The Elkhorn Valley football squad cruised to its first win in over two years with a 56-0 shutout victory over Niobrara/Verdigre Friday evening.
“It feels really good, especially after the emotion that was spent in the loss to Elgin Public/Pope John (in week one),” said Elkhorn Valley coach Brendan Dittmer. “It feels good to have the emotion on the other end of it and feel what they (EPPJ) felt. It’s good to take the drama out of it, take care of business early and enjoy it.” The Falcons scored early and often throughout the contest. After turning the ball over on downs in its opening drive, Elkhorn Valley scored on its next eight drives to claim a 54-0 lead. "We had a real good prep and practice," stated Elkhorn Valley senior Brock Schaecher. "We did stuff we hadn't done before and we put in the hard work." Josh McFarland and Brayden Ollendick were a potent 1-2 punch rushing for five combined touchdowns in the first half. With under a minute remaining in the half, the Falcons drove 48 yards and ended the drive with a Ollendick scoring pass to Damien Knight to claim a 42-0 halftime advantage. McFarland opened the third quarter with a 21-yard TD run and the Falcons followed up with a 56-yard Schaecher touchdown scamper. After Elkhorn Valley turned the ball over in downs at Niobrara/Verdigre's one-yard line, Hunter Klinetobe broke through the line and tackled Trey Sucha in the end zone for a safety. The Falcons ran out the clock for their first win under Dittmer. "We haven't had this feeling in a long time," Schaecher said. "I knew coming into this season that these were a different set of boys that we haven't had in two and a half years. We had a good feeling coming into this game and we got it done." A big key to the win was field position. All but four of Elkhorn Valley's drives started inside Cougar territory. “Field position was huge in the first quarter,” Dittmer noted. “I told the guys jokingly that when we had the ball in the second quarter on the other end of the field, it is good to work on this because we hadn’t done it in a while. We had a methodical drive, but it was really good to have short field position and punch it in.” The Falcon defense was stifling in the win, giving up just 60 of total offense and holding the Cougars to -9 yards rushing. "We have been working a lot more of defense than we had," Schaecher said. "We used to split it up in days during the week, but this week we strongly worked on defense. We went over game plans, watched film, came up with a game plan and stuck with it tonight." The offense was explosive for Elkhorn Valley, recording nearly 350 yards of total offense. Ollendick went 11 of 13 passing for 121 yards and a TD and also rushed for 69 yards and two scores. McFarland ran for 87 yards and four touchdowns, while Schaecher had 81 yards of total offense and a TD. “It was really good to execute the way we did and still be able to spread the ball around so we could stay as balanced as we need to be,” Dittmer spoke. Niobrara/Verdigre (0-3) has a bye week next week and travels Creighton Sept. 21. Elkhorn Valley (1-1) hosts Osceola/High Plains Friday. “We have a tough test ahead of us with Osceola/High Plains,” Dittmer concluded. “They are a really good consolidated team. Down the road, this is going to keep us motivated. The biggest thing moving forward is that our practices will have more purpose to them. Our practices early have had purpose to them and this is a different team than we’ve had in the past. All the credit goes to them.” The Neligh-Oakdale football team picked up its first win of the season in dominating fashion with a 58-20 triumph over West Holt on Friday.
"I thought we executed better than we had the last couple of weeks," said N-O coach Ron Beacom. "Last week we did an awful lot of good things, but just kept killing ourselves with turnovers and putting ourselves in bad spots. Today we limited that and did a better job of getting on a roll and staying on a roll. Our kids did a good job of executing." Both quarterbacks found the end zone to start the contest, as the Warriors led 8-6 early. N-O then exploded for 38 unanswered points to take a 46-6 lead into the break. "We told the kids that was a young team and some of the kids they put out there were freshmen," Beacom said. "Their only high school experience was last week against Burwell, where they (Burwell) got after them. We told them to get after them and be physical. I thought we did that by taking the game to them." Hunter Charf threw three-straight touchdown passes - two to Austin Rice and one to Andrew Herley - to extend the Warriors' advantage. Herley then took over and rushed for three scores and more than 100 yards to end the first half. "In practice we kept running our plays and working on it," Herley stated. "We got everything down and kept practicing over and over. Everybody kept getting better and that's all we needed to do to get the job done." The Huskies fumbled on second play from scrimmage to open the second half and N-O made West Holt pay with a Herley touchdown run. The Huskies and Warriors exchanged scores to end the game. Tyler Larby scored on a one-yard plunge, then Brock Kester found Carson Jones for a six-yard score and Jakeem Brown ended the scoring with a 46-yard TD run. "We played better as a team and focused on ourselves more," Herley said. "We did our jobs, and only our jobs, and believed everyone else would do their's. We had more trust and that helped us out in the long run." The Warrior defense was big the win, causing four turnovers and turning those turnovers into 30 points. "The biggest thing was we got them (West Holt) to turn the ball over," noted Beacom. "We hadn't done that outside of a fourth-down fumble against Ainsworth, we hadn't had our opponent turn the ball over and we turned the ball over a lot ourselves. We we're more aggressive and we got after them up front. I credit that to Wednesday's practice. We told them we have to play better and practice harder. Our kids got after it and that made a big difference because we got more of a game speed look." Herley led the offense with more than 150 yards from scrimmage and five total touchdowns. Charf threw for 176 yards and three scores and Rice caught five passes for 101 yards and two TDs. "The o-line is doing pretty good and they stepped up their game tonight," Herley said. "I am thankful for that because it saved me from getting hit and bruised up. All together it's a team effort and we're not going to focus on one guy. We play for the team and I'm proud of everyone." Larby rushed for 94 yards and two scores, while Javin Klabenes ran for 88 yards for the Huskies. West Holt (0-3) travels to Clearwater to take on the Cyclones Thursday at 7 p.m. Neligh-Oakdale (1-2) has a bye week before returning to action Sept. 20 against Laurel-Concord-Coleridge at home. "We'll have a chance to heal even more next week," Beacom concluded. "We had a couple more kids out there this week and we had more depth. We could put more kids out there when other kids weren't feeling it. Getting everyone to a 100 percent will be big this week and watching film.' The EPPJ girls got back on the winning track Thursday night as they put away Boyd County in four sets to even up their record at 3-3 on the season.
