Elkhorn South extends win streak with 45-7 victory over Seward

Elkhorn South's sensational RB Moses Bryant *(photo courtesy of Bobby Mills)

Coach Guy Rosenberg’s Elkhorn South offense machine was in high gear, Storm defensive coordinator Sam Stanley’s troops were everywhere and the result was a 45-7 win over a very good 4-1 Seward team.

Big senior quarterback Cole Hanafan drilled two first quarter touchdown passes, three time 1000 yard rusher Moses Bryant was as good as ever, and the Elkhorn South defense pitched another shutout to stretch the two-time Class B champions winning streak to 32 games.

The Storm, marred by an unusually high number of penalties (11 for 100 yards), did an excellent job of finding an offensive rhythm in a game that felt disjointed all night due to the high number of flags. When things felt out of kilter for Elkhorn South, the defense would make a big play, or the offense would simply fight back to score on quick drives.

The Storm struck quickly to open the game when Cole Hanafan, who looked crisp and razor sharp in pre-game warmups, nailed Mick Williams with a 64 yard crossing pattern touchdown. Markus Case drilled the first of 6 PATs to put Elkhorn South up 7-0.

The 6-5, 240 pound Hanafan hit the replay button with 2:07 left in the opening stanza, hitting Jake Knott on the exact same play, for a 44 yard TD strike.

Seward scored their only points of the night when the ball sailed over Storm punter Parker Lundgren’s head into the Storm endzone. Bluejay defender Jordan Kavulak then pounced on the loose ball for a Seward touchdown.

The special teams score pulled Seward to within 14-7 with 9:16 left in the second quarter, but Elkhorn South would score the next 17 points to pad their halftime lead to a comfortable 31-7 advantage.

Moses Bryant scooted in for a 7 yard TD following the Seward score. The sensational senior ripped off a 36 yard gain the play before to set up his score. Speedy freshman quarterback Drew Reetz scored the next second quarter touchdown on a 17 yard sprint after a Houdini-type ball fake that left Seward defenders wondering who had the ball.

Markus Case capped the 2nd stanza scoring with a 34 yard field goal as time ran out.

Moses Bryant scored his 2nd touchdown of the perfect weather night on a 3rd quarter 3 yard dash. Six minutes later, Cole Hanafan connected with speedy Jason Carlos for his 3rd scoring pass of the evening. The play covered 13 yards.

Moses Bryant ended the night with 146 yards on 16 carries. Hanafan completed 8 of his 13 aerials for 174 yards and 3 TDs, but did suffer a rare interception and was sacked twice, another rare sight.

Seward’s terrific junior QB Joseph Krause (pronounced “krau-zee”’) completed 11 of 23 passes for 127 yards before departing with a slight hamstring pull in the 3rd quarter. Krause, despite ending up with minus rushing yardage, looked tough running the ball at times.

For Elkhorn South, I was especially impressed by Jared Jennings (#9), Carson Pilkington (#29), sophomore Will Reetz on defense (#25), Jake Knott (#17), Mick Williams (#2) on both sides of the ball, junior Hunter Jones (#55) and needless to say, Cole Hanafan and Moses Bryant.

For Seward, junior Adam Garton (#12) caught my eye on defense, as well as sophomores Josh Sagehorn (#4) and Jordan Kavulak (#71). Senior Brett Lavelle (#45) stood out, as did the offensive pass/catch connection of Krause and terrific junior WR, Carson Core (#6). Sophomore Tyson Franklin (#34) was in the top notch player mix too.

…………………….1……..2……..3……..4……….F

Elkhorn South…...14……17…....14…….0……...45

Seward…………….0……..7……..0….....0……….7

1st Qtr.

ES - Williams 64 pass from Hanafan………..PAT - Case kick…(8:24).....0-7

ES - Knott 44 pass from Hanafan…………...PAT....Case kick....(2:07).....0-14

2nd Qtr.

S…..Kavulak recovers ball in end zone……..PAT - Glandt kick.(9:16).....7-14

ES - Moses Bryant 7 Run…………………....PAT - Case kick....(8:13).....7-21

ES - Drew Reetz 17 Run…………………….PAT - Case kick....(4:36).....7-28

ES - Markus Case 34 Field Goal…………………………………(0:00)....7-31

3rd Qtr.

ES - Moses Bryant 3 Run…………………...PAT - Case kick….(8:54)....7-38

ES - Carlos 13 pass from Hanafan………….PAT - Case kick….(2:45)....7-45

(The announced attendance of 71, 315 may have been inflated a bit)