GRAND ISLAND - Aaron Roberg said he and his Grand Island teammates weren't satisfied with their effort so far this season.

Roberg was a workhorse for the Islanders as they upended third-ranked Lincoln Southwest 31-30 in double overtime Friday before an estimated 2,500 fans.

"All week long, our motto was 'finish.' We hadn't done that so far and we needed to do it in everything - runs, blocks, drives," said the senior running back. "That's what we did tonight."

Roberg carried the ball 33 times for 173 yards and scored three touchdowns, two of them in overtime, to lift the Islanders.

As important as Grand Island's offense was, it was the defense came through in the clutch.

Southwest drove from its 8-yard line in the closing minutes of regulation before the Islander defense stiffened and stopped Rylan Cotton just short of a first down at the GI 41-yard line with 20 seconds left. Islander quarterback Adam Werner took a knee to send the game to overtime.

After Roberg's 1-yard dive gave Grand Island a 31-24 lead in the second overtime, Southwest turned to the pass again and Cotton found Vino Brown for a touchdown. But Cotton's pass on a rollout to the right fell incomplete to give the Islanders the win.

"I thought we had a play that was golden," said Southwest coach Mark King. "They're a good defense and you have to execute well.

"I thought our kids stayed patient and we got some things working in the fourth quarter. But they have good athletes on defense and blocks in space are important."

The Islanders' defense limited Southwest to 137 yards rushing and 285 total yards, nearly 100 yards below the Silver Hawks' average.

"We played our base defense. Our defensive ends, Andy Gdowski and Nate Westerby, did really well and we have a great interior six guys," said GI coach Jeff Tomlin. "Rylan threw the ball well early, so we tightened our coverage and got a big pick."

Drew Cimino intercepted a Cotton pass just three plays after Grand Island missed a scoring opportunity. The Islanders drove to the Southwest 2 before settling for an 18-yard field goal attempt by Logan Mendez. But the junior kicker never got a chance to kick when the ball sailed over the holder's head and Southwest took over at its own 31.

Grand Island scored first on Werner's 16-yard touchdown pass to Max Ayoub, which Tomlin said was a key.

"That was a breakthrough for our offense," he said. "Roberg is a warrior. He won't win a 100-meter dash, but he's a competitor."

Southwest answered with a 60-yard scoring drive, capped by a 6-yard pass from Cotton to Jordan Tyrance and then took a 10-7 lead on Tay Bender's 35-yard field goal.

Grand Island tied the game three seconds before halftime on a 30-yard field goal by Mendez.

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