The Superior Express -

Man, woman and child (*).

Jippers . . . (not sure that's a word), however, the 2021 Nebraska High School football season officially started last week with less than ideal conditions. It was hot, humid, rainy with thunder and lightning. The only calm, cool, traditional action of the night was the Lawrence American Legion Post Honor Guard and the singing of the National Anthem.

After that, it got interesting.

It's tough to tell the story of such a game this was, but we'll simply start by looking at the highlights (good and bad) of the Lawrence-Nelson vs. High Plains football game.

* Score: 58-57; 115 points. Not often that many points are scored in a game. Last year's average was less than half that number.

* Touchdowns: Eight for each team. (48 points each.)

* Points after TD's: L-N: five; H-P: five; all five for L-N were two points PAT's (10 Pts.); H-P had four, 2 pt. PAT's and one, 1-pt. PAT's: nine points.

* Offensive Plays: L-N: 92 plays for 599 yards; H-P: 38 plays for 405 yards.

* Plays over 30 yards: L-N: zero; H-P: eight plays for 314 yards.

* Possession Time: L-N: 35+ minutes; H-P: 14+ minutes.

* Penalties: L-N: 10 – 62 yards; H-P: 3 – 15 yards.

* First downs: L-N: 25; H-P: seven.

* Weather: Hot, humid, rainy, lightning causing a 30-minute weather delay with just over four minutes left in the game with L-N trailing five points at the time.

* Quarter Scores:

L-N 14 16 8 20 = 58

H-P 23 8 12 14 = 57

Wild and wacky . . . If you're into facts, figures and statistics, like above, you realize the Raiders were superior in many aspects of the game, but sure lacked the ability to stop H-P's big plays and committed too many penalties. However, overall, the good outweighed the bad . . . barely (one point). The game summary.

Quarter no. 1: L-N kicked to start the game and in 58 seconds, H-P ran two plays and scored with a 55 yard TD run around their right end. They kicked (a mistake that ultimately cost them the game) the PAT for a lead: 0-7.

Wow . . . what a way to start the season. However, the 2021 team showed a little of that traditional 'Raider Grit' and responded with a seven minutes TD drive that covered 84 yards to score with just over four minutes left in the period. The PAT run failed. Three pass plays provided the momentum in the drive. All from QB Krayton Kucera Tyson Kotinek caught a 19 yard pass and newcomer, sophomore, Baylin Bargen caught two passes, one for 13 yards and the TD pass for 17 yards.

Wyatt Brockman recovered a H-P fumble on their first play after the kickoff and L-N had the ball on the H-P's 21 yard line. On the first play, another Kucera to Bargen pass was good for those 21 yards and after Kucera ran the PAT, L-N led 14-7. Scoring twice in 14 seconds.

The last four minutes were wild, however. The ball changed hands five times as each team fumbled once and H/P scoring twice. One time on a 53 yard pass and once on a 55 yard run. Score: 14-23.

Quarter no. 2: Toby Kotinek recovered a H-P fumble near the end of the first period and the Raiders put together a 9 play, 72 yard scoring drive with Kucera scoring on a six yard plunge. Toby Kotinek ran the PAT: 22-23

The Raider defense held and on the next Raider possession a bad snap followed by a short punt gave H-P a short field and they score quickly: 22-31.

L-N used most of the remaining three minutes of play to put together an 8 play, 56 yard scoring drive that ended with a Kucera to Tyson Kotinek, 3-yard pass to score with 11 seconds on the clock. Bargen ran the PAT. Half time score: 30-31.

Quarter no. 3: H-P kicked to start this period and L-N was driving before they fumbled the ball to H-P who quickly scored for a 30-37 lead.

A ten play, error free, 65 yard drive followed with L-N scoring on a one yard run by Kucera. A Kucera to Tyson Kotinek pass score the PAT. Big plays in the drive were a Toby Kotinek 15 yard run and a Kucera to Tyson Kotinek 19 yard pass: Score: 38-37.

H-P was not about to give up however. On the first play following the kickoff, they broke a 43 yard run to score: 38-43.

Quarter no. 4: The Raider defense had H-P stopped early in this period until two back-to-back penalties gave H/P new life and they busted another long run of 34 yards to score: 38-51.

What to do with the final nine minutes of the game trailing 13 points. L-N used three minutes to score with a 6 play, 44 yard drive with Kucera scoring on a two yard run: 44-51.

Not to be outdone, H-P scored a minute later with a two play, 42 yard run: 44-57.

Five minutes left in the game, trailing 13 points, L-N used a minute to score on seven plays covering 60 yards. 3 of 4 passes were good with a Kucera to Tyson Kotinek pass scoring the TD with a Kucera to Bargen pass scoring the PAT: 52-57.

With 4:15 on the clock, a 30 minute weather delay sent most everyone to their cars.

On the return to the field, H-P used two minutes but came up just short on a fourth down play, giving L-N the ball with 2:05 on the clock.

"Pass and Catch . . ." Connor Janda caught two passes; a pass fell incomplete; Tyson Kotinek and Erik Wheeland each caught a pass giving L-N a first down on the H-P 18 yard line with 1:08 on the clock. Kucera ran for eight yards and then finished off the drive with a ten yard TD run. The PAT failed, but L-N had a 58-57 lead with 52 seconds on the clock.

Fans were on their toes those last 52 seconds, but a H-P pass fell incomplete and then tackles by Tyson Kotinek and Keaton Mazour ended the game, giving L-N their first win of the season . . . 58-57.

Coach Blevins' first words in the post-game huddle were: "Hopefully, we learned something tonight, that being we need to learn how to tackle better." He praised the team for a great game, but most of all, not crumbling before a good team.

Statistics:

First Downs: L-N 25; H-P 7.

Offense: Rushing: L-N 347 yards on 58 carries; H-P 306 yards on 31 carries.

Passing: L-N 252 yards on 21 of 29 passes; H-P 4 of 5 for 99 yards.

Offense: Total: L-N 599 yards; H-P 405 yards.

Passing: Krayton Kucera: 21-29 for 252 yards; H-P 4 of 5 for 99 yards.

Receiving: Baylin Bargen 6 for 83 yards; Tyson Kotinek 8 for 84 yards; Toby Kotinek 2 for 14 yards; Connor Janda 3 for 46 yards; Erik Wheeland 2 for 25 yards.

Rushing: Toby Kotinek 118 yards on 24 carries; Krayton Kucera 165 yards on 24 carries; Devyn Zikmund 7 yards on 1 carry; Baylin Bargen 57 yards on 9 carries.

Penalties: L-N 10 for 62 yards; H-P 3 for 15 yards.

Fumbles - lost: L-N 6–2; H-P 3–2.

Defense: (Assisted - Solo Tackles) Wyatt Brockman 2-1; Krayton Kucera 7-1 2 for loss; Roy Davidson 4-0; Conner Janda 7-2 1for loss; Nolan Ostdiek 4-0 1 for loss; Erik Wheeland 3-0; Tyson Kotinek 6-1; Toby Kotinek 1-0; Rocky Miller 1-0; Keaton Mazour 0-2 1 sack; Wyatt Hajny 5-1.

(*) Man, woman and child. A memorable phrase used by Cornhusker radio announcer, Lyle Bremser, many years ago.

This week, the Raiders travel to Arapahoe, Neb., for the 7 p.m. game.