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Bison take blender to Orange-men, 63-3
They’re lining them up like bowling pins with plans to knock the next four foes down as fast as Beatrice Friday night.
“Lexington then Alliance then Holdrege then Gering. We have to come out and show ‘em they have no chance,” McCook coach Jeff Gross declared following a 63-3 Homecoming win over the visiting 0-4 Orangemen. “I told the guys afterwards they have no idea how good they can be. We’re not there yet. We’re not even close.”
Absolutely, considering it took McCook three plays and 30 full SECONDS for enough points to beat Beatrice.
A fumbled kickoff, senior Morgan Fawver’s 22-yard “fly sweep” and Cameryn Berry strolled one yard past any obstacles wearing “O” on their helmets.
Senior Trae Koetter’s first of nine PAT kicks made it 7-0 with exactly 11:30 remaining in the opening quarter.
Perhaps Beatrice should have considered it midnight and started the bus.
“They have a lot of work to do. I feel a bit for coach (Todd) Eckart,” coach Gross said. “They’ll bounce back, but fundamentally they just have to get better. We’re all about fundamentals and it showed tonight.”
The fundamentals of a 42-0 first quarter were fun to watch as McCook (4-0 record) scored just about every way possible.
Yet Bison defense first set the dominant tone.
Still only trailing 7-0, Beatrice tried to unleash one of Class B’s fastest athletes in junior Andrew Mahoney.
Mahoney sprinted outside on his own fly sweep when — SWAT! — senior D-tackle Colin Giron smashed him for about a five-yard loss.
The Orangemen promptly punted to set up a second “fairly quick” Bison score.
Senior Billy Bennett made his first pass catch this season, then put on a key block that cleared Paxton Terry’s 30-yard run around right end.
Senior Gabe Sehnert finished the speedy drive with a four-yard run where he was barely nudged.
Sehnert’s second TD in about three minutes would feature far more impressive work.
Beatrice nearly picked up a first down, but the first completed pass finished about one yard short.
No problem. Just punt the ball away and maybe play some defense...
Or maybe they should have blocked senior DJ Gross!
Gross was almost a blur while blasting right through and blocking the Orangmen’s punt.
Sehnert picked up the football, dragged another Orangemen a few steps, broke free and made one amazing lunge right across that goal line.
Koetter’s next kick capped a 21-0 start with not even five full minutes elapsing off the Weiland Field clock.
“DJ’s arm swelled up about five inches after he blocked that kick,” coach Gross said. “He wasn’t 100 percent coming in. That contusion on his leg (suffered against Grand Island Northwest two weeks earlier) was sore. We had X-rays done and there are no broken bones. Just a real deep bone bruise.”
“So after awhile, my main goal was to get guys off the field and get a lot of young guys in,” he added.
Not before starting quarterback-safety Berry delivered two more TDs.
First, he fired a 21-yard strike to Alec Bunger one play after Beatrice’s second lost fumble.
This major mismatch grew larger when Berry promptly picked off a Beatrice pass and took it 39 yards to “the house.”
Koetter’s fifth PAT kick forged a 35-0 Bison advantage and still more than five minutes remained in the first QUARTER.
“We scored 35 in the first at Lexington last year, but we called timeouts that night because of the wind (advantage),” coach Gross explained. “There was no wind factor tonight.”
Just a whirlwind of Bison big plays capped by junior Landon Towne’s 13-yard rumble to the end zone.
The Bison did admittedly “lose some focus during quarter two where Beatrice booted its 26-yard field goal.
McCook committed some penalties including a key 15-yard unsportsman conduct foul.
“The only negative was our focus. We lost our cool a couple of times,” coach Gross confirmed. “We’ll learn from it and move on.”
The brief troubles ended on a Beatrice quarterback scramble.
Sophomore Bennett Crandall was running for a possible first down until Terry caught him and stripped that football free.
Sehnert fell on this fumble, and McCook turned momentum again as senior Seth Dugger quarterbacked about a 50-yard drive.
Dugger powered two yards to his first touchdown of the 2018 season.
A second-half running clock didn’t stop the Bison from adding two impressive scores.
Sophomore reserve QB Mark Arp ran eight yards to both TDs.
Bennett’s 25-yard catch and run set up the first Arp score.
Junior Drew Daum’s strong tackle on a Beatrice fourth-and-one play turned momentum back to McCook one more time.
“Everything was working. We could have gained 1,000 yards tonight if the game had kept going,” coach Gross said. “But our goal was to play a lot of people and we got everyone except one first-year player tonight.”
The Bison now get set to play 1-3 Lexington which continues a stretch of five foes who currently own four wins total.
“We have to challenge ourselves and come out hot like tonight,” coach Gross concluded. “End all doubt and play a lot of kids for the future.”