In a dominating first set, the Wolfpack defeated the Spartans 25-16. The next three were a bit more challenging, but Elgin Public/Pope John came out on top in their home match—25-21, 22-25, 25-21. Kaylee Martinsen led the balanced attack, hammering down 8 kills. Harlie Bode added 7 kills, followed by Kirsten Krebs with 6, Haley Zegers with 4 and Kayce Kallhoff and Anna Heilhecker with 3 each. Heilhecker worked hard to keep balls from dropping on the Wolfpack side, picking up an impressive 29 digs on the night. Setting up the EPPJ hitters was Allyson Wemhoff, who tallied 30 set assists in the win. EPPJ will play again on Saturday, Sept. 8 when they travel to Howells-Dodge. After a perfect 4-0 start, Neligh-Oakdale was dealt two blows Thursday night, but the Warriors rebounded and overcame the obstacles to earn a split at home.
Hosting an orange-out in honor of Fullerton freshman Major Williams, who is battling leukemia, the Warriors opened the triangular with a 25-14, 25-22 loss to Burwell before coming back to top Fullerton 25-14, 16-25, 25-17. Warrior coach Hannah Hoefer said she was proud of the way her team found its way back after rearranging the rotation and positions when sophomore Aubrie Klabenes went out with an ankle injury midway through the second set of the night. Hoefer said losing a player in their rotation caused the Warriors to work together more as a team. “It was a mental challenge. They had to convince themselves that they could do that and work through the adversity,” she said. “They had to work outside of their comfort zone and put forth the effort to get through it.” Instead of its usual nine-player rotation, the Warriors switched to eight when Klabenes went down. Down 11-10 in the second set to an aggressive Burwell squad, the Warriors had difficulty hitting through the blocks, leading to their first loss of the season. Hoefer said the loss was tough for her team. They could have let the emotional drain lead to two-straight losses, but instead the Warriors played like an entirely different team in their second match. “I think it was a little bit of a wake-call for them,” Hoefer said. “In the lockerroom, we talked about how to bounce back from it. Do you fight or flight? This team came out fighting. The loss stung, and they didn’t want that feeling again. They had a fight response.” The first set was nearly even at 16-14 when Warrior junior Shelby Pitzer went on a nine-point serving run to close out the first set for the Warriors for the 25-14 win. After a strong finish, the Warriors saw several key errors keep them from stealing the momentum away from Fullerton in the second set, who dominated with a 25-16 win. The third set was a back-and-forth battle until the Warriors went on a late run. Setter Haley Kerkman connected with Trinity Kurpgeweit for a hard kill to the back of the court as it ricocheted into the home crowd for the 21-17 lead. Sophomore Claire Whitesel had back-to-back ace serves to give Neligh-Oakdale the 24-17 advantage. Fullerton ended the set with a hitting error past the back line. Hoefer said her team looked like an entirely different squad as she compared the two matches. “They played with more fire. That was missing in the first game, and I don’t know where it went. We were off. Our ball control wasn’t as great, and so was our decision making,” she said. “You’re going to have those nights, and it’s about how you rebound from that. They showed that they can do that.” Neligh-Oakdale, now 5-1 on the season, will travel to Randolph on Tuesday. The JV will play in a tournament Saturday in Orchard. They will play Boyd County at 10 a.m. and the OC Cyclones at 11 a.m. Burwell 25 25 Neligh-Oakdale 14 22 Neligh-Oakdale: Paige Furstenau 1a, 6d; Trinity Kurpgeweit 4k, 4d; Brooke Frey 2d; Amanda Dietz 7k, 1b, 2d; Shelby Pitzer 3k, 3d; Haley Kerkman 1k, 3d, 10sa; Claire Whitesel 2a; Kristen Snodgrass 11d, 1sa. Fullerton 14 25 17 Neligh-Oakdale 25 16 25 Stats not available at this time. OC seniors Julian Tuttle, Taylor Sanne, JoCee Johnston and Katie Stearns are ready for a fantastic finish to their high school volleyball careers.
Get to know the entire team here. With a large senior class full of experience, the Clearwater/Orchard football team has big expectations this season.
Seniors Jacob Long, Clay Thiele, Chris Kester, Blake Hoke, Ryan Wilhelm, Zach Kings, Tommie Peed, Donaven Nolze, Austin Pokorny, Jaccob Bennett, Tristian Ahlers and Codey Snider will lead the Cyclones on the gridiron this season Get to know the entire team here. Neligh-Oakdale's Cole Belitz shattered his own record by nearly 30 seconds Thursday, securing his spot as the fastest Warrior cross country runner in school history.
