Warriors Establishing Dominance In First Two Weeks Of 2016

A week after putting up 72 points on a tough Creighton squad, the Neligh-Oakdale Warriors duplicated the feat to go 2-0 in dominating fashion.

Playing on the road Friday night in Macy, the Warriors routed previously undefeated Omaha Nation 72-12, putting up the exact same amount of points as in their first game of the season. Neligh-Oakdale ­­— ranked fifth in the state Class D1 by the Omaha World-Herald ­­­— has now scored 144 points in just two games and looks to take its perfect record into an All-Antelope County matchup next week during Clearwater-Orchard’s homecoming.

“It was a really good game for us to continue to develop some depth. Our older kids started the game very focused and made a lot of plays. That allowed the younger kids to get some quality minutes and show what they were capable of doing,” Beacom said.

The Warriors scored 42 unanswered points to start the game Friday and didn’t allow an Omaha Nation score until the third quarter. Neligh-Oakdale rushed for 189 yards and passed for another 182 as senior Grant White and freshman Hunter Charf split quarterback duties after the Warriors had the game well in hand. White was a perfect 5-of-5 for 139 yards while Charf was 4-of-10 for 43 yards.

Senior Pepper Marchant kicked off scoring with a 9-yard touchdown before White connected with classmate Chris Bentley for a 35-yard bomb. The two connected again at the start of the third quarter for a 17-yard score.

Senior Tyson Belitz had four receptions for 47 yards and one touchdown. Marchant had one reception for 44 yards and sophomore Jayden Arehart had two for 29 yards.

On the ground, sophomore Andrew Herley had four touches for a team-high 61 yards. Arehart ran for 49 yards on three attempts, and freshman Kaleb Pofahl added 39 yards on three runs.

Defensively, sophomore Austin Rice led the Warriors with 14 tackles while Marchant had 12, including six solo tackles. Belitz accounted for 11 tackles, and senior Clayton Anderson had 10 tackles.

Senior kicker Damon Arehart had eight touchbacks on 11 attempts, averaging over 46 yards per kick.

“Both defensively and offensively, we seemed to progress from the first week. That’s ultimately the goal,” Beacom said. “We talk about playing a faceless opponent. It’s about are we better than we were yesterday. When we can answer yes, it doesn’t matter who we are playing or the outcome.”

The Friday, Sept. 9, games will be a marathon night with volleyball starting in Orchard at 4 p.m. with football afterward.