Sports Video - End Zone Interception
WATCH THIS! On third and goal for Elkhorn Valley Schools, Aiden Kuester (1) somehow comes up with the interception. At 8:14, Neligh-Oakdale Schools gets the ball back.
Warriors Top Falcons In Friday Night Thriller
It felt like a three-hour movie. With an interception off a teammate’s back in the end zone, the sprinklers coming on late in the fourth quarter and multiple lead changes, Neligh-Oakdale and Elkhorn Valley’s football game was full of suspense.
Oh, and it was also homecoming, where quarterback Aiden Kuester was crowned king after leading the Warriors to the 50-30 win.
“We know we have to be prepared every time,” Neligh-Oakdale coach Ron Beacom said after the game. “Elkhorn Valley did a lot of nice things. They had a good plan and early on really gave us some trouble. We practiced well but didn’t look terribly focused. It’s a tough week with homecoming.”
Elkhorn Valley coach Brandon Black said he told his team to be prepared for a battle Friday night. After all, he said Neligh-Oakdale is a Beacom team.
“I told the boys that Ron Beacom is the best coach we’ll see all year. That’s nothing against the other coaches — he’s just the best,” Black said. “And this was a really physical football game for both side. Elkhorn Valley and Neligh-Oakdale have made a great rivalry, and that helps lead to a great game. All of the kids were jazzed up and ready to play.”
Down 30-28 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Warriors faced fourth down in the red zone. That’s when senior quarterback Aiden Kuester connected with Chase Firstenau for a 12-yard score, stealing the lead for the final time.
Feeding off of the offense, the Warrior defense forced the Falcons to go three-and-out, which turned out to be a game-changer for the Warriors. With the ball back, Neligh-Oakdale wasted little time and scored on their first play, hitting Furstenau for the 35-yard touchdown.
Down 42-30 in the fourth quarter, Elkhorn Valley wasn’t giving up. The Falcons found themselves on the five-yard line and ready to score. Nitz threw a pass to Carter Werner, but Carson Whitesel got a hand on the ball and knocked it behind them and onto the back of Colson Krebs. Kuester dove through the air and plucked it off Krebs’s back and lifted the ball into the air to show off his interception in the end zone with 8:43 left in the game.
About 2½ hours into the game, the Warriors weren’t finished yet. Furstenau, who finished with 138 yards on 8 catches, scored his third touchdown of the night, sprinting 53 yards. Neligh-Oakdale went up 50-30 with 7:53 to play and finished with 664 yards of total offense, including 382 passing.
“Chase did a couple of really nice things on our screen game, especially since their answer to our run game was to move that linebacker in. It was working like crazy, so we had to get something going on the perimeter,” Becom said. “Chase is pretty fast. He’s like all of them, I’d like to see that every day. I’d like to see him block when we need him to block and wrap all those things together. But he certainly made things happen when he had the ball in his hands.”
The game started with a big defensive stand for the Falcons. With the Warriors in the red zone, Elkhorn Valley forced the turnover on downs and quickly used it to take the early momentum as Mason Nitz found Nate Decker for a huge run down the sideline. Elkhorn Valley had the early 8-0 lead.
Black said the game, which was the talk of social media for days, really doesn’t impact the confidence of his players.
“I don’t think we’re any more or any less confident. These are confident kids,” he said. “They know we have potential; we just have to finish. They are ready to work and ready to learn. Once we get more disciplined, we’re going to grow and come out and on the winning side.”
Down 8-0 to the Falcons, the Warriors responded immediately as Kuester scored 90 minutes later. But with the failed PAT, the Falcons held the 8-6 advantage with 4:55 left in the first quarter. The Nitz-Decker combination proved dangerous early int he second quarter. Just 42 seconds into the quarter, Nitz found a wide open Decker for the 52-yard score as the Falcons took a 14-6 advantage.
As was the story of the game, Neligh-Oakdale turned around 16 seconds later as Kuester, who was 18-of-33 for 382 yards through the air, connected with Bryson Gadeken to put the ball on the 3-yard line. Whitesel ran the ball in on the next play to close the gap to 14-12.
Whitesel scored again four minutes later as the Warriors took their first lead of of the game. The senior hauled in a 59-yard catch to put Neligh-Oakdale up 20-14.
As things looked to slow down in the third quarter, the Falcons remained fired up. Nitz tossed the ball to his left to a waiting Mavrick Hagemann at the five-yard line. The junior plowed through the Warriors as Elkhorn Valley regained the lead, 22-20 with 8:39 to play.
“Our runningbacks have stepped up, and Mason Nitz really got into a rhythm throwing the ball. Our speed on the outside helped us get separation for him to make some throws,” Black said. “And Mav ran the ball well. He’s become much more patient as a runner. With him and Trevis Halsey having awesome routes and Carter Werner with good possession catches, we were doing nice things on offense.”