The senior runner, who set the school record on the same course at Butte last year, charged his way to the finish line in just 16:40 for first place, eclipsing his previous record of 17:08. The next fastest runner crossed in a time of 16:54. "It felt really good," Belitz said. "It was a nice, flat course with almost no wind so that really helped me out. There was also a good group of runners I was able to kind of pace off of for a little while, so that was nice too. My legs felt strong, and it just felt like a really good race to me." The Warriors were seeing gold all day as Emma Bixler started things off by winning the girls race in a time of 19:59. The next closest runner finished in 20:36. Coach Rick Eickholt said double golds made for a historic day. "We created a little Warrior history this afternoon with Cole and Emma both gaining meet championships," Eickholt said. "We've had individual meet championships, but never where both the boys and girls races were won by Neligh-Oakdale in the same meet so that's really kind of special." Sophomore Griffin Claussen was the only other boy to place in the speedy field of runners, finishing 14th in a time of 18:35. The boys team finished in third place behind team champions West Holt and second place Boyd County. "The boys competition was really solid," Eickholt said. "Griffin ran 30 seconds faster than what he ran here last year. He got 9th last year, and ran 30 seconds faster this year and got 14th." Hailey Bixler placed 13th to pick up the other medal in the girls race, crossing in a time of 24:58. "Overall I thought we competed real well," Eickholt said. "If we're going to move up, boys team-wise, we are going to need to look to improve especially in our middle section with our 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 runners. We've got to get better, but I'm not disappointed. We ran well today." The Warriors will host the Neligh-Oakdale Invitational at the Neligh's Antelope Country Club on Monday. The girls race will begin at 4:30 p.m., followed by the boys and junior high. Neligh-Oakdale results from the Boyd County Invite at Butte: Girls 1. Emma Bixler, 19:59 13. Hailey Bixler, 24:58 18. Sydney Olson, 28:55 Boys 1. Cole Belitz, 16:40 14. Griffin Claussen, 18:35 19. Christian Carothers, 19:20 20. Ashton Higgins, 19:32 23. Jose Luna, 19:56 26. Isaias Juarez, 20:15 31. Thomas Johnson, 21:09 40. Parker Tinsley, 29:09 Junior High 7. Rain Le - medalist 8. Malory Belitz - medalist 10. Brittany Olson - medalist 11. Tori Heckert 12. Abby Kerkman The Ewing volleyball team proved to be too much for Clearwater/Orchard, as the Lady Tigers came away with a 3-0 victory over OC Thursday in Niobrara Valley Conference action.
"We worked really hard this week on our passing," said Ewing coach Suz Funk, "We have a lot of versatile hitters and if we can pass the ball, it opens up a lot of options for us. Our passing was better, which opened up a lot of options for us." Despite the loss, the Lady Cyclone mentor saw a lot of positives on the court Thursday. "(I am) Extremely proud of how the girls came out and competed," said OC coach Sierra Summers. "We started the week off a bit on the rough side and we have completely bounced back. It was refreshing to see the girls come out and play together. Ewing is a great team and we hung right there with them." All three sets were back-and-forth struggles to start, but the Lady Tigers were able to score the early runs and take the lead. "That has been crucial for us," Funk said on gaining the early momentum. "We try to pursue every point, one at a time, and take advantage of our versatility on the floor." Ewing jumped out to a quick eight-point lead to open the match and held off numerous Lady Cyclones' rally attempt to win the first set, 25-19. After falling behind 5-3, the Lady Tigers went on a 20-9 run to claim a 23-14 advantage. OC cut into the lead, but the deficit was too much as Ewing captured the second set, 25-17. Ewing opened the third set with a 15-6 run, but the Lady Cyclones refused to quit, and drew to within six points, but the Lady Tigers won the set, 25-17, and the match. JoCee Johnston led OC with 13 kills, three blocks and two aces. Katie Stearns collected four kills, six digs and a block, Julian Tuttle recorded 16 assists, two kills and eight digs and Taylor Sanne pitched in two aces and seven digs. Ewing used a balanced attack to stay unbeaten on the year. Six different players recorded at least one kill, led by Tiana Thramer with 10 kills and two blocks. Ashley Koenig accounted for nine kills and two aces, Sidney Stallbaum tallied six kills and four blocks and Brenna Wagner had four kills, three blocks and two aces. "We have strived to have everybody be a threat on the floor," Funk noted. "We didn't do as much back-row attacks, which we're going to work on tomorrow, but we had options in the front row. Our middles were pulling the blockers, so they (OC) had to stay with us and couldn't go outside on us. They had to stay because they (Ewing middle hitters) were being a threat on the floor." Ewing (5-0) travels to Spalding Academy Monday. "We need to stay healthy and safe," Funk said. "We practice every day and work a little harder. We work different options to get them prepared for every team we meet. The NVC is huge, every night you have to be ready to go." Clearwater/Orchard (3-5) returns to the court Friday against Central Valley. "(We are) Working on staying consistent, playing competitively and always staying focused is still our main focus," Summers concluded. (We are) Looking forward to tomorrow's game." The Elgin Public/Pope John volleyball team salvaged a split on Tuesday at Stuart.
The Lady Wolfpack opened with a two-set victory over Stuart, 25-8 and 25-11. EPPJ was led by Kaylee Martinsen with six blocks, Allyson Wemhoff with 10 assists, Kayce Kallhoff with four kills, Haley Zegers with three kills, Grace Rittscher with eight digs and Anna Heilhecker seven digs. The Lady Wolfpack then dropped a hard-fought two-set match to Ewing, 25-20 and 25-23. Martinsen tallied five kills, Wemhoff recorded 14 assists, while Harlie Bode and Zegers accounted for four kills each. Elgin Public/Pope John (2-3) hosts Boyd County Thursday at 6:30 p.m. After dropping its first match of the evening against Boyd County, The Clearwater/Orchard volleyball team bounced back with a two-set win over Spalding Academy on Tuesday.
