No. 6 Antlers race past East

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BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star

When Lincoln East buttoned up the middle, Elkhorn took another path.

Running back Dane Eccles and quarterback Jordan Poehling combined for 200 yards rushing to help Class A sixth-ranked Elkhorn to a 36-14 victory Thursday at Seacrest Field.

“The fullbacks didn’t really get unleashed tonight,” Elkhorn coach Mark Wortman said of Ryan Maloley and Ryan Hawley. “Lincoln East clogged up the middle pretty well. You have to, because we have some good fullbacks.

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Lincoln East's Tyson Clark attempts to catch Elkhorn's Jake Long (left) on Thursday at Seacrest Field. (Heidi Hoffman)

Lincoln East's Tyson Clark attempts to catch Elkhorn's Jake Long (left) on Thursday at Seacrest Field. (Heidi Hoffman)

“So we ran a few pitches to the outside. We have guys who can go inside and we have guys who can go outside. If you try to take something away, I think we can do something else.”

That was evident on the Antlers’ first possession, after Hawley recovered a fumble near midfield. After Eccles and Hawley combined for 11 yards, Poehling took off around the right end and raced 38 yards up the sideline for a touchdown.

After Nick Jacobsen kicked a 31-yard field goal for Elkhorn, East mounted a drive but came up short and pinned the Antlers at their 13-yard line. A 37-yard pass from Poehling to Adam Stark sparked the drive, which Poehling capped with a 13-yard keeper for a 16-0 lead.

“All of a sudden, Jordan’s on the edge and you think, ‘How did that happen?’ Slippery is a good term for him,” Wortman said. “And Dane Eccles is a darned good running back.”

The Spartans closed to 16-8 when Scott Sunderman hit Sean McClure and Drew Sankey with passes of 17 and 34 yards, respectively, then finished off the drive with a 1-yard run over the left side. Sunderman lobbed the ball to Sankey for the two-point conversion.

But Elkhorn came right back, marching 75 yards and taking seven minutes to do it. Poehling hit Maloley with a 25-yard scoring pass with 17 seconds left in the half for a 23-8 lead.

“They’re big up front, they have good skill kids in the backfield, they do a nice job with the running game and their play-action passing game is very sound,” said East coach John Gingery. “They’re going to create a lot of problems for people. They’re good.”

Elkhorn racked up 346 yards rushing on 52 carries. Eccles led the way with 142 yards and Poehling added 58. The junior quarterback, son of the late Scott Poehling, who was a standout athlete at Archbishop Bergan High School and Nebraska, added 121 yards on 7-of-10 passing.

The Antler defense limited East to just 59 yards on the ground and just 37 total plays on offense,  while Elkhorn had 62.

“They stuff the run tough and it just forces you to start throwing the ball every down because you can’t make any positive yards on the ground,” Gingery said.

Wortman credited his offensive line for setting the tone of the game.

“We have a very good offensive line. Over the years, we’ve had some good offensive lines and this is on par with what we’ve had,” Wortman said. “It’s a good mix. We have a lot of good, solid kids who get off the line quick.

“We rotate a lot of kids into the line. We’re playing 10 to a dozen offensive linemen.”

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