During warmups, Coach Hild (pictured), other coaches and the student managers helped get the team ready for the night's game. Photo by Laura Elledge.
Wyatt Frey (9) follows Aidan Zikmund (3) around the end of the line for positive yardage. Photo by Laura Elledge.
. . . And then, the season ended!
The L-N Raider football team repeated a trip to Clarks, Nebraska, Thursday to play the High Plains High School (HP) in the first round game of the state 8-man football playoffs. Two weeks earlier HP won the regular season game 47 to 20. Last week a determined Raider team came up just short of two points in a 20 to 22 loss.
L-N put together a plan that cut HP's points to less than half of the last game, but penalties and HP's "big play" offense foiled the Raider effort for a 'come from behind' victory. The score by quarter:
L-N 0 6 0 14 - 20
H-P 6 0 8 8 - 22
L-N was called for three penalties and had one fumble in the first four minutes of the game, giving HP the first advantage on the scoreboard. The Raider defense stiffened and held HP on a 4th and 1 situation on the Raider 9 yard line. The Raider defense held HP's to only 8 yards of offense in the last half of this first period. 0-6.
Quarter No. 2: Again, the Raider defense stood up. On the first play of the 2nd period, HP had the ball on the Raider 21 yard line with a 4th and 3 situation. The Raiders stopped HP and took over the ball on their own 19 yard line. They moved the ball 60 yards to the HP six yard line, only to give up the ball on a fumble.
The Raider defense again came to play, holding HP and forcing a punt. L-N took over the ball on their own 22 yard line. It took just a little more than three minutes for L-N to drive the length of the field to score on a one yard dive by Wyatt Frey. The point after touchdown failed. This scoring drive included the only completed pass of the game for L-N. It was an 18 yard pass from Frey to Carter Griffis. The Raider defense again forced HP to punt just before the half. 6-6
Quarter No. 3: This was the frustrating period of L-N. Twice they had drives stopped with turnovers. The first was an interception and the second was a fumble picked up and ran almost the entire length of the field for a touchdown with 1:22 on the third period clock. 6-14
Quarter No. 4: L-N started a 65 yard scoring drive in the 3rd period and finished it on the first play of the fourth quarter when Frey found running room for a 39 yard touchdown jaunt. The point after touchdown failed: 12-14
Following the Raider kick off, HP took just three plays to score. The touchdown came on a 39 yard run. 12-22
L-N got the ball back with 10:35 left in the game and started a 60 yard drive and scoring on a 2 yard run by Frey who also ran the point after touchdown. 20-22.
HP fumbled the ball away to L-N with 2:32 left in the game, but the Raiders could not move the ball before giving up the ball on downs to end the game. 20-22.
HP won the scoreboard game, but a case could be made in "most" other aspects of the game against a team heavy with seniors. For example:
Total Offense: L-N 303 yds.; HP 158 yards.
First Downs: L-N 13; HP 5.
Penalties: L-N 30 yards; HP 45 yards
L-N had one mistake too many and that gave the game away.
Game statistics:
Rushing: Wyatt Frey 223 yards on 33 carries; Jack Williams 62 yards on 12 carries.
Passing: Frey 1 of 4 for 18 yards.
Receiving: Carter Griffis 1 for 18 yards.
Defensive statistics: Tackles (Assisted, Unassisted): Aiden Zikmund1-0 plus 1 for a loss; Wyatt 7-6 plus 2 for loss; Ace Wulf 4-0; Cody Brockman 3-5; Colton Menke 1-1; Jack Williams 8-5 plus 1 for loss; Grayhm Beck 1-1 plus 1 for loss; Carson Vaughn 0-1; Brrandt McLaughlin 2-0; Cooper Heikkinen 5-6 plus 3 for loss and 1 fumble recovery; Kole Thompson 2-0.
The season ends for L-N with a record of 5 wins and 4 losses. All four losses came from teams rated in the top ten Class D-2. The Raiders had four seniors on the team, but two missed most of the season because of injuries. As such, the 2024 team played many underclassmen with limited experience. A person could see the improvement of the team from the first games until the final showdown. Seniors finishing their high school football experience are: Aiden Zikmund, Cody Brockman, Carter Griffis and Carson Vaughn.
We join the community in thanking all the coaches for their guidance of this year's team.
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