The Lady Cyclones battled all match, but fell to Boyd County in two sets, 25-23 and 29-27. OC responded with a 25-22 and 25-23 triumph over Spalding Academy. "Tonight had its ups and downs," stated OC mentor Sierra Summers. "We had a tough game against Boyd County, which ended up in a loss. We followed with another hard fought game against Spalding Academy, where we came out victorious. I am proud of the way the girls reset their focus and came better prepared. (I am) Looking forward to the rest of the games this week." Between the two matches, JoCee Johnston led the Lady Cyclones with 17 kills, 15 digs and three aces. Julian Tuttle accumulated 27 assists, three aces and 10 digs, Avery Cheatum had four aces and seven kills, while Taylor Sanne recorded seven kills and four aces. Clearwater/Orchard (3-4) hosts Ewing Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ![]() The Neligh-Oakdale volleyball team continued its hot start to the 2018 campaign with a big three-set victory over then undefeated Elkhorn Valley on Tuesday. "It was our first big test of the season and we were looking forward to it," said N-O coach Hannah Hoefer. "As a coach, you always wonder where the girls are and are they ready for a challenge. Before the game, that is the most ready I've seen Neligh-Oakdale. All nine of them wanted it, they had goals and they met those goals." The Lady Warriors jumped out to a quick 20-12 lead in the first set, but the Lady Falcons scored eight unanswered points to knot the set at 20. N-O ended the set on a 5-2 run to win the first. Once again the Lady Warriors had a huge lead, up 22-14, but EV rallied to make the second set close. N-O fended off the rally attempt to win the set, 25-22. It was all Lady Warriors in the third set, as Neligh-Oakdale cruised to a 25-13 set win, to win the match. "It's amazing," said N-O senior Kristen Snodgrass. "We all came in today wanting this win. We all knew we were going to try everything we can to get this win. Neligh-Oakdale (4-0) looks to stay unbeaten Thursday in its home tri-match starting at 5 p.m. Elkhorn Valley (4-1) travels to Niobrara and hopes to bounce back against Niobrara/Verdigre Thursday. Headed to the Neligh-Oakdale vs. Elkhorn Valley volleyball game tonight? Better dress appropriately.
Neligh-Oakdale fans are asked to dress in white for a white, and Elkhorn Valley fans are asked to dress in black for a black out. The C team will play at 5:30 p.m. with the junior varsity following. Varsity will play the third match of the night. ![]() Neligh-Oakdale showed its potential Friday night as the Warriors nearly pulled off a homecoming victory against Ainsworth. While turnovers plagued the Warriors in the first half, Neligh-Oakdale brushed off four early fumbles to have their chances late in the game. Down by two points and facing fourth-and-13 with 1:49 to play, senior Austin Rice motioned to quarterback Hunter Charf as he lined up on the left side, clearly wanting the ball. Charf took the snap from the shotgun and fell straight back for a pass. With Ainsworth junior Jon Ortner closing in, Charf rolled to his left, still eyeing the deep pass. Charf heaved the ball to Rice in the middle of the field for a 53-yard strike to give Neligh-Oakdale the lead with just 1:40 left in the game. As Rice jumped up and down in the endzone after the score, Charf was the first one across the goal line to congratulate him on the lead-changing reception. Despite the failed PAT, the Warriors held the 34-30 advantage as they gave the ball to Ainsworth with just 100 second left in the game. Ainsworth wasted little time, responding with a pass from Oren Pozehl to Gage Delimont as he floated it to the right sideline for a heartbreaking score to regain the lead and 38-34 advantage with about a minute left in the game. With the passing game clicking, Neligh-Oakdale immediately went back to the air and tried for the long ball as Charf nearly connected with Andrew Herley at the 8-yard line. Watching the clock, Charf went back to Rice for a short eight-yard pass. Rice went out of bounds to stop the clock Charf and Rice immediately connected again, this time on the opposite side of the field as Rice sprinted down the left sideline until he was pulled down and out-of-bound at the 13, giving Neligh-Oakdale a fresh set of downs with about 40 second left in the game. But despite four tries, the Warriors couldn’t convert and turned the ball over on downs after a last-ditch effort running the ball on fourth-and-10 with no receivers open in the endzone. Neligh-Oakdale started the game on fire as Charf scampered into the endzone on the first play of the game. The junior QB went 55 yards for the score. With the PAT, Neligh-Oakdale went up 8-0. The Warriors fumbled for the first time with 2:52 to play in the first quarter, giving Ainsworth the ball back on the Neligh-Oakdale 24. Ainsworth converted the turnover into points as Pozehl hit his target on the first play of the possession, tying the game at 8-all with 2:46 left in the first quarter. Neligh-Oakdale reclaimed the lead as Charf connected with Dempsey at the 20 yard. The sophomore receiver sprinted down the left sideline before cutting back to the middle to the open field for the touchdown and 14-8 led after the PAT failed. Ainsworth responded as Pozehl ran it in with just 34 seconds left in the first quarter. The Warrior defense held the Bulldogs on the PAT, keeping the score knotted at 14. The turnover bug continued attacking Neligh-Oakdale, but the defense responded to hold Ainsworth. Charf connected with Dawson Kaup late in the second quarter to give Neligh-Oakdale the 20-14 advantage. Just as the momentum switched to the Warriors, Ainsworth answered to take the 22-20 lead with a mere four ticks left in the first half. It didn’t take long for Neligh-Oakdale to regain the led in the third quarter. Charf handed the ball off to Dempsey as he shifted to the right and followed the sideline in for the 10-yard score with 7:32 left in the third. Hunter faked another handoff to Dempsey and ran the ball in himself for the two-point conversion as the Warriors regained the lead 28-22 in the third quarter. On fourth down at the five-yard line, Pozehl connected with junior Grant Stec as two Warrior defenders brought him down just a second too late, knotting the score at 28. Sloan Raymond then ran the ball in for the PAT, giving Ainsworth the two-point advantage just a few ticks in the final quarter. Neligh-Oakdale will be back in action on Friday for their second afternoon game of the season. The Warriors travel to Atkinson for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff against the Huskies on Friday, Sept. 7. Ainsworth (1-1) 14 8 0 16 - 38 Neligh-Oakdale (0-2) 14 6 8 6 - 34 The much anticipated matchup between state-ranked teams Creighton and Clearwater/Orchard lived up to hype Friday evening as both squads battled tooth and nail to the finish. In the end, the Bulldogs emerged victorious with a 50-44 victory over the Cyclones.
