The Cougars brought the leading passer in Class B Colby Duncan who would throw the ball 42 times for 205 yards, however, the Antlers came up with 2 interceptions by Gus Schultz and Andrew Salvatore and the defensive front would bring the pressure to Duncan all night leading to him carrying the ball 12 times on the night.
“Our o-line did such an amazing job protecting our runners that the cougars had no chance to get to them,” junior, Willie Rush said.
The Antlers would only run 46 offensive plays, but with much greater efficiency led by the rushing efforts of Elliot Beister who carried the ball 28 times for 243 yards, and the passing of first-time starter Beau Twohig who would hit 80% of his passes while throwing 2 touchdown passes on only 5 attempts.
“I got all my nerves out at practice the day before the game so I was confident and ready for what gross will throw at me,” junior quarterback, Beau Twowig said
The Antlers took the opening kickoff and went 3 and out and Gross would go on an 11-play drive to take a 6-0 lead after Sam Leinen blocked the PAT kick. The Antlers answered with a 7-play 66-yard drive highlighted by Beister’s 29-yard run and finished by Twohig to Mason Villwok’s touchdown pass. Nate Pechar’s fumble gave the Antlers the ball at the Gross 34, however, the Antlers would return the favor on the last play of the first quarter.
Duncan then threw his first pick 2 plays later giving the Antlers the ball on the Gross 19-yard line, however, 3 plays netted only 2 yards and a 35-yard field goal attempt was wide. Gross picked up one first down before being forced to punt. The Antlers then made their longest drive of the night going 59 yards in 11 plays again highlighted by Beister’s 21-yard run, and ending with Twohig’s touchdown pass this time to Charlie Lamski giving the Antlers a 13-6 halftime lead.
“We took a big step from week 1. Our offensive line started blocking very well and our defense was lights out against their quarterback,” coach, Dan Feickert said.
Gross took the 2nd half kickoff and threatened to tie the game marching in 8 plays to Antler’s 5-yard line, however, on the 4th down under heavy pressure from Erik Pfahl, Duncan threw an interception to Andrew Salvatore in the end zone giving the Antlers the ball on the 20 yard line. It took only one play for the Antlers to go up 20-6 as Beister set sail on an 80-yard run behind some crushing blocks on the right side of the line of scrimmage. The Cougars picked up 2 first downs on the ensuing drive before being forced to punt, and the Antlers picked up one first down before punting. The Cougars then went on a 6-minute drive culminating in a 4-yard touchdown run by Henry Nosbisch to make it a one-score game at 20-13 with 8:47 to go in the game.
Beister took the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown, but it was called back on a holding penalty, it would take the Antlers only 4 plays to go 64 yards with Beister reeling off a 32-yard touchdown run to give the Antlers the final cushion. The Cougars got the ball 2 more times, however, could not crack the Antler defense to drop to 2-1 on the season.
The Antlers will go to 3rd ranked Omaha Skutt on Friday, September 15.
