ELKHORN — Grand Island found itself on the wrong side of major momentum shifts against Elkhorn South.
Leading 17-10 at halftime, the Class A No. 3-rated (Lincoln Journal Star) Storm scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to pull away for a 45-10 home district victory against the No. 7 Islanders. Elkhorn South scored on its first four possessions of the second half, deflating Grand Island’s comeback bid.
“They’re awfully good, running the trey (and) running the dart with a big, physical offensive line,” Grand Island coach Jeff Tomlin said of the Storm. “I thought our kids battled pretty hard and made a game out of it at the end of the first half, but ultimately we had too many costly mistakes and too many missed tackles.
“It wasn’t an effort thing — I thought our kids played really hard and I was proud of them — but it was an execution thing.”
The Islanders committed three turnovers, including two lost fumbles. Grand Island also had a punt blocked, setting up a short-field TD drive for Elkhorn South.
The Storm (6-1) racked up 364 yards rushing, led by Brady Bousquet, who carried 20 times for 170 yards and three touchdowns. Gavin Shanahan added 111 yards and a rushing TD on 10 carries as the Storm dominated the line of scrimmage in the second half.
Limited to 42 yards rushing on 23 attempts, Grand Island (4-3) was forced to the air. Islanders’ quarterback Bode Albers was 20 of 41 passing for 257 yards and a TD, completing passes to nine different receivers.
Jacob Albers had three receptions for 79 yards, while Riley Holling caught five passes for 67 yards for Grand Island.
Tomlin said the Islanders’ passing game was a bright spot.
“We did some good things and there were some good blitz pickups by our offensive linemen,” Tomlin said. “Bode stood in there like a champ, took some shots and delivered some good balls and I thought our receivers played tough.
“There’s a lot of good stuff there to build on.”
Despite having early success moving the ball against a stiff breeze, Grand Island trailed 14-0 after the first quarter. Elkhorn South used Bousquet’s 44-yard TD run on a fourth-down play to take a 7-0 lead just three minutes into the contest.
The Islanders responded by driving into Storm territory. However, Riley Hodges’ 62-yard interception return to the Grand Island 9-yard line set up Bousquet’s second TD — a 1-yard plunge with 2:29 left in the first quarter.
Already playing without starting running back Caleb Richardson due to an injury, Grand Island lost two offensive linemen in the opening quarter. Both Rafael Medina and Joseph Hayman had to be helped from the field and didn’t return to action.
Elkhorn South extended its lead to 17-0 on a Brody Parks 32-yard field goal with 6:21 left in the second quarter.
The Islanders cut their deficit to 17-7 with 5:37 left in the first half as Nelsyn Wheeler scored on an 11-yard screen pass from Bode Albers. Grand Island got into scoring position via a flea-flicker pass from Bode Albers to his brother, Jacob Albers, for a 59-yard gain.
A fumble recovery by Grand Island’s Roady Mintken then set up a 21-yard field goal by Thatcher Panowicz with 24 seconds before halftime, cutting the Storm’s lead to 17-10.
“Considering how big of a hole we dug ourselves early, I thought we responded really well,” Tomlin said. “We even had a chance of cutting it to 17-14 at the half if a couple of things go differently there.”
Grand Island’s three losses have come to No. 1 Omaha Westside, No. 3 Elkhorn South and No. 6 Kearney — teams with a combined record of 19-2. The slate doesn’t ease up for the Islanders as they host No. 5 Omaha North next Friday in another key district matchup.
“We’re going to have to really bounce back quickly,” said Tomlin, whose team dropped to 1-1 in district play. “It doesn’t get any easier next week and we’re going to be minus a couple more guys. If any bunch can do it, this bunch can.”
Elkhorn South 45, Grand Island 10
Grand Island (4-3)
0
10
0
0—10
Elkhorn South (6-1)
14
3
14
14—45
First Quarter
ES—Brady Bousquet 44 run (Brody Parks kick), 8:58.
ES—Bousquet 1 run (Parks kick), 2:29.
Second Quarter
ES—Parks 32 field goal, 6:21.
GI—Nelsyn Wheeler 11 pass from Bode Albers (Thatcher Panowicz kick), 5:37.
GI—Panowicz 21 field goal, :24.
Third Quarter
ES—Bousquet 6 run (Parks kick), 8:16.
ES—Gavin Shanahan 6 run (Parks kick), 5:30.
Fourth Quarter
ES—Brayden DePerno 17 pass from Madden Riggs (Parks kick), 9:00.
ES—Jaydon Sutko 1 run (Parks kick), 5:47.
GI
ES
First downs
17
23
Rushes-Yards
23-42
46-364
Passing Yards
257
45
Att-Comp-Int
21-40-1
5-12-0
Total Offense
63-299
58-409
Return Yards
21
71
Kickoff Returns
6-122
3-68
Fumbles-Lost
4-2
1-1
Punts-Avg.
4-31.5
2-34.0
Penalties-Yards
0-0
4-28
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—GI, Coslor 6-28, Wheeler 8-21, Booth 1-5, Hostetler 2-2, B.Albers 6-minus 14. ES, Bosquet 20-170, Shanahan 10-111, Sutko 9-53, Nielsen 2-25, Fallquist 1-8, Borngrebe 1-0, Fichter 1-0, Riggs, 2-minus 3.
Passing—GI, B.Albers 21-40-1 257. ES, Riggs 5-12-0 45.
Receiving—GI, J.Albers 3-78, Holling 5-67, Bolton 4-41, Wheeler 3-29, Coslor 2-13, Hanquist 1-11, Booth 1-8, Hostetler 1-7, Barrientos 1-3. ES, Hoskinson 2-23, DePerno 1-17, Skradis 1-6, Murphy 1-minus 1.