"We knew coming in that OC was going to play a very physical brand of football," said Creighton coach Zac Kliment. "We like to do the same and we like to run the ball. They came very prepared and hit hard right out of the gate. They put a test on us, but I was really proud how our kids responded. We stayed confident in the offense and kept the ball rolling. We had some young guys step in that haven't had a lot of (playing) time and they did a good job as well." "Of course we are disappointed in the loss," said OC mentor Jeff Shabram. "We had momentum going in the second half and right up until the end these boys believed they were going to win this football game. That's something we sometimes take for granted with these boys, but when you have a game like this tonight, you can sit back and appreciate their mentality. They fought hard in the second half. Creighton is a phenomenal team and we have to give them credit. They're No. 1 for a reason and we have to learn from this." Creighton jumped out to a 14-0 lead thanks to touchdown runs by Brayden and Bryce Zimmerer. On the ensuing kickoff, Eli Macke went 78 yards for a TD. Following Blake Hoke's interception of Brayden Zimmerer's pass, Chris Kester found the end zone on a one-yard scoring plunge and Jacob Long converted the two-point conversion to give the Cyclones a 16-14 lead. Bryce Zimmerer answered with three unanswered touchdown runs to give the Bulldogs a 20-point advantage at half. "We always preach to our kids that this is an offense that can score a lot of points if we play sound, assignment football," Kliment said. "When we get to the guys we're suppose to, that opens things up for guys like Bryce Zimmerer or Brayden (Zimmerer). I was excited to see tonight the kids on the field signaling different plays to me. They recognized the offense so well and know what's going to be there. Bryce called his own touchdown right before the half. He signaled it over to me and said it would be wide open, and it was. I love these kids." Creighton out rushed OC, 220-8, in the first half. "The last several years we've had one of the top defenses in the state, in terms of run defense," Kliment continued. "That comes from our d-line eating up a lot of blocks and letting our linebacker get free. Once we sure up the pass defense, we will be sound." It took the Cyclones just four plays to find the end zone to start the third, as Kester scored from 16 yards out. Neither team scored for the remainder of the third, but the Bulldogs jumped back up by 20 with Bryce Zimmerer's four-yard scoring run. Kester responded with a one-yard TD run on OC's next possession to come within 12, but the senior tailback for Creighton broke free for his sixth touchdown of the game on a 37-yard scamper. Trailing by 20 with 5:22 left, the Cyclones quickly got to work as Kester ran in his fourth TD with four minutes remaining to cut Creighton's lead to 14. Following a turnover on downs by the Bulldogs, Kester connected on a 65-yard scoring pass to Hoke. A successful two-point conversion brought OC within six, with a minute remaining. "That's their mentality," Shabram said on the team not giving up. "We've been here before, down big, but they keep fighting. We know if that happens to us again, we just learn from previous experiences and keep fighting. You have to give our players and coaches credit. Our assistant coaches did a nice job of making adjustments at halftime. Defensively and offensively, the second half was a nice half for us. We just ran out time." Creighton recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock to secure the victory. "We prepared well in practice for them (OC)," Bryce Zimmerer said. "We watched film on them and I don't want to say we underestimated them because they are ranked in D2. Give our linemen credit. They (OC) were sending seven or eight (defenders) all night. Our linemen held them off and we held on for the win. We got a little tired and we need to condition more in practice for sure, but they are ranked in D2 for a reason. They're a tough team, have a lot of good athletes and they're going to do really good in D2." After accumulating just 81 yards of offense in the first half, the Cyclones ended the game with 336 yards of total offense. Kester led OC with 210 yards passing and a touchdown, Kester also added 73 yards on the ground and four scores. Hoke caught four passes for 145 yards and a TD, while Clay Thiele recorded six catches for 69 yards. "We knew we were having a tough time controlling the line of scrimmage," Shabram noted. "Coming into the game, that was something we wanted to do and knew we had to, well it wasn't working. We're not going to beat our head against a brick wall. We made some adjustments. We have a lot of talent on offense and we knew if we could spread the ball around a little bit, we could move the ball. They did a nice job." The Bulldogs' running attack was all Creighton needed in the win. The Red and Black rushed for more than 350 yards, led by Bryce Zimmerer's 228 yards and six touchdowns. Brayden Zimmerer ran for 135 yards and a score. The junior quarterback threw just eight passes for 58, and did not attempt a pass in the second half. "Kudos to the linemen," Bryce Zimmerer stated. "Every play I had something to go with, unless they (OC) were blitzing their middle linebacker. If I got tackled in the backfield, it was by him. At halftime we fixed that and I don't think I got tackled behind the line in the second half. The linemen did an amazing job tonight." Creighton (2-0) takes a week off before returning to the field Sept. 14 at Homer. "We knew these first two games were going to be really tough," Kliment said. "Having this bye week is chance to heal up. After the bye week, we're basically starting a fresh, new season. We have to get rolling again and we play some teams that we're going to be confident going in. We have to make sure we get the most out of what we can going into those games." Clearwater/Orchard (1-1) has a bye week this week before traveling to Atkinson to play West Holt Sept. 14. "We have a long weekend here and then the bye week, there's going to be a lot of film study," Shabram concluded. "We need to see what we need to work on technique wise in practice. We'll work on that every day and we have a week to do that and get ready for West Holt after that." Clearwater/Orchard 16 0 6 22 - 44 Creighton 22 14 0 14 - 50 Clearwater/Orchard - Passing: Chris Kester 12-29-0 210 yards. Blake Hoke 3-10-1 47 yards Rushing: Chris Kester 16-73. Eli Macke 3-8. Jacob Long 5-7. Houston Marino 1-1. Blake Hoke 1-(-10) Receiving: Blake Hoke 4-145. Clay Thiele 6-69. Eli Macke 3-22. Jacob Long 2-21. Creighton - Passing: Brayden Zimmerer 5-8-1 58 yards Rushing: Bryce Zimmerer 34-228. Brayden Zimmerer 21-135. Thad Hazen 1-1. Conner Hammer 1-0. Clay Curtis 2- (-5) Receiving: Bryce Zimmerer 2-33 Travis Tyler 1-17. Thad Hazen 1-6. Conner Hammer 1-2 The Falcon runners started off their cross country season with an individual champion and third place team finish on Thursday in Wisner.
