The Lincoln Southeast defense kept Lincoln Southwest in a constant state of agitation in the final quarter of Friday's game at Seacrest Field.

The front four of Jacob Ledgerwood, Jake Cotton, Jeff Sheets and David Sutton kept enough pressure on to limit the Silver Hawks when it mattered and help Class A No. 3 Southeast to a 17-12 victory against 10th-ranked Southwest before a crowd of 4,326.

"It helps when you have a good defensive front four," said Southeast coach John Larsen. "They were able to put pressure on and that allows us to drop kids into coverage so we weren't giving up too many open things.

"Doug (Miller, LSE defensive coordinator) did a good job mixing up the blitzes. We blitzed on that last play and we sacked (Rylan) Cotton. I think we kept them off-balance with our pressure."

Trailing 17-12, Southwest converted a fourth-and-15, then picked up another first down, driving to the Southeast 33-yard line. After two incompletions, Jeff Seybold was stopped for a 2-yard gain and Jake Cotton and Ledgerwood combined to bring Rylan Cotton down to secure the win.

"We said at halftime we thought we could pound them a little bit. We thought our size was going to wear them down and I think it did," Larsen said. "We were able to do some things in the ground game that weren't there in the first half."

The Knights counted on Zach Taylor to carry the load after missing the last three games with a back injury. Taylor ran for 167 yards on 32 carries.

"He had that many carries?" Larsen said, wincing when he heard the number. "After every series, we'd ask him how he was doing and ask if he could go some more. He always said yes. We had talked about limiting him to 20."

Southeast jumped on top when Derek Shouse made a circus catch of a 43-yard Derrius Vick pass. Shouse juggled the ball, which bounced over his head and then he pinned the ball against his helmet as he crossed the goal line.

"I caught it with my helmet and never brought it around," Shouse said. "I thought the defender was going to take it away."

Southwest cut the deficit to 7-6 on a 47-yard pass from Rylan Cotton to Dylan Payne, but Ledgerwood blocked the extra point to keep LSE on top.

Taylor, who rushed for 123 of his yards in the second half, scored on a 4-yard run late in the third quarter. The scoring drive was set up by an interception by Tyson Youngquist.

Southwest answered when Seybold broke around the left side and raced 73 yards for a score. But he was out of bounds when he caught the two-point conversion pass.

Levi Cockle kicked a 25-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to give the Knights a 17-12 lead. After an interception by Michael Gude, Cockle tried a 30-yard field goal but was wide-right, setting up the final defensive stand.

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