N-O Junior High Rallies Past Cyclones, Stays Perfect

A late fourth-quarter touchdown guided the Neligh-Oakdale football team to a 24-18 victory over Clearwater/Orchard last week.

The Warriors opened the game with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Aiden Kuester to Carson Whitesel. Kuester's two-point conversion run gave N-O an 8-0 lead.

Following a OC score, Kuester found Bryson Gadeken for a 53-yard touchdown to give the Warriors a 16-6 lead at the half.

Two third-quarter touchdowns by the Cyclones put OC ahead 18-16 heading into the final stanza.

The Warriors scored the game-winning drive with more than three minutes remaining in the contest, as Kuester connected on a 24-yard TD pass to Whitesel, then completed the two-point conversion with a pass to Landon Schrader.

Kuester led the offense with 85 yards rushing, 156 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. Whitesel caught three passes for 74 yards and two TDS, Gadeken recorded four catches for 51 yards and a score, Chase Furstenau had four-yards rushing and Austin Rudolf added two yards on the ground.

The Warriors' defense was led by Kuester with a team-best 15 tackles. Rudolf tallied nine tackles, Whitesel and Schrader collected five tackles each, Furstenau had two tackles, Gadeken and Trysten Coover each accounted for a tackle and Colson Krebs picked off a pass.

​Neligh-Oakdale (5-0) wraps up its regular season today at Warrior Field against Lutheran High Northeast at 4:30 p.m.