Sophomore Hunter Bennett won the varsity boys meet, crossing the finish line in 19:01 to lead the Elkhorn Valley team. Conner Klein placed 10th in the JV race with a time of 25:09. Coach Janet Rood was pleased with her team's performance in their first outing. "The boys team was only 3 points behind the 2nd place team, " Coach Rood said. EV will travel to Norfolk Catholic for their next meet on Friday, Sept. 7. Most of Neligh-Oakdale volleyball players were in elementary school the last time the Warriors bounced out to a 3-0 start to the season, making Thursday’s home sweep a step forward for the program.
“It’s a good feeling to start off 3-0. It’s been a while since Neligh-Oakdale done that,” coach Hannah Hoefer said. Playing on their home court for the first time this season, the Warriors defeated Santee 25-8, 25-12 before topping Boyd County 25-15, 25-20. Hoefer said her defense is hustling and picking up balls to keep plays alive. Senior libero Kristen Snodgrass had 29 digs on the night to lead all players on the court. “I’m very impressed with our defense. We really hustle on the court," she said. "We run a lot of 3-on-3 drills in our practice room, and that really helps bring it to the court. We’re playing balls to the back wall and not giving up pursuing these balls.” In the nightcap against Boyd County, the Warriors took control early and never lost that momentum. Neligh-Oakdale ended the first set with traditional 1-2-3 volleyball. Shelby Pitzer passed a Spartan serve to setter Haley Kerkman, who found Trinity Kurpgeweit at the net for the kill to go up 24-15. Claire Whitesel then ended the set with an ace serve. The second set was more of the same as Kerkman and Whitesel took turns setting the ball to an entourage of hitters in the front row. The match ended with a service error by the Spartans. Kerkman, who is also a setter in the 6-2 offense, lead the Warriors with nine kills and 13 set assists. Amanda Dietz had eight kills and three blocks. Against Santee, the Warrior trio of Kerkman, Pitzer and Dietz each put down five kills in the win. Kristen Snodgrass picked up a dozen digs while Kerkman and Claire Whitesel had 10 and eight set assists, respectively. “It’s all nine of them,” Hoefer said. “It’s not one person giving the effort. It’s really all nine hustling and contributing to the defensive side of the game.” The Warriors will face a big test next week as they travel to Tilden for an all-Antelope County matchup with Elkhorn Valley, which is also undefeated at 4-0. “We’re going to really focus on our offense next week,” Hoefer said. “We have to makes sure we keep our team chemistry on the court and stay focused.” Neligh-Oakdale 25 25 Boyd County 15 20 Neligh-Oakdale: Amanda Dietz 8k, 2b, 3d; Haley Kerkman 9k, 13sa, 4d; Shelby Pitzer 5k, 4d; Trinity Kurpgeweit 2k, 1a, 10d; Brooke Frey 1k, 1sa, 3d; Kristen Snodgrass 3sa, 17d; Paige Fustenau 5d; Claire Whitesel 8sa, 1a, 4d. Boyd County: Kalli Kayl 9k, 1b; Jacey Hilkemann 1b; Mariah Smalley 1k, 1a, 4d; Lauryn Hoffman 2k, 1sa; Audrey Mohr 2k; Alex Brestel 5sa, 1d; Hannah Drueke 6sa, 2d; Sydney Atkinson 7d; Heather Atkinson 1k, 3d. Neligh-Oakdale 25 25 Santee 8 12 Neligh-Oakdale: Amanda Dietz 5k; Haley Kerkman 5k, 10sa, 3a; Shelby Pitzer 5k, 1d; Brooke Frey 2k, 1d; Trinity Kurpgeweit 1a, 8d; Kristen Snodgrass 1a, 12d; Paige Furstenau 5d; Claire Whitesel 8sa, 5a. Boyd County 25 25 Santee 10 16 Boyd County: Kalli Kayl 4k, 4a; Jacey Hilkemann 2k; Mariah Smalley 1k, 1d; Lauryn Hoffman 1k, 1sa; Audrey Mohr 6k; Alex Brestel 5sa; Hannah Drueke 6sa, 2a; Sydney Atkinson 1a, 3d; Heather Atkinson 1k, 1d. The Elkhorn Valley volleyball team remained perfect on the season with a pair of two-set victories over Wausa and Winside Thursday.
