End with a bang. That’s what the Antlers did in toppling the Omaha Westview Wolverines 42-14. The win raised the Antler record to 4-5 and will put them in the state playoffs which begin Friday, October 27th. The Wolverines, playing with only sophomores and juniors, finish the season with a record of 2-7 in their second season of existence.
Elkhorn received the opening kickoff and patiently drove 65 yards in 11 plays to strike first on a 17-yard run by junior Xander Ardley. The Wolverine defense played the Antlers tough forcing 2 consecutive 3rd and 8’s, but two passes from junior Kade Matthews to seniors Andrew Salvatore and Mason Villwok kept the drive alive. The Wolverines plagued by penalties on their 1st drive were forced to punt the Antlers took over at the 41-yard line and began their 2nd drive with a 22-yard run by Matthews, but two plays later a fumble was lost at the 18-yard line and the Wolverines set out on their best drive of the night taking 12 plays to cover the 82 yards overcoming a 2nd and 19 with a 43-yard pass from Luke Shaffar to Kobe Mapp and ending with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Shaffar to Kevin Rempe on the 2nd play of the 2nd quarter.
“We were working really well pressuring their offense and creating three and outs which gave us momentum” coach Feickert said
The Antlers answered back with a 65-yard 10-play drive that featured nine running plays that began with a 17-yard run by junior Elliott Beister and ended with a 2-yard run by Ardley. The Wolverines came right back with a 12-play drive that took 5 minutes off the clock before stalling with three incomplete passes and a penalty leading to a 39-yard field goal attempt by Bennett Deprez. The kick was partially blocked by senior Sam Leinen and returned to the 27-yard line by Salvatore. The Antlers then put on their most impressive drive of the night, covering 73 yards in 55 seconds using five plays. A 32-yard pass from Matthews to junior Charlie Lamski covered the most ground that ended with an 11-yard run by Matthews with 26 seconds to go in the half giving the Antlers a 21-7 halftime lead.
“Going into halftime we had a pretty commanding lead and we were feeling good,” Matthews said.
The third quarter was all Antlers. After forcing a three and out the Antlers went go on a four-play, 37-yard drive highlighted by a 17-yard quarterback sneak by Matthews before throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Villwok.
After gaining one first down Westview was forced to punt. Andrew Salvatore brought the crowd to their feet with a spectacular 75-yard punt return crossing the field from right to left and barely outrunning the last defender to the pylon opening up a 35-7 lead. Again the Wolverines gained one first down before punting, but this time after giving up one first down to the Antlers they forced a punt. However, the punt was fumbled and the Antlers recovered at the 10-yard line on the first play Ardley burst into the end zone for his 3rd touchdown of the night triggering a running clock with the score 42-7.
“We expected this to happen but we expected more this year but they didn’t live up to their hype,” Willie Rush said
The Wolverines would quickly answer, gaining first downs on 4 of the 6 plays it took them 76 yards and scoring on a Shaffar to Gabe Mathisen touchdown pass from the 15-yard line. Senior Ryan Frazell then carried 9 times in the 4th quarter racking up 49 yards to help the Antlers control the ball the rest of the 4th quarter and come away with the 42-14 victory. The Antlers will play Elkhorn North in the first round of the NSAA playoffs Friday, Oct. 27.