With the momentum shift, Hagemann — who ran for 105 yards — took the ball on the next possession and broke loose for a 40-yard scamper into the end zone three minutes later. Elkhorn Valley held a 30-20 lead.
The Warrior offense proved tough to stop. Marching down the field, Kuester ran the ball in with 3:40 left in the third quarter to pull within 30-28. Elkhorn Valley held onto the lead until the fourth quarter when Neligh-Oakdale went on a 22-0 run.
Beacom said he’s happy with how the season has gone for the Warriors, who are now 4-0 and lead their district. Even though Elkhorn Valley put up nearly 500 yards of offense, including 249 through the air, he’s not overly concerned with his pass defense.
“We got what we wanted to our of our pre-district schedule. We had people who were very faithful running the ball, and we wanted to make sure we could withstand that, mostly that’s kind of what knocked us out of the playoffs the last couple of years,” he said. “We’re probably a little more focus on that than our pass defense.”
The Falcons will host Summerland on Friday while Neligh-Oakdale will travel to Plainview.
Elkhorn Valley 8 6 16 0 -- 30
Neligh-Oakdale 6 14 8 22 -- 50
Elkhorn Valley
Passing: Mason Nitz 22-35 249. Totals: 22-35 249.
Rushing: Mason Nitz 21 68; Nate Decker 1 47; Mavrick Hagemann 18 105; Trevis Halsey 3 2. Totals: 43 222.
Receiving: Nate Decker 5 87; Trevis Halsey 10 78; Dawson Hansen 1 16; Carter Werner 5 61; Korbin Werner 1 7;. Totals: 22 249.
Tackles: Nate Decker 4; Kellyn Ollendick 8; Mason Schaffer 3; Mavrick Hagemann 5; Trevis Halsey 15; Nate Halsey 4; Carter Werner 10; Korbin Werner 3; Kody Qualset 2. Totals: 58
Neligh-Oakdale
Passing: Aiden Kuester 18-33 382. Totals: 18-33 382.
Rushing: Aiden Kuester 25 196; Carson Whitesel 2 15; Bryson Gadeken 8 51. Totals: 35 262.
Receiving: Carson Whitesel 1 59; Bryson Gadeken 9 185; Chase Furstenau 8 138. Totals: 382.
Tackles: Aiden Kuester 20; Carson Whitesel 12; Colson Krebs 7; Bryson Gadeken 13; Levi Drueke 18; Austin Rudolf 12; Chase Furstenau 1; Corbin Hoefer 2; Chase Thomas 8; Landyn Schrader 5; Cameron Schindler 1. Totals: 99.
Oh, and it was also homecoming, where quarterback Aiden Kuester was crowned king after leading the Warriors to the 50-30 win.
“We know we have to be prepared every time,” Neligh-Oakdale coach Ron Beacom said after the game. “Elkhorn Valley did a lot of nice things. They had a good plan and early on really gave us some trouble. We practiced well but didn’t look terribly focused. It’s a tough week with homecoming.”
Elkhorn Valley coach Brandon Black said he told his team to be prepared for a battle Friday night. After all, he said Neligh-Oakdale is a Beacom team.
“I told the boys that Ron Beacom is the best coach we’ll see all year. That’s nothing against the other coaches — he’s just the best,” Black said. “And this was a really physical football game for both side. Elkhorn Valley and Neligh-Oakdale have made a great rivalry, and that helps lead to a great game. All of the kids were jazzed up and ready to play.”
Down 30-28 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Warriors faced fourth down in the red zone. That’s when senior quarterback Aiden Kuester connected with Chase Firstenau for a 12-yard score, stealing the lead for the final time.
Feeding off of the offense, the Warrior defense forced the Falcons to go three-and-out, which turned out to be a game-changer for the Warriors. With the ball back, Neligh-Oakdale wasted little time and scored on their first play, hitting Furstenau for the 35-yard touchdown.
Down 42-30 in the fourth quarter, Elkhorn Valley wasn’t giving up. The Falcons found themselves on the five-yard line and ready to score. Nitz threw a pass to Carter Werner, but Carson Whitesel got a hand on the ball and knocked it behind them and onto the back of Colson Krebs. Kuester dove through the air and plucked it off Krebs’s back and lifted the ball into the air to show off his interception in the end zone with 8:43 left in the game.
About 2½ hours into the game, the Warriors weren’t finished yet. Furstenau, who finished with 138 yards on 8 catches, scored his third touchdown of the night, sprinting 53 yards. Neligh-Oakdale went up 50-30 with 7:53 to play and finished with 664 yards of total offense, including 382 passing.
