Week 6.

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Score by Quarter

Scoring Summary

DCS -- Guillermo Diaz 25 pass from Phalen Sanford (conversion good)

SW -- Logan Greenlee 6 run (conversion failed)

SW -- Rayn Van Pelt 49 run (conversion good)

DCS -- Sanford 16 run (conversion good)

SW -- Greenlee 7 run (conversion good)

DCS -- Serbando Diaz 19 run (conversion good)

DCS -- Romey Grier 46 interception return (conversion failed)

SW -- Derek Greenlee 1 interception return (conversion failed)

SW -- L. Greenlee 64 run (conversion good)

DCS -- Sanford 45 run (conversion good)

SW -- Van Pelt 10 run (conversion good)

DCS -- Sanford 10 run (conversion failed)

SW -- Van Pelt 1 run (conversion failed)

SW -- Van Pelt 6 run (conversion good)