The opening round of the Class D2 state football playoffs was played Thursday. South Loup advanced to the round of 16. The Bobcats remained unbeaten with a 46-0 victory over Ansley/Litchfield. South Loup quarterback Trey Connell threw a touchdown pass to Crew Witthuhn and ran for three. AJ Starr ran for two touchdowns and Ethan Furne had a touchdown run for the victorious Bobcats. Ansley/Litchfield concludes the season at 3-6. South Loup will host Lawrence Nelson in the round of 16 on Friday (10/27)
Anselmo-Merna advanced to the round of 16 as they held on against Boyd County 30-24. The Anselmo-Merna special teams unit put Anselmo-Merna on the board early as Josiah Griffith blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown to give AM the lead at 6-0. Special teams set up another AM score when they recovered a fumbled punt early in the second half. The defense also came up big creating three takeaways. Anselmo-Merna led 30-6 but Boyd County fought back and closed the gap to 30-24 with just under a minute remaining but a failed onside kick gave the ball to the Coyotes who ran out the clock to preserve the win. Quinten Myers had three touchdown runs for Anselmo-Merna who improved to 5-4. AM will travel to face top seed Johnson Brock in the next round.
In other area Class D2 playoff action, Sandhills/Thedford defeated Overton 74-38. The Knights will host Lourdes Central Catholic in the next round. Twin Loup defeated Hitchcock County 40-28 and will play at Dundy County Stratton in the round of 16. Mullen defeated Hyannis 35-8 and will play at #2 seed Wynot in the next round.
Thursday (10/19/2023)
Ainsworth 72, Kenesaw 13
Anselmo-Merna 30, Boyd County 24
Arapahoe 52, Hemingford 22
Axtell 28, Loomis 24
BDS 30, Osceola 22
Battle Creek 38, Grand Island Central Catholic 33
Bellevue East 69, Omaha South 0
Bellevue West 49, Papillion-LaVista South 28
Boone Central 56, St. Paul 0
Bridgeport 70, Alma 20
Central Valley 62, Wausa 28
Clarkson/Leigh 38, Johnson County Central 34
Crawford 73, Banner County 12
Crofton 60, TCNE (Tri County Northeast) 8
Cross County 52, Wisner-Pilger 22
Dundy County Stratton 38, Elm Creek 6
EMF 40, Pender 14
Elkhorn High 42, Omaha Westview 14
Elkhorn Valley 50, Riverside 20
Fort Calhoun 30, Boys Town 29
Franklin 64, Red Cloud 54
Hay Springs 50, Cody-Kilgore 24
Howells-Dodge 34, Bloomfield 6
Humphrey St. Francis 40, Fullerton 8
Johnson-Brock 58, Winside 0
Lawrence-Nelson 24, EPPJ 14
Lourdes Central Catholic 28, High Plains Community 20
Millard North 21, Lincoln Southwest 10
Mullen 35, Hyannis 8
North Platte St. Patrick’s 65, Sutton 28
Omaha Roncalli Catholic 64, Omaha Concordia 0
Omaha Skutt Catholic 35, Gross Catholic 21
Omaha Westside 56, Lincoln Northeast 0
Parkview Christian 53, Lewiston 21
Perkins County 56, Cambridge 6
Plainview 49, Hartington-Newcastle 40
Ravenna 56, Neligh-Oakdale 26
Sandhills/Thedford 74, Overton 38
Sandy Creek 62, Maxwell 22
Shelby-Rising City 58, Elmwood-Murdock 0
South Loup 46, Ansley-Litchfield 0
Southwest 50, Paxton 35
St. Edward 50, Heartland Lutheran 0
Stanton 78, Mead 6
Summerland 52, Hi-Line 46 (OT)
Twin Loup 40, Hitchcock County 28
Weeping Water 34, Thayer Central 28
Wynot 42, Silver Lake 0
