In this year of a COVID-19 pandemic a little sense of normality returned to rural Nebraska Friday evening as most all schools opened their 2020 football season. For L-N that meant a trip to Clarks to play High Plains High School (HP).

The result of the game was a 66-30 victory over a team that was part of the Class D-1 State Championship last season. (High Plains and Osceola had a co-op team in 2019 and won their D1 Class title.)

With all the changes over the past six months caused by the COVID pandemic, the conduct of the 2020 Raider team was anything but certain.

Dealing with the COVID and the usual uncertainty of the beginning of a new season, no one was certain of the outcome.

However . . .

It did not take long for the new Raider team to step up and place their mark on the young season.

A number of things caught the attention of fans during and after the game:

* The team scored on the second play of the season.

* In the first period the Raider defense held HP to only six yards of offense.

* L-N scored on all five possession of the first period and 7 of their first 8 in the first half of play.

* L-N had only four plays cover more than 25 yards. The first one being 63 yards on the first play of the game when quarterback Krayton Kucera found a hole on the left side of the line and scampered 63 yards to set up the first TD on the next play.

* Passing was rare for the game with L-N attempting the air lanes only six times.

* It appears that the team has a kicker this year as Diego Wolfe made two PAT attempts.

* Veterans and younger players all seemed to have a part in this win.

A 'run-down' of the scoring follows:

TD #1: HP's kickoff went into the end zone so L/N started on their own 15 yard line. The HP defense seemed to lose where QB Krayton Kucera was and Kucera found an opening on the left side of the line, scampering 63 yards to the HP 2 yard line. From there Keith Miller scored. PAT run by Blake Janda was good. 8-0.

TD #2: HP gambled to make a 4th and 2, but lost. L-N had the ball on the HP 30 yard line. Three plays later Kucera scored on a one yard walk through a hole on the right side of the line. Diego Wolfe kicked the PAT: 15-0.

TD #3: L-N recovered a HP's fumble on their first play after the TD. Three straight runs by Janda resulted in a five yard TD jaunt, again through the right side of the line. The PAT pass from Kucera to Janda was good. 23-0.

TD #4: HP suffered another fumble loss on their second play following the kick off. L-N had the ball on the HP 22 yard line. Two plays later a Kucera to Janda pass covered 15 yards for a TD. The PAT run attempt failed. 29-0

TD #5: HP punted after three downs and L-N had the ball on their own 26 yard line. Janda covered 20 yards on their first play and a Kucera to Janda pass covered 34 yards and gave L-N TD #5. Kucera ran the PAT. 37-0

HP punted after three plays and L-N took possession on their own 30 yard line.

First Period ended: 37-0.

TD #6: L-N took five plays before the quarter ended and five plays after the second period began and scored on a one yard Kucera run. Wolfe kicked the PAT. 44-0.

TD #7: HP recovered from their early shock and put together a 13 play drive covering 49 yard, but failed to score. L-N took possession on their own 6 yard line and used seven plays to score. Miller had several nice runs in this drive and he scored on a five yard plunge. PAT run by Miller also was good. 52-0.

HP scored on a 47 yard pass and L-N then fumbled the kickoff back to HP just before the half-time break.

Half time score: 52-8.

TD #8: L-N kicked to start this period. HP's ran six plays but was stopped on the Raider 34 yard line. With a continuous clock running from the start of this period, L-N experimented a little. Devyn Zikmund ran a play, Toby Kotinek ran over several defenders on a 32 yard run and Conner Janda scored on a 12 yard run. PAT pass failed. 58-8.

HP scored with a little over three minutes left in the third period and L-N gave up a fumble just before the end of the third period.

Third period score: 58-16.

HP scored twice early in the final period. First on a 29 yard pass and the second time on one of the more unusual happenings of the game. The HP's kickoff was being returned by L-N, but a tackle attempt 'popped' the ball lose. Aa HP player caught the ball in mid-air and returned it for a TD.

TD #9: The ball changed hands before L-N had the ball on their own 35 yard line. On their second play, the ball bounced free on the ground but was picked up by Devyn Zikmund who raced 40 yards to score. The PAT was run by Conner Cannaday. 66-30

The game ended with a HP drive being stopped by the clock.

The victory ended a couple of years of season opening losses and hopefully give the team an incentive for the year.

Stats for High Plains were not kept officially. What we print here are unofficial.

FIRST DOWNS: L-N 13; HP 9

OFFENSE: L-N Rushing 350 yards. Passing 79 yards. Total: 429 yards. HP Rushing 201 yards. Passing 82 yards. Total: 283 yards.

Individual: Rushing: Blake Janda 99 yards. On 11 carries. Krayton Kucera 80 yards on 8 carries. Keith Miller 68 yards on 8 carries. Devyn Zikmund 42 yards on 2 carries. Toby Kotinek 34 yards on 2 carries;. Conner Janda 12 yards., 1 carry; Conner Cannaday 15 yards on 4 carries.

Passing: Krayton Kucera, 6 of 6 for 79 yards.

Receiving: B. Janda 2 for 38 yards. Trevor Biltoft 2 for 25 yards. K. Miller 1 for 6 yards. Cole Troudt 1 for 10 yards.

Funbles Lost: L-N: 4/3; HP: 5/3.

Defense: (Assisted/Unassisted tackles) Conner Cannaday 12/2. Wyatt Brockman 3/0. Blake Janda 2/0. Cole Troudt 1/0. Krayton Kucera 5/2. Trevor Biltoft 2/0. Darren Kathman 5/0. Tyson Kotinek 9/2. Keith Miller 1/2. Toby Kotinek 6/4. Keaton Mazour 1/0. Konnor Thompson 1/0. Wyatt Hajny 8/1. Blake Wroughton 2/0. Emilio Pano 1/1. Jacob Swift 3-0. Clay Williams 2/0. Diego Wolfe 1/1. Conner Janda 3/0. Nolan Ostdiek 1/0. Rocky Miller 2/0. Chad Holcomb 1/1.

Coach Blevins was complimentary saying the team played well for the most part, especially for the physical play. He noted this week's game against Arapahoe will be a tough test. They are a D-1 school with good athletes.

Raider, Blake Janda (7) moved positions this season to that of running back. And run he did in the first game of the season, racking up 99 yards.

The game this week is in Lawrence.