Late score lifts Spartans past Silver Hawks

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BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star

Matt Palm and Zach Smith hooked up to give Lincoln East another cliff-hanger victory.

Palm hit Smith on a 9-yard slant with 2:06 left in the game Saturday. He then found Brice Tyrell on a similar pattern for the two-point conversion to lift the Spartans to a 15-12 victory against Lincoln Southwest at Seacrest Field in a game postponed from Friday because of thunderstorms.

The Spartans scored with three seconds left to beat Lincoln Northeast two weeks ago.

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Lincoln Southwest senior Brandon Brown runs with the ball through Lincoln East's Christopher Connor (from left), Justin Burns and Zachary Smith during the game for the city and district title Saturday night at Seacrest Field. (Heidi Hoffman)

“I saw him break open. Smith’s a great receiver, one of the best receivers I’ve ever played with and I knew he’d catch it if I threw it to him,” Palm said. “There’s no quit in this team. We just keep fighting.”

The Spartans needed the last-minute drive after Southwest took a 12-7 lead early in the fourth quarter. After Rylan Cotton found Lynn King for a 50-yard pickup, Micah Fisher capped the seven-play drive with a 1-yard dive over the pile. But Sam Meginnis burst through and caught Fisher behind the line on the two-point conversion attempt.

East drove to the Southwest 9,  but the Spartans were turned back when Nick Sawyer broke up a pass from Palm to Drew Sankey in the corner of the end zone.

The Silver Hawks picked up a first down but then East’s Bangi Manakdan got a tackle for a loss and after a penalty, the Southwest drive stalled. Fisher dropped back to punt, but the ball slipped out of his hands and the Spartans took over at the Southwest 20 with 3:55 left in the game.

Palm ducked around the left side on fourth-and-1 to pick up a first down and then he found Smith.

“It was a rush. They called my number and we had great blocking up front, a great pass and great support on the sidelines,” Smith said. “We were just lucky to haul it in. It was just a rush.”

The Spartans, who earned the District A-2 title with the victory, broke on top when Sam Meginnis scooped up a fumble on the first play of the game and raced 20 yards to score.

Southwest scored on a 39-yard pass from Cotton to Fisher early in the second quarter, but the extra- point kick sailed wide to the left.

In the third quarter, the Silver Hawks lined up to attempt a 44-yard field goal that would have given them the lead, but the snap was bobbled and East took over.

“All night long, nobody could get anything going, so you relied on the mistakes the other team made,” said East coach John Gingery.

Gingery said the threat that Sankey and Tyson Clark, who caught two passes for 58 yards, pose helped set up the touchdown.

“We hadn’t run that touchdown pass play very much. They gave us a coverage that I thought we could get a matchup like that,” he said. “They were obviously covering Sankey and Clark pretty tight, so we figured if we could get a break on our inside kid, we could get a one-on-one and our receivers do a great job. Zach was able to make the catch and Matt made the throw.”

The Silver Hawks had one last chance, starting at their 20 with 2:06 left. Cotton found King for a 36-yard gain to the Spartan 44, but then the East defense stiffened.

Cotton found no room to the left and then Tyler Olman tackled the quarterback for a 4-yard loss. Fisher caught a desperation pass from Cotton, but the play lost 2 yards. On the final play, Cotton’s pass to Brett Boles over the middle was just out of his reach.

“They were right back and we were on our heels again,” said Gingery. “It was back-and-forth, back-and-forth all night long.”

Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambleton@journalstar.com.