RECAP: Westside routs Lincoln Northeast, stays undefeated in district play

With senior Mitch Schenkelberg (27 carries for 213 yards and four touchdowns) leading the charge, Westside’s offense picked up 331 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns (after having none through the first three games) to beat the Lincoln Northeast Rockets 55-14 in a district matchup at Phelps Field Friday, Sept. 19.

Schenkelberg got the Warrior scoring started in what is Westside’s highest scoring total of the season. The power back scored Westside’s first four touchdowns, two in each of the first two quarters, putting Westside up 27-0 with 5:38 remaining in the first half (Westside missed an extra point on his third touchdown).

“[Schenkelberg] just runs hard,” head coach Brett Froendt said. “He’s the hammer, and he did a great job.”

Westside headed to half leading 34-0 after junior Grant Jordan intercepted Lincoln Northeast quarterback Braly Keller (14-30 for 116 yards and a score), who played in place of injured starter Trevor Petersen. Jordan, covering a receiver, stepped in front of a slant route before finding a whole and ultimately daylight down the left sideline for the score.

After the half, the Rockets got on the board. On Westside’s first possession of the second half, Schenkelberg fumbled the ball at the Lincoln Northeast 40-yard line. Lincoln Northeast recovered, returning the ball to the Westside 48-yard line. Lincoln Northeast’s drive stalled, but on the ensuing punt from the Westside 43-yard line, junior Braxton Anderson muffed the catch at the Westside 18-yard line and the Rockets recovered. Lincoln Northeast running back Tivon Phillips (15 carries for 42 yards and a score) carried the ball 18 yards for the score on the next play, leaving Westside up 34-7 with 7:42 remaining in the third quarter.

Westside responded, putting together a six-play, 51-yard drive capped off by a one-yard touchdown pass from junior Mitchell Hagan (9-13 for 126 yards and a score) to senior Forrest McQueen. That put the Warriors up 41-7 with 5:48 left in the third quarter.

At this point, the Warriors began bringing in their reserve players.

Westside would ultimately score two more touchdowns, one a 56-yard punt return for a touchdown by Anderson with 11:02 remaining in the game and one an 11-yard carry by junior Michael Merical with 1:15 remaining.

The Rockets would tack on one more touchdown of their own, a 39-yard touchdown pass from Keller to wide receiver Derrick Curtis with 5:01 remaining.

The 55-14 win puts Westside back at .500 at 2-2 and leaves Westside undefeated (2-0) in district play.

“That’s how you get to the playoffs: you’ve got to win district games,” Froendt said. “We’ll try to keep rolling in district.”

Westside will have another chance to pick up a district win next week. The Warriors will be traveling to Grand Island, Neb. to take on Grand Island. The Islanders are 4-0 and were ranked fourth in the Sept. 15 Omaha World Herald high school football top 10. Froendt said his message about Grand Island to his team in the locker room after the game would be simple.

“We don’t need much motivation because Grand Island’s a great team,” Froendt said. [The message is] we’ve just got to keep getting better every game.”

The Warriors could be without starting running back junior Logan Duryee, who suffered an injury early in the game, for Grand Island. Duryee’s status was unknown immediately after the game. Also, junior Jacob Kent, a middle linebacker, suffered an elbow injury. His status was also unknown.

“We’ll find out [about injury severity] tomorrow,” Froendt said. “Right now they’ve got to go get evaluated. Next man up if they’re not.”

Check back on Friday for a preview of the game and to find out about Westside injuries.

CRAZE Magazine’s Post Game Report