The Anselmo-Merna Coyotes advanced to the Class D3 state football quarterfinals with a thrilling 36-30 win at Wausa on Friday night. Wausa jumped out first scoring in the opening 90 seconds to go ahead 8-0. Anselmo-Merna responded later in the first quarter with a 51 yard touchdown drive capped off by a 20 yard touchdown run by Dane Duryea to tie the game 8-8. Wausa quickly took the lead back on a 39 yard touchdown drive and then followed that with an interception return for a touchdown to go up 22-8. The Coyotes would fight back to tie the game 22-22 at halftime on two touchdown runs by Caenyn Priest. AM took their first lead of the game with 1:32 left in the third quarter when Caenyn Priest broke loose for a 20 yard touchdown run to put the Coyotes up 28-22. The score stayed that way until Matthew Schindler returned a punt for a touchdown to put Wausa back in front 30-28 following a successful two point conversion. As they had done all night, Anselmo-Merna answered with a 59 yard touchdown drive and a two point conversion to retake the lead 36-30 with just over six minutes to play in the game. Wausa marched down the field but the Anselmo-Merna defense came up with a goal line stand on 4th down and goal from the two yard line. The Coyotes took over and were able to run out the clock to preserve the win and advance. Anselmo-Merna will host GACC in the next round. GACC knocked off the #4 seed Pleasanton 50-8.
Twin Loup advanced to the Class D3 quarterfinals holding off Deshler Friday night in Sargent. Deshler scored first to go up 8-0 with 6:06 left in the first quarter. The Wolves answered back with 20 unanswered points. Yahya Harris put Twin Loup on the board with a 41 yard touchdown run. Oran Grint followed with a 48 yard touchdown run and Blake Bottorf scored from 36 yards out. After Deshler scored to cut the lead to 20-16, Bottorf scored on a 7 yard touchdown run right before the half to extend the Wolves lead to 27-16 at halftime. Twin Loup added 14 more points in the second half on touchdown runs of 50 and 25 yards by Carter Hall to help claim a 41-28 victory. Twin Loup will face #2 seed Central Valley in the next round. Central Valley advanced with a 44-8 win over Falls City Sacred Heart.
Other D3 scores
Wynot 24, Burwell 12
Archangels Catholic 60, Cambridge 12
Lawrence Nelson 42, St. Mary’s 26
Dundy County Stratton 46, Brady 42
Class A Scores
Millard South 56, Lincoln Standing Bear 7
Papillion-LaVista 21, Lincoln Northeast 0
Omaha Westside, 59, Columbus 0
Elkhorn South 40, Elkhorn North 14
Bennington 42, Lincoln Southwest 17
Omaha North 40, Kearney 14
Millard North 32, Creighton Prep 13
Papillion-LaVista South 18, Millard West 17
Class B Scores
Gretna 56, Lincoln Pius X 23
Blair 17, McCook 14
Aurora 20, York 0
Northwest 23, Norris 22
Waverly 37, Elkhorn 6
Omaha Skutt 49, Ralston 13
Scottsbluff 35, Gross Catholic 21
Gretna East 55, Hastings 14
Class C1 Scores
Chadron 49, Auburn 14
Boys Town 41, Alliance 20
Cozad 33, Pierce 19
Syracuse 28, O’Neill 7
Sidney 48, Central City 7
Lincoln Christian 35, Minden 14
Ashland-Greenwood 31, Omaha Roncalli 23
Adams Central 14, Wahoo 7
Class C2 Scores
GICC 42, Hershey 0
Boone Central 38, Mitchell 0
Gothenburg 20, Scotus Central Catholic 0
Cedar Catholic 69, Lincoln Lutheran 9
Bergan Catholic 56, West Point-Beemer 21
Malcolm 49, Bishop Neumann 25
Yutan 42, Wilber-Clatonia 0
Ord 28, Fillmore Central 27
Class D1 Scores
Hartington-Newcastle 62, Centura 57
Johnson-Brock 69, Amherst 24
Stanton 78, Alma 27
Sutton 30, Wisner-Pilger 24
Sandy Creek 72, Ponca 6
Ravenna 56, Cross County 36
Crofton 59, Elkhorn Valley 6
Class D2 Scores
Laurel Concord Coleridge 68, BDS 18
Wilcox-Hildreth 46, Creighton 28
Loomis 62, Neligh-Oakdale 60
Lourdes Central Catholic 43, Hitchcock County 12
Howells-Dodge 54, East Butler 22
North Platte St. Pat’s 58, Bertrand 22
Hemingford 58, Aquinas Catholic 35
Shelby-Rising City 22, Fullerton 20
Class D6 Scores
Red Cloud 80, Hay Springs 37
Medicine Valley 88, Lewiston 52
Leyton 70, Riverside 59
Southwest 50, Arthur County 32
Garden County 58, Meridian 12
Stuart 43, Crawford 0
Wallace 32, High Plains Community 12
Diller-Odell 56, Sterling 12
