Aurora edges Crete in double overtime

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BY GENE COTTER / For the Lincoln Journal Star

CRETE — Aurora senior Jerry Lobeda was the master of the big play Friday night. But in the end, it was a pair of small ones that made all the difference.

Lobeda rushed 18 times for 117 yards and two scores and added another score on a 22-yard pass to tie the game at 15 in the third quarter.

But, it was the second of those running touchdowns and a two-point conversion pass he bobbled, then hauled in, that was the biggest difference as the Huskies upended two-time defending Class B state champion Crete 23-22 in double overtime at Doane College.

“This is huge. A great start to the season,” Lobeda said. “Big plays just happen. Sometimes things just work out.”

After a pair of near misses on  special teams left the game in a scoreless tie after one quarter, Lobeda and the Huskies wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the second period.

Lobeda opened the game by taking the opening kickoff and racing straight ahead 56 yards, setting Aurora up at the Crete 27-yard line. But the Cardinal defense held.

The Crete defense stopped the Huskies in three plays the next time they touched the ball as well. This time, Crete punt returner  Trevor Florendo took a reverse on the resulting punt and appeared to be down at the Crete 45.

Florendo, however, landed on an Aurora defender and not the ground, regained his feet and rumbled 55 yards into the end zone. Because a teammate ready to take the field for offense came onto the field, the resulting flag nullified the Florendo score.

The flag marked one of the seven penalties for the Cardinals in the first half. Crete also fumbled five times, losing none, but turned the ball over once on an interception.

Aurora , meanwhile, kept plugging away until Lobeda finally broke loose.

Although the Huskies had 10 fewer plays than Crete through two quarters, they needed just one for Lobeda to roll 60 yards for a score to open the second period, staking Aurora to an 8-0 lead that it carried into the half.

“Our execution was very poor at the beginning,” Crete coach Chuck McGinnis said. “There were a couple of mistakes on our side of the ball that ended up costing us.”

Crete, which entered the game with a 20-game winning streak, opened the second half by marching 67 yards in 12 plays to tie the game at 8. After Connor Smith recovered an Aurora fumble and Johnny Leach capitalized with the first of his two 1-yard scoring runs that put the Cardinals on top 15-8,  it look as if Crete may have things under control.

But Lobeda and the Huskies gained momentum as a number of Cardinals started suffering cramps, and a 22-yard screen pass from Tyler McDonald to Lobeda tied the game at 15 and forced overtime.

“We could tell we were in better shape than they were,” Lobeda said. “We practiced really hard and ran a lot. That really helped us.”

The Crete defense held Aurora scoreless during the first extra period and was poised to win with an 18-yard field goal until Husky Chris Sullivan ran around the right side and blocked the kick.

Leach scored in the second OT to put Crete ahead 22-15. But Lobeda scored from the 1, then snagged the conversion pass from McDonald to give Aurora the win.

“Defensively, we played well all night long with the exception of a couple of screen plays,” McGinnis said. “That screen play at the end obviously hurt.”