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McCook starts district play with 47-0 demolition
HASTINGS, Neb. -- The B-7 district is in trouble. Specifically, everyone but McCook.
As district play started up in Week 7, the Bison looked every bit the part of a district and state contender.
McCook had a four-quarter performance Friday night to dominate Hastings High 47-0 at Lloyd Wilson Field. The win moves the No. 5 Bison to 6-1 on the season, while Hastings drops to 4-3.
"It was a great performance by our team," said Bison head coach Jeff Gross. "Our boys did a great job of executing the gameplan and putting together a complete game."
The Tigers looked most dangerous on the opening drive of the game. Vinny Schmidt completed six passes on the opening series to move the ball down to the McCook 18-yard line. Faced with a fourth-and-one, the Tigers turned the ball over on downs when Colin Giron sacked Schmidt in the backfield to nullify the Hastings threat.
McCook's first drive ended in a punt, but the Bison offense would return to the field soon. On Hastings' second possession, McCook recovered a fumble that was forced by Ben Bradley. After sitting out the Scottsbluff game, last week, Bradley made his presence known on defense.
Starting at Hastings' 30-yard line, the Bison made quick work of the short field. Zach Schlager ran in McCook's first touchdown from six yards out to give the Bison the lead. Trae Koetter's point after kick was good, making it 7-0 McCook with 0:54 remaining in the first quarter.
Following a Hastings punt, the Bison would take over at midfield. Easton Gillen took over at quarterback, and marched the McCook offense down the field before connecting with D.J. Gross on a seven-yard touchdown pass to make it 13-0 halfway through the second quarter.
Disaster would strike Hastings again, as their second play of the next series resulted in a fumble recovery by McCook. The Bison took over on the Hastings 26-yard line, but were forced to punt after a holding penalty took them out of field goal range.
McCook would make the most of its final drive in the half. Isaac Larson gave McCook good field position with a punt return to the Tigers' 43-yard line. Six plays later, Schlager found Jaret Matson on an eight-yard rollout pass to extend McCook's lead to three scores. Koetter's PAT was good, making it 20-0 with 0:47 left until halftime.
Once the second half started, the Bison stampede would not be stopped.
The third quarter saw McCook dominate time of possession. On the Bisons' opening series, McCook marched to the Hastings 16-yard line before Koetter missed a 34-yard field goal. That drive ate up nearly half the quarter.
On their next offensive series, McCook added to its lead with a seven-yard touchdown run by Cade Cappel. That capped a seven-play, 57-yard drive to make it 27-0 McCook with 1:29 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bison had one of its most explosive plays of the season on their next drive. Schlager hit Sam Smith in stride for a 56-yard touchdown pass at the 11:50 mark of the fourth quarter. Koetter's PAT made it 34-0 Bison. Schlager initiated the running clock when he added another score with a 2-yard touchdown run on McCook's next series to make it 41-0 with 5:27 remaining.
"Give credit to our offense too," Gross said. "We committed to the run and were able to wear them down and keep their offense off the field."
With second stringers in, the Bison would get one more score. Following a defensive fumble recovery, McCook would cap its scoring with a one-yard touchdown run by Seth Dugger with 2:26 left. Koetter's PAT would be good to round out the scoring at 47-0.
The McCook defense was dominant. The Bison held Hastings to less than 150 yards of total offense, despite the Tigers averaging nearly 380 per game.
"That first drive, we allowed 62 yards to Hastings, then we hold them to 42 the rest of the game," Gross said. "That just shows how well our defense did on Friday."
Of the Tigers' 11 offensive drives, five ended in punts, three more ended with turnovers, two were turnovers on downs, and one ended the first half.
"It seemed like Hastings carriers did a lot of 'peek-a-booing' rather than turn up the field and get yards," Gross said. "So I think our defensive reputation is starting to pay off, which is good to see."
On offense, the Bison flexed their muscles in the running game but also showed a deadly aerial assault. Schlager threw for 80 yards and two scores, while Gillen finished a perfect 5-for-5 on his attempts for 53 yards and a touchdown. Five different receivers caught passes, with Rogers having a team-high three receptions.
On the ground, Rogers finished with a game-high 103 yards on 22 carries. Schlager added 79 yards and two rushing scores, while Cappel had 69 yards and hit paydirt once. Gillen only had three carries, but finished with 41 yards.
McCook moves on to its final road game of the regular season with a trip to Holdrege in Week 8. The Dusters beat Lexington 28-20 to move to 2-5 on the season.
Box score
| * | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | Final |
| McCook | 7 | 13 | 7 | 20 | - | 47 |
| Hastings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 |
Scoring summary
1st Quarter
McCook: Schlager 6-yd run (Koetter PAT), 0:54
2nd Quarter
McCook: Gillen 6-yd pass to Gross (kick blocked), 6:30
McCook: Schlager 8-yd pass to Matson (Koetter PAT), 0:47
3rd Quarter
McCook: Cappel 6-yd run (Koetter PAT), 1:29
4th Quarter
McCook: Schlager 56-yd pass to Smith (Koetter PAT), 11:50
McCook: Schlager 2-yd run (Koetter PAT), 5:27
McCook: Dugger 1-yd run (kick blocked), 2:26
Team Stats
| * | McCook | Hastings |
| Total plays | 66 | 40 |
| Total yards | 429 | 102 |
| Passing yards | 133 | 77 |
| Rushing yards | 296 | 25 |
| First downs | 19 | 4 |
| Third downs | 10-14 | 1-10 |
| Fourth downs | 3-3 | 0-2 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 3 |
| Fumbles lost | 0 | 3 |
| Interceptions | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties | 3 | 2 |
| Penalty yards | 21 | 15 |
Individual Stats
Rushing -- MC: Rogers, 22-103; Schlager, 10-79; Cappel, 12-69; Gillen, 3-41; Bunger, 2-3; Dugger, 1-1; Klein, 1-0. HA: Pfeifer, 9-31; Cade, 1-7; Wilkie, 1-5; Laux, 3-(-1); Warrick, 1-(-1); Schmidt, 6-(-16).
Passing -- MC: Schlager, 3-8-80; Gillen, 5-5-53. HA: Schmidt, 8-12-77; Swoboda, 0-3-0.
Receiving -- MC: Smith, 1-56; Potthoff, 1-29; Rogers, 3-23; Matson, 2-18; Gross, 1-7. HA: Laux, 2-38; Cade, 3-15; Warrick, 1-12; Bender, 1-7; Schrock, 1-5.
Tackling -- Schlager, 8; Taylor, 8; Gross, 7; Rogers, 6; Langan, 6; Bradley, 6; Matson, 5; Sehnert, 3; Gillen, 3; Larson, 3; Potthoff, 2; Elsen, 2; four players with one tackle each.
Kick Returns -- MC: Fawver, 1-14. HA: Cade, 3-23; Laux, 2-25; rest of team, 2-0.
Punt Returns -- MC: 1-17; HA: team, 2-0.
Punting -- MC: Rogers, 2-82. HA: Synek, 4-132; Wilkie, 1-15.