The Lady Falcons opened the tri-match with a 25-21 and 25-21 win over Winside. Sierra Rystrom led the attack with seven kills and two blocks. Amber Miller and Hannah Ollendick each pitched in five kills. Miller added five aces and eight assists. In its second contest, Elkhorn Valley defeated Wausa, 25-17 and 25-21. Ollendick paced the Lady Falcons with eight kills and three aces. Miller recorded five kills and 10 assists, while Rystrom had four kills and three blocks. Haley Fleetwood and Olivia Nall each had two aces. Elkhorn Valley (4-0) hosts county rival Neligh-Oakdale Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in a battle of unbeatens. Winside 23 23 Elkhorn Valley 25 25 Elkhorn Valley: Olivia Nall 2k, 3d, 1sa; Haley Fleetwood 1b, 2d, 5sa; Amber Miller 5k, 5a, 4d, 1b, 8sa; Hannah Ollendick 5k, 1a, 1b, 5d, 1sa; Kaylee Bacon 1b, 4d; Sierra Rystrom 7k, 1a, 2b, 1d. Wausa 17 21 Elkhorn Valley 25 25 Elkhorn Valley: Olivia Nall 2k, 2a, 5d, 2sa; Haley Fleetwood 1k, 2a, 6sa, 6d; Amber Miller 5k, 10sa, 1a, 3d; Hannah Ollendick 8k, 5d, 1b, 3a; Kaylee Bacon 1k, 1a, 6d; Sierra Rystrom 4k, 3b, 5d, 1sa. The Clearwater/Orchard and Elgin Public/Pope John volleyball teams both salvaged splits on Thursday in a quad match with Stuart and Chambers Wheeler Central.
The final match of the evening featured the two county rivals as the Lady Wolfpack came away with a two-set win over OC, 25-15 and 25-19. "I'm very pleased with the girls' effort tonight," said EPPJ coach Tina Thiele-Blecher. "It was the second night of the season for games. Yeah it was a loss to CWC, but we gained so much momentum and learned so much from that game that's going to help us out in the long run. To turn around after a loss like that, in a game that could have went either way, and to come out on fire against OC was pretty big. I'm proud of the girls and it's always nice to get that first W. We're going to keep moving up from here." EPPJ pulled away in the middle of the opening set, scoring seven of the next 10 points to take a 13-8 advantage. The Lady Cyclones came back to cut the lead to three, but the Lady Wolfpack ended the set on a 10-4 run to capture the first set. OC jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead in the second set thanks to four EPPJ errors and an Avery Cheatum kill. Ally Wemhoff capped an 11-3 run with a kill, putting EPPJ ahead 12-8. Two JoCee Johnston kills and a Cheatum kill reclaimed the lead for OC, but once again the Lady Wolfpack surged at the end of the set to win. "It's always fun to play people in our county," Wemhoff said. "It was a well fought game. After that first game we were a little fatigued and it showed in our serves. We'll work on that tomorrow. Give credit to OC, they played real well and it was a real fun game." Haley Zegers led the Lady Wolfpack with five kills. Kirsten Krebs tallied three kills, while Wemhoff, Kayce Kallhoff and Harlie Bode each had two kills. Kaycee Martinsen tallied two blocks and Wemhoff added 12 assists. Errors were costly throughout the match for the Lady Cyclones, as the Green and Black committed 29 errors between the two sets. Johnston pitched in seven kills and Cheatum recorded four kills. Katie Stearns accounted for eight digs and Julian Tuttle accumulated 13 assists. The Lady Cyclones opened the day with a two-set victory over Stuart. Numerous runs helped OC win the first set, 25-13. Stearns capped a 10-3 run with a kill, putting the home squad ahead 12-5 to start the set. After the Lady Broncos cut the deficit to six, OC scored the next five points and took the first set thanks to a Cheatum ace. Stuart rallied from an early deficit to take a 14-11 advantage, following a 7-1 run, in the second set. The Lady Cyclones responded with a run of their own, scoring 14 of the final 20 points to win the set, 25-20, and the match. Johnston led the way for OC with nine kills and two aces. Tuttle contributed 20 assists, four aces and a kill, while Cheatum added 12 digs, five kills and an ace. Stearns and Taylor Sanne each recorded four kills. In game two, CWC swept Stuart in two sets, 25-18 and 25-9. The Lady Renegade followed their sweep with a hard-fought three-set triumph over Elgin Public/Pope John. CWC got off to a hot start in the first set, taking a 13-6 lead and cruised to a 25-16 win. The second set was a back-and-forth battle to open. Martinsen grabbed the early momentum with two-straight aces, giving the Lady Wolfpack a 15-13 advantage. CWC clawed back to tie the game at 23, but two kills by Krebs won the set for EPPJ. "The first set was kind of ugly," Wemhoff recalled. "We needed the momentum on our side, but we couldn't get it in that first set. In the second set, we started to get it and we started attacking. We stopped playing afraid and I told the girls 'Don't be afraid to make a mistake, that's why we're out here. Nobody is going to get mad at you for making a mistake.' In the third set, we battled hard, but things didn't go our way. It was a fun game and CWC played hard too." Once again both squads battled for the early momentum, however it was the Lady Renegades who claimed it with a 9-3 run. The Lady Wolfpack refused to quit and rallied to cut the deficit to one on two separate occasions, but EPPJ never completed the comeback as CWC won the final set, 25-21, and the match. "We've been preaching that volleyball is such a game of momentum and a mental game," Thiele-Blecher said. "That first set we were running a new rotation and switched it up from last Thursday. I wished we would have came out a little stronger, but it takes a little bit to get settled down and play like that. We came in that second set and we didn't give up." Four different EPPJ players had at least three kills, led by Kallhoff and Krebs' six kills. Martinsen had four and Zegers accumulated three kills and three blocks. Martinsen and Anna Heilhecker each tallied three