Sloup sets scoring record as Southwest wins

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BY GENE COTTER / Lincoln Journal Star

As long as you’re going to make history, you may as well do it in dramatic fashion. At least that’s what Lincoln Southwest senior running back Ollie Sloup did Friday night.

Two plays after Class A No. 8 Lincoln East scored to pull to 7-6, Sloup took a handoff, was met by several Spartan defenders 2 yards in the backfield, then emerged from the pileup and rolled 71 yards to paydirt.

Not only did the run help propel No. 2 Southwest to a 24-19 win in front of 3,425 fans at Seacrest Field, it also moved Sloup past North Platte’s Danny Woodhead as the all-time Class A scoring leader with 466 career points.

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Lincoln Southwest's Ollie Sloup carries the ball against Lincoln East during Friday's game at Seacrest Field in Lincoln. Sloup set the record for career scoring in Class A. (Gwyneth Roberts)

Lincoln Southwest's Ollie Sloup carries the ball against Lincoln East during Friday's game at Seacrest Field in Lincoln. Sloup set the record for career scoring in Class A. (Gwyneth Roberts)

“This was my last regular-season game at Seacrest. It’s great to get the record here and the victory,” Sloup said. “Mostly the victory.”

Sloup, who finished  with 149 yards on 15 carries and added another 27 yards receiving, scored 12 points, moving him past Woodhead’s total of 456.

“He just plays to the whistle,” Southwest coach Mark King said. “Over and over people have told me he’s not very flashy. All of a sudden no one in history has scored more points. Enough said.”

Missed opportunities and a pair of big plays sent the teams into halftime with the Sliver Hawks on top 7-0.

Quarterback Austin Cassidy did the damage for Southwest when he broke free on a 73-yard run to give the Silver Hawks the 7-0 lead with just more than a minute to play in the opening quarter. He struck  again with less than a minute to play in the half when he rumbled in from 49 yards out.

A holding penalty nullified the score and two plays later, Sloup lined up for a 30-yard field goal. East’s Sam Meginnis got a hand on the ball and the Spartans turned Southwest away.

East, which took 20 snaps in the second quarter to just six for the Hawks, amassed 116 of its 330 total yards during the second period. The Spartans also dropped three passes that would have kept drives alive or picked up big chunks of yards.

“We were a little gun-shy early on and we dropped some passes we normally wouldn’t drop,” East coach John Gingery said. “I’m proud of the way the kids played. Take away a couple of big plays and it’s a different game.”

Spartan running back Garek Petry had pulled East to 7-6 with a 15-yard run early in the second half. Petry finished with 126 yards on 12 carries. He added another 37 receiving yards.

But Southwest, which ended up with 339 total yards, got 202 in the second half, 141 coming from Sloup on the ground, including the long run.

“We had him in the backfield wrapped up but we couldn’t take him down,” Gingery said.

“That was the difference-maker right there.”

Sloup added a 31-yard field goal and carried the ball 10 times for 44 yards on a 68-yard drive that ended with a Cassidy TD with 3:53 left. That proved to be too much for East to overcome.

“We went nose-to-nose with them,” Gingery said.

Jim Ebke had scored on a 2-yard run with 8:27 remaining to pull the Spartans to 17-12. Ravi Mahapatra capped the scoring with a 14-yard  pass from Ebke with 33 second left.

“In the first half the defense carried us,” King said. “In the second half, the offense came back around.”

Cassidy finished with 134 yards rushing and another 76 through the air for Southwest.

Ebke had 185 total yards for the Spartans.