Lincoln Pius X does it the old fashioned way in Class B playoff win over GI Northwest

Posted Saturday, October 31, 2015, at 2:23 AM

Pius X running back Jakob Andreasen cuts for yardage against GINW in the Thunderbolts 14-0 playoff victory. *(photo courtesy of Journal-Star)

by Bobby Mills (1000 Yard Guy)

Grand Island - A smiling Pius X offensive line coach Jim Hansen told me before the game that the rain and the wet field fit the Thunderbolt's game plan to a Tee. He and head coach Tim Aylward just love the double tight end, grind it out offense, and on a night where the rains just kept coming, and coming, the huge Pius X offensive line just kicked it into "plow" mold, leading the Thunderbolts to a controlled 14-0 Class B playoff win over Northwest.

For GI Northwest, it was heartbreaking night, the worst nightmare imaginable, for a football team that lives through the air. The Vikings had done it all year long with All-State quarterback candidate and Division One prospect Christian Ellsworth, but the football gods delivered the rainy curse down on Viking Field in a cruel twist, and the rest is history.

Everything seemed perfectly set for Lincoln Pius to grind out a punishing ground attack with running back Brock Wordekemper set carry the load. A strange thing happened on the way to the carrying out the game plan. Wordekemper came down with a terrific migraine headache during warmups, so severe that Tim Aylward decided the 931 yard junior simply could not go. Instead, Aylward moved 195 pound fullback, Jakob Andreasen to I-Back. The junior had not only carried the ball only 26 times all year, but all had been at that FB position. But Andreasen delivered big time, plowing through the Northwest defensive line like a raging bull, legs churning the the muddy Viking Field grass like former Washington Redskin John Riggins.

When the game ended, Jakob Andreasen looked like a NFL hero with his muddied Thunderbolt uniform, bloodstains to prove his battle worthiness. It was his 181 yards on 27 carries and a score that led the way to the well controlled Pius win.

Although Northwest battled valiantly all evening on defense, Christian Ellsworth and the Viking offense just could never get untracked. Was it the dominating, relentless defense by the Thunderbolts or the unsuitable weather conditions that doomed the Vikings? One thing is for certain, a rainy night and a wet field was certainly not what the doctor ordered for the GI Northwest offense. So unfavorable was the weather and the Pius X defense, Northwest was held to just 170 yards of total offense for the night. The outstanding Ellsworth, who had accumulated a Class B leading 2,221 yards coming into the game, was only able to muster 91 yards through the air on 12 of 27 passing accuracy.

The Pius defense had only given up 127 rushing yards a game all year, which did not help matters for Northwest, whose leading rusher was Ellsworth at 632 yards. On this night, the Vikings could manage only 79 yards on 29 carries, an average of only 2.7 a try. It was defensive players like Lincoln Pius players Alex Kerr, Joey Burish, and others, that made life miserable for Northwest.

Trailing only 14-0, Northwest came out in the 2nd half hoping to get something going, but once again, the Pius defense dominated and the Bolt's offense chewed up so much time on their drives, the Vikings were held to three 2nd half possessions.

Northwest did mount a drive early in the 4th quarter and it was a dandy. Starting from their own 16 yard line, Ellsworth mixed the run and pass well, and the rain actually let up enough for Northwest to look like the the offensive team they had looked like the entire season. Christian Ellsworth and the Vikings drove all the way to the Thunderbolts 2 yard line, but an incomplete pass on a 4th and 2 killed the drive.

Pius scored a touchdown in the first quarter when hard running fullback Chris Cassidy, a 190 pound sophomore, crashed in from the 5 yard line for the touchdown. The Thunderbolts nearly scored on their opening possession, but Northwest stripped the ball from a Pius X runner struggling for extra yards. The Vikings pounced on the loose ball at the Northwest half yard line to snuff the drive.

The Thunderbolts 2nd score of the game came in the 2nd stanza came when Andreasen plowed in from the 1.

Jakob Andreasen led Lincoln Pius with his 181 yards on 27 carries. Chris Cassidy followed with 65 yards on 12 totes. Pius quarterback Joe Raun, a 160 pound sophomore, threw only 2 passes all night, completing them both for 6 total yards.

For GI Northwest, Ellsworth hit on 12 of his 27 throws for 91 yards. The senior QB also led the rushing game with 66 yards on 26 carries. The Vikings end a terrific 2015 campaign with a 6-4 mark. For Christian Ellsworth, it was a sparkling career that saw the senior complete 200 of his 327 passes for 2,312 yards, 24 touchdowns and only 8 interceptions in 2015.. For his career, Ellsworth unofficially finished with 3,538 yards and 38 touchdowns with only 11 picks.

Lincoln Pius X improves to 7-3 and will host a 9-1 Omaha Skutt team that trounced Waverly, 50-3 tonight in the quarterfinals of the Class B playoffs.