Lincoln North Star coach Mark Waller bucked the odds Friday and, although the immediate outcome didn't look good, in the long run, his decision proved to be golden.
RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, October 19, 2008 7:00 pm
Coach Mark Waller bucked the odds Friday and, although the immediate outcome didn’t look good, in the long run, his decision proved to be golden.
In a battle for the District 1 championship, Waller’s Lincoln North Star football team was tied with Grand Island 7-7 at halftime.
“We chose to kick into the wind, and fortunately, it worked out,” said Waller, referring to the brisk breeze out of the north. “We did it partly because of their penalty at the end of the first half, which meant we could kick it into the end zone.”
An unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty moved the ball up 15 yards and the Gators’ kick did reach the end zone. But Grand Island proceeded to march 80 yards in 12 plays, taking a 14-7 lead on a 7-yard run by Brent Harris.
North Star answered and tied the game on the second play of the fourth quarter when Tyrone Lewis plowed over the left side of the line from 2 yards.
After that, the decision to have the wind at the Gators’ backs in the final quarter proved to be a big difference.
Michel Mikaya intercepted a Grand Island pass and, seven plays later, Nick Arrigo nailed a 36-yard field goal to give North Star a 17-14 lead.
And later, it didn’t hurt punter Joe Hartley to have the wind at his back when he pinned the Islanders at their 1-yard line with a 36-yard punt.
“After they completed three passes, we called a timeout and switched to a prevent defense,” Waller said. “We just had to be patient to the end.”
The 17-14 victory gave North Star the first district championship in school history. The Gators are one of 31 teams to unofficially clinch berths in the state football finals.
District status
Class A
District 1—North Star is the champion, Grand Island has also clinched. The North Platte-Fremont winner gets the third spot. North Platte likely will be in contention for the lone Class A wild card even with a loss.
District 2—Elkhorn can clinch district title with win against Norfolk. Lincoln Southwest has clinched. Kearney clinches the district’s third spot with a win against Lincoln Southeast, but the Bearcats have clinched a least a wild-card berth. Any hopes for Lincoln East or Norfolk to qualify depend on a Kearney loss.
District 3—Millard West, Omaha Westside and Papillion-LaVista have clinched. Millard West can clinch the district title with a win against Papillion-La Vista or if Westside defeats Omaha Central.
District 4—The Bellevue West-Omaha North winner is the district champion and the loser also clinches. The Burke-Papillion-La Vista South winner clinches the final spot. The loser will be in contention for the wild-card berth.
District 5—Creighton Prep has clinched the district title and Millard South has already clinched a playoff spot. The Benson-Northwest winner (both teams are 1-7) will get the final spot.
Class B
District 1—The South Sioux City-Schuyler winner clinches the district title.
District 2—The Omaha Gross-Ralston winner clinches the district title.
District 3—Waverly clinches the district title with a win against Gretna or with an Omaha Skutt win against Platteview; Gretna clinches with a win and an Omaha Skutt loss.
District 4—Beatrice has clinched the district title.
District 5—The Columbus-York winner clinches the district title.
District 6—The Aurora-Adams Central winner clinches the district title.
District 7—The McCook-Ogallala winner clinches the district title.
District 8—The Sidney-Alliance winner clinches the district title.
The other eight spots will be the top eight teams in the points standings that didn’t earn district titles. Lincoln Pius X and Crete, which are in District 4 with Beatrice, are currently fourth and sixth overall in points. Crete plays at Pius X on Friday.
In Classes C-1, C-2, D-1 and D-2, the playoff fields consist of the 10 district champions and the next 22 teams with the highest point averages.
Class C-1
Clinched district title—Bishop Neumann, Norfolk Catholic, Madison, Minden, Broken Bow, Chadron.
Clinch with win—Boys Town-Omaha Roncalli winner, Syracuse-Fairbury winner, Hastings St. Cecilia-Grand Island Central Catholic winner, Wisner-Pilger (over West Point-Beemer).
Other—North Bend Central clinches with a win and a West Point-Beemer win; West Point-Beemer clinches with a win and a North Bend Central loss.
Class C-2
Clinched district title—Stanton, Plainview, Ravenna, Chase County.
Clinch with win—Elmwood-Murdock-Weeping Water winner, Lourdes Central Catholic-Lincoln Christian winner, Aquinas (over Malcolm), Hartington Cedar Catholic (over Homer), Blue Hill (over Sutton), Elm Creek (over Cambridge).
Other—Wilber-Clatonia clinches with a win (over Tri County) and a Malcolm win (over Aquinas), Malcolm clinches with a win and a Wilber-Clatonia loss, Hartington Cedar Catholic with Ponca loss (to Randolph), Ponca clinches with win and Hartington CC loss, Sutton clinches with win (over Blue Hill) and a Thayer Central loss (to Superior), Thayer Central clinches with a win and a Blue Hill loss (to Sutton), Cambridge clinches with a win (over Elm Creek) and a Kearney Catholic loss (to Dundy County-Stratton).
Class D-1
Clinched district title—Burwell, Shelby, Eustis-Farnam, Garden County.
Clinch with win—Mead-Johnson-Brock winner, Freeman-Meridian winner, Clarkson-Howells winner, Hartington-Winside winner, Amherst-Arapahoe winner, Franklin (over Axtell).
Other—Franklin with Giltner win (over Silver Lake), Axtell with win (over Franklin) and Giltner loss.
Class D-2
Clinched district title—Sterling, Humphrey St. Francis, St. Mary’s, Anselmo-Merna.
Clinch with win—Bruning-Davenport-Lawrence-Nelson winner, Coleridge (over Allen), Elgin-Ewing winner, Sargent-Hampton winner, Mullen-Sandhills/Thedford winner, Hayes Center-Potter-Dix winner.
Other—Coleridge with Wynot win (over Walthill), Allen with win (over Coleridge) and Wynot loss.
Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambleton@journalstar.com