aces, and Wemhoff recorded a double-double with 11 digs and 16 assists. Heilhecker also had 20 digs in the match. "It's always fun when the girls start getting confidence," Wemhoff said. "It's nice to know I can set to anyone of them and I can trust them with the ball. Anna (Heilhecker) even got some back-row attacks and some girls in the back row contributed. We did really good tonight and it was fun." Clearwater/Orchard (2-3) welcomes Ewing to Orchard Thursday at 5 p.m. Elgin Public/Pope John (1-2) hosts Boyd County Thursday at 6:30 p.m. "Even though the first game was a loss, that mental game is going to help us," Thiele-Blecher concluded. "We got tough games next week. Hopefully that confidence continues from things that happened tonight. A couple of girls started swinging at the ball, our serve receive is getting better and hopefully their confidence keeps going." Stuart 13 20 Clearwater/Orchard 25 25 OC: Avery Cheatum 5k, 1a, 12d, 1sa; Katie Stearns 4k, 1a, 4d; Julian Tuttle 1k, 4a, 5d, 20sa; JoCee Johnston 9k, 2a, 1b, 8d, 2sa; Brooke Kneival 1a, 3d; Taylor Sanne 4k, 1a, 2d. Elgin Public/Pope John 16 25 21 Chambers Wheeler Central 23 23 25 EPPJ: Haley Zegers 3k, 3b, 7d; Kaylee Martinsen 4k, 3a, 7d, 1b; Kayce Kalhoff 6k, 2d, 1sa; Harlie Bode 1k, 4d, 1b; Kirsten Krebs 6k, 1b, 5d; Allyson Wemhoff 1a, 16sa, 11d; Anna Heilhecker 3a, 20d; Grace Rittscher 2d; Ally Selting 5d. Elgin Public/Pope John 25 25 Clearwater/Orchard 15 19 EPPJ: Haley Zegers 5k, 1b, 3d; Kaylee Martinsen 1k, 1a, 2b, 2d; Kayce Kalhoff 2k, 4d, 1sa; Harlie Bode 2k, 2d; Kirsten Krebs 3k, 2d; Allyson Wemhoff 2d, 2k, 1b, 12 sa; Anna Heilhecker 1k, 3d; Grace Rittscher 3d; Ally Selting 1k, 3d. OC: Avery Cheatum 4k, 2d; Katie Stearns 1a, 8d, 1sa; Julian Tuttle 1k, 3d. 13sa; JoCee Johnston 7k, 3d; Brooke Kneival 3d; Taylor Sanne 3k, 3d. Tall, flowing grasses cover the rolling hills sprinkled with yellow wildflowers. The Niobrara State Park paints a picturesque view and serves as one of the most beautiful backdrops for one of the season’s toughest cross country courses.
The Warriors attacked those hills and came away with 11 medalists, including one meet champion. “I thought both boys and girls competed really well,” Coach Rick Eickholt said. “We ended up with the overall runner up with Emma in the girls race and the boys champion was Cole. That puts Cole in kind of a rare group of company. I think he’s only the second boy that we’ve ever had that’s won an individual meet championship. So that’s pretty special.” Cole Belitz won the varsity boys race in a time of 18:07, leading the Neligh-Oakdale boys to a runner up finish in the team standings. Other boys varsity runners earning medals were Griffin Claussen, 8th, 19:50; Christian Carothers, 11th, 20:08 Cameron Wilkinson, 13th, 20:20; and Ashton Higgins, 14th, 20:35. Boys JV runners earning medals were Thomas Johnson, 2nd, 21:42; Logan McConnell, 3rd, 22:30 and Isaias Juarez, 4th, 22:52. “Team-wise I think we competed well,” Eickholt said. “We ended up in the runner up position behind a really good Osmond team. We’ve got some things to work on. We performed well.” For the girls varsity, Emma Bixler earned 2nd place, crossing the finish line in 21:57. Hailey Bixler picked up the 13th place medal in 27:04 and Sydney Olson medaled 20th with a time of 34:08. The next Neligh-Oakdale cross country meet will be held at the Butte Golf Course next Thursday, Sept. 6 when they compete in the Boyd County Invite. The girls race is set to begin at 4:15 p.m. I’m pleased with everybody’s performance,” the coach said. “There are things that we can improve, but I thought for our first meet, things went really, really well.” Five seniors lead the Elkhorn Valley football team this fall. They are Josh McFarland, Brock Schaecher, Prestin Vondra and Christian Yaw
Get to know the entire team here. Class: D1
Coach: Brendan Dittmer 2017 record: 0-8 2017 playoffs: N/A Returning letter winners: Josh McFarland Sr., Braedyn Ollendick So., Adam Miller So., Brock Schaecher Sr., Caden Reikofski So., Prestin Vondra Sr. Players to watch: Carter Rautenberg Fr. 2018 outlook: “We’re the only eight-man football team with only 11 (players) out. More six-man teams can easily field more participants than my team.” Coach Brendan Dittmer Our take: The Elkhorn Valley gridiron squad hopes to give Dittmer his first win as the head mentor during the upcoming year. Once again, numbers are an issue for the Falcons, but with returners filling six of the eight starting spots; the Falcons expect to take a step forward this season. Class: D1
Coach: Emily Vaughn 2017 record: 17-13 2017 playoffs: District champions Returning letter winners: Amber Miller Sr., Hannah Ollendick Sr., Sierra Rystrom Sr., Liv Nall Jr., Haley Fleetwood Jr., Kaylee Bacon Jr. Players to watch: Alyssa Maughan 2018 outlook: “We will be a senior-led group with several returning starters. We hope to improve our record from last season and compete at a high level from start to finish. They worked really hard in the offseason, so practices have been competitive.” Coach Emily Vaughn Our take: Elkhorn Valley is out to prove its run to the state tournament was not a one year deal. With several quality returners and a promising freshmen class, the Lady Falcons believe they can compete at a high level year in and year out. Lady Falcon senior Sierra Rystrom, Amber Miller and Hannah Ollendick have big goals set for the 2018 volleyball campaign.
Get to know the entire team here. Elkorn Valley senior Senior Kimberly Frey will help lead the Lady Falcon girls golf team on the course this season.
Get to know the entire team here. Six seniors lead the Neligh-Oakdale cross country team this fall. They are Cole Belitz, Christian Carothers, Cameron Wilkinson, Logan McConnell, Dallas Snyder and Jose Luna.
Get to know the entire team here. |
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