Boone Central/Newman Grove dominates Columbus Lakeview 48-21.

Boone Central/Newman Grove whiz kid, Wyatt Mazour (#20)

Despite having 2 senior leaders shelved with major injuries, Boone Central unleashed some serious defensive fury, turned loose junior quarterback Wyatt Mazour and sailed to a shockingly easy 48-21 win over once beaten Columbus Lakeview. Boone Central zipped to a 21-0 halftime lead, then buried Lakeview by scoring 21 points right out of the chute in the 3rd quarter. The scoring flurry came in a 4:16 second span in that 3rd quarter giving the #1 Cardinals a 41-0 lead and prompting a running clock that lasted until Lakeview finally cut the lead to 34 points with 6:06 left in the game.

It was the swarming defense of Boone Central/NG that was all over each and every Lakeview back that carried the ball and the smothering pass defense employed by Arnie Johnson's troops that forced record setting Lakeview QB Jack Shadley into a 9 of 23 passing night good for only 53 yards and 2 interceptions, one of which was a 22 yard return for a score. Boone quarterback Wyatt Mazour torched the Viking defense with his shake and bake running to the tune of 153 yards on 20 carries and 3 touchdowns. One of Mazour's scores was a twisting, turning, churning 84 yard dance to the house with 6:45 left in the 2nd quarter. That gave the home field Cardinals a 21-0 lead, which they took to the lockeroom at halftime.

Things did not start well for Lakeview to open the game when Evan Dewald coughed up a fumble at the Cardinal's 41 on Lakeview's opening drive. Mazour carried the first 5 times for Boone, advancing the ball from the Boone Central/NG 41 to the 37 of Lakeview. Joseph Brugger scored from a yard out 3 plays later, Brugger's twin brother Matthew Brugger added the point after and it was 7-0. Boone scored on it's 2nd drive of the contest with Wyatt Mazour doing most of the damage. Mazour took it in from a yard out and the Cardinals were up 14-0 with 2:08 left in the opening frame.

Columbus Lakeview began the 2nd quarter by driving from mid field all the way to the Boone Central/NG 9 yard line, but a Shadley pass was picked off at the one yard line and returned to the Cardinal 16. On the very next play, Mazour started left, made a 360 degree spin move, bounced to the outside and sailed 84 yards for a touchdown. Cardinal junior Matt Brugger missed a 47 yard field goal attempt to end the half with Boone up 21-0.

The Cardinals may have applied the back breaker on the first play of the 3rd quarter when Joseph Brugger took a pitch, swept the left side and turned on the jets for a 64 yard TD jaunt. The Cardinals scored again on their second drive on a Mazour 1 yard plunge. The key play on the drive was a Mazour 39 yard aerial to senior Pierce Koch that carried from the Lakeview 40 to the one yard line.

If Lakeview wasn't deflated after that one, the real back breaker came 3 plays into the Vikings next possession. Quarterback Shadley rolled left and tossed a pass into the flat, but Pierce Koch stepped in front of the intended receiver, picked of the pass and returned it 22 yards for the score. In less than 5 minutes, Boone Central had scored 3 times and had a 41-0 lead with 7:26 left in the 3rd.

Matthew Brugger scored on an 8 yard dash for the Cardinals with 3:15 left, extending the Cardinal to 48-0, but on the ensuing kick-off, Lakeview super sprint sensation Mark Jarecke took the deep kick at the 3 and zig zagged 97 yard for a score. Lakeview added 2 scores in the 4th quarter, a one yard run by Evan Dewald, and a 9 yard dash by junior Marcus Holmberg, the latter coming with only 49 seconds left in the lopsided game.

The cruel reality of all of this is that the final score was not an indication of how one-sided this long anticipated match-up was. Boone Central/Newman Grove ended the contest with 301 yards rushing and 95 passing. To illustrate the dominance of the Cardinal defense, check this out. Columbus Lakeview could only muster 112 yards rushing with and average of 2.6 per carry. Viking QB's Jack Shadley and Dylan Johnson combined to complete only 11 of 30 passes for 63 yards, an average of just a tad short of 7 yards a completion with 2 interceptions, one being a pick 6.

As mentioned earlier, Wyatt Mazour led all rushers with 153 yards on 20 carries and 3 Tds. Junior Joe Brugger added 117 yards on 9 carries and 2 scores. Evan Dewald paced the ground attack for Lakeview with 41 yards on 11 attempts.

Entering the game, Boone Central/NG was number 1 in C-1 and Lakeview was only 2 slots behind at number 3. In between sat Norfolk Catholic. Tonight Pierce, a team Boone Central/NG blasted 48-7, upset Catholic 22-21. So how dominating does that make the Cardinals?

Next week, the final week of the regular season, Boone Central will stay at home to entertain Grand Island Central Catholic, a 38-14 loser to Adams Central tonight, while Lakeview closes things out by hosting cross town rival Columbus Scotus next Thursday.

.....and furthermore: Hate to beat a dead horse, but how good is this Boone Central/Newman Grove team? Two of their best senior players on both offense AND defense were out for this game and will miss at least the next 4 games....maybe more. Derek Gentrup and Tyler Hedlund, both all-state candidates were absent tonight and still... This group of Cardinals boggles the minds of all Class C-1 football teams and it all hinges around a splendid quarterback named Wyatt Mazour.

......and one more thing: It would be foolish to take this Lakeview bunch out of the title picture just yet. Tonight was a night of frustrating dropped passes, fizzled running plays that usually work, and a frustrated all star quarterback who will bounce back big time. These Vikings have a lot of fight left in them. I'm sure they are asking themselves the same question I am: Just how good is this Boone Central/Newman Grove team? I'm also betting that the Vikings would like to have another chance to find out.