The NSAA state football playoffs continue today in all classes across the state of Nebraska.
Sandhills/Thedford travels to O’Neill today to face St. Mary’s in the Class D2 state quarterfinals. Sandhills/Thedford is now 8-2 on the season and have won seven in a row. The Knights advanced to the quarterfinal round by holding off Anselmo-Merna in round two 28-20. Maurice Robinson led the Sandhills/Thedford offense last week finishing with 219 rushing yards and was 10 of 17 passing for 89 yards with four total touchdowns. Sandhills/Thedford head coach Tyson Cox visited with KCNI/KBBN sports this week and shared how the team’s mental toughness and confidence has grown during this current seven game winning streak.
“Yeah, it helped with their confidence a ton. You start one and two and, you know, we like to win a lot here and we weren’t winning to start out. They kept going at practice and you could tell they just get more confident every win. So, yeah, it was really nice.”
Sandhills/Thedford’s opponent today is St. Mary’s of O’Neill who is unbeaten and the #4 seed in the D2 bracket. The Cardinals have been led by their all state caliber quarterback Gage Hedstrom who has put up big numbers this season. Hedstrom has rushed for over 1200 yards this season and has passed for over 1100. He has 35 passing touchdowns and 25 rushing touchdowns.
Today’s game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. kickoff and will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM and kbbn.com. The winner will advance to the state semifinals next Friday to play the winner of Howells/Dodge vs Lawrence-Nelson.
INTERVIEW WITH S/T HEAD COACH TYSON COX
The SEM Mustangs will travel to Bartley, NE today to face Southwest in the six man football state quarterfinals. SEM advanced with a 62-14 win over Potter-Dix in the round of 16 last week. Their opponent, Southwest, is still undefeated after rolling over Lewiston last week 60-6 in their playoff opener. This will be the second meeting of the season between the two. They met back on October 17th with Southwest coming out victorious 65-30. The kickoff for the game is scheduled for 6 p.m. central time. The winner will advance to the state semifinals next week where will face the winner of Wallace vs Red Cloud.
State Playoff Quarterfinal Matchups
Class A
Omaha Westside vs Kearney
Millard South vs Elkhorn South
Papillion La-Vista South vs Millard North
Creighton Prep vs Lincoln East
Class B
Waverly vs Seward
Elkhorn North vs Bennington
Gretna vs York
Gretna East vs Omaha Skutt
Class C-1
Wahoo vs Mount Michael
Ashland-Greenwood vs Syracuse
Sidney vs Fort Calhoun
Columbus Lakeview vs Aurora
Class C-2
Cedar Catholic vs Ord
GICC vs Archbishop Bergan
Kearney Catholic vs Malcolm
Bishop Neuman vs Yutan
Class D-1
Shelby Rising City vs Pender
Crofton vs Hemingford
Sandy Creek vs Bridgeport
DCS vs Planview
Class D-2
Howells/Dodge vs Lawrence Nelson
St. Mary’s vs Sandhills/Thedford
Hitchcock County vs Wynot
Archangels Catholic vs Central Valley
Class D-6
Garden County vs Silver Lake
Stuart vs Leyton
Southwest vs SEM
Red Cloud vs Wallace