“Chase did a couple of really nice things on our screen game, especially since their answer to our run game was to move that linebacker in. It was working like crazy, so we had to get something going on the perimeter,” Becom said. “Chase is pretty fast. He’s like all of them, I’d like to see that every day. I’d like to see him block when we need him to block and wrap all those things together. But he certainly made things happen when he had the ball in his hands.”
The game started with a big defensive stand for the Falcons. With the Warriors in the red zone, Elkhorn Valley forced the turnover on downs and quickly used it to take the early momentum as Mason Nitz found Nate Decker for a huge run down the sideline. Elkhorn Valley had the early 8-0 lead.
Black said the game, which was the talk of social media for days, really doesn’t impact the confidence of his players.
“I don’t think we’re any more or any less confident. These are confident kids,” he said. “They know we have potential; we just have to finish. They are ready to work and ready to learn. Once we get more disciplined, we’re going to grow and come out and on the winning side.”
Down 8-0 to the Falcons, the Warriors responded immediately as Kuester scored 90 minutes later. But with the failed PAT, the Falcons held the 8-6 advantage with 4:55 left in the first quarter. The Nitz-Decker combination proved dangerous early int he second quarter. Just 42 seconds into the quarter, Nitz found a wide open Decker for the 52-yard score as the Falcons took a 14-6 advantage.
As was the story of the game, Neligh-Oakdale turned around 16 seconds later as Kuester, who was 18-of-33 for 382 yards through the air, connected with Bryson Gadeken to put the ball on the 3-yard line. Whitesel ran the ball in on the next play to close the gap to 14-12.
Whitesel scored again four minutes later as the Warriors took their first lead of of the game. The senior hauled in a 59-yard catch to put Neligh-Oakdale up 20-14.
As things looked to slow down in the third quarter, the Falcons remained fired up. Nitz tossed the ball to his left to a waiting Mavrick Hagemann at the five-yard line. The junior plowed through the Warriors as Elkhorn Valley regained the lead, 22-20 with 8:39 to play.
“Our runningbacks have stepped up, and Mason Nitz really got into a rhythm throwing the ball. Our speed on the outside helped us get separation for him to make some throws,” Black said. “And Mav ran the ball well. He’s become much more patient as a runner. With him and Trevis Halsey having awesome routes and Carter Werner with good possession catches, we were doing nice things on offense.”
With the momentum shift, Hagemann — who ran for 105 yards — took the ball on the next possession and broke loose for a 40-yard scamper into the end zone three minutes later. Elkhorn Valley held a 30-20 lead.
The Warrior offense proved tough to stop. Marching down the field, Kuester ran the ball in with 3:40 left in the third quarter to pull within 30-28. Elkhorn Valley held onto the lead until the fourth quarter when Neligh-Oakdale went on a 22-0 run.
Beacom said he’s happy with how the season has gone for the Warriors, who are now 4-0 and lead their district. Even though Elkhorn Valley put up nearly 500 yards of offense, including 249 through the air, he’s not overly concerned with his pass defense.
“We got what we wanted to our of our pre-district schedule. We had people who were very faithful running the ball, and we wanted to make sure we could withstand that, mostly that’s kind of what knocked us out of the playoffs the last couple of years,” he said. “We’re probably a little more focus on that than our pass defense.”
The Falcons will host Summerland on Friday while Neligh-Oakdale will travel to Plainview.
Elkhorn Valley 8 6 16 0 -- 30
Neligh-Oakdale 6 14 8 22 -- 50
Elkhorn Valley
Passing: Mason Nitz 22-35 249. Totals: 22-35 249.
Rushing: Mason Nitz 21 68; Nate Decker 1 47; Mavrick Hagemann 18 105; Trevis Halsey 3 2. Totals: 43 222.
Receiving: Nate Decker 5 87; Trevis Halsey 10 78; Dawson Hansen 1 16; Carter Werner 5 61; Korbin Werner 1 7;. Totals: 22 249.
Tackles: Nate Decker 4; Kellyn Ollendick 8; Mason Schaffer 3; Mavrick Hagemann 5; Trevis Halsey 15; Nate Halsey 4; Carter Werner 10; Korbin Werner 3; Kody Qualset 2. Totals: 58
Neligh-Oakdale
Passing: Aiden Kuester 18-33 382. Totals: 18-33 382.
Rushing: Aiden Kuester 25 196; Carson Whitesel 2 15; Bryson Gadeken 8 51. Totals: 35 262.
Receiving: Carson Whitesel 1 59; Bryson Gadeken 9 185; Chase Furstenau 8 138. Totals: 382.
Tackles: Aiden Kuester 20; Carson Whitesel 12; Colson Krebs 7; Bryson Gadeken 13; Levi Drueke 18; Austin Rudolf 12; Chase Furstenau 1; Corbin Hoefer 2; Chase Thomas 8; Landyn Schrader 5; Cameron Schindler 1. Totals: 99.
