Warriors End Regular Season With Win, Playoffs Next

After starting the season 1-4, Neligh-Oakdale has hit a hot streak just in time for the playoffs.

The Warriors have reeled off three-straight victories, including Friday's 50-14 win over Humphrey/Lindsey Holy Family.

Neligh-Oakdale got scores out of Hunter Charf and Andrew Herley in the first quarter to jump out to a 14-6 lead. In the second, Herley added two more scores to give the Warriors a 28-6 lead at the break.

In the third quarter, Charf found Austin Rice in the endzone for a 15-yard touchdown. Herley then pulled in an interception before the end of the frame to set Neligh-Oakdale up on the Bulldog 24. In the final quarter of the night, Herley added another score. Kaleb Pofahl hauled in an interception and Julien Hearn capped it all off with a 65-yard dash to bring the game to an end.

While the offense went on a scoring explosion, coach Ron Beacom credits his defense for their hot streak the last few weeks.

"I can't say enough about our play in the trenches. Over these last three games, we have really started to run the ball pretty well and we have held all three of those opponents below 100 yards rushing. You can win a lot of games when you dominate the line of scrimmage. Nate Buck, Tucker Knust, Kaleb Pofahl and Austin Rice have really done a tremendous job of moving people and creating holes and Andrew Herley as well as Hunter Charf are both really running with a lot of confidence. That same group as well as Colton Klabenes at linebacker have really made us a very stout run defense," said Beacom.

To be exact, that defense held the Bulldogs to just 179 total yards, including 94 on the ground. That defense was led by Klabenes, who finished the day with 12 tackles. They also pulled in the two interceptions and Charf recovered a fumble. 

Offensively, Herley was the man of the night, putting up 118 yards on the ground and 42 more receiving. His four touchdowns were a game high. Hearn added 91 yards on the ground and Charf added 76.