Class A: Islanders almost perfect in upset
By Stu Pospisil
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER


Here’s how close Grand Island came to playing the perfect game Friday night in beating No. 6 Omaha North 31-18 in the first round of the Class A playoffs.

The Islanders never punted. They scored on five consecutive possessions. They converted 7 of 10 third downs and 2 of 2 on fourth down. They were 6 of 6 passing.

“I don’t know what their coach would say, but they were better tonight than any game of theirs I watched on film,’’ North coach Larry Martin said. 

Grand Island (7-3) earned its third consecutive spot in the quarterfinals and will host No. 3 Elkhorn (8-2) next Friday.

Aaron Roberg and Kellen Werner split up the Islanders’ four touchdowns. Roberg scored on a 3-yard run and then on a 52-yard screen pass on a third-and-18 during the opening drive of the second half for a 14-3 lead.

Werner, the older brother of Islander quarterback Adam Werner, ran in from 5 and 3 yards on the next two Grand Island series to maintain the lead on the Vikings (7-3) at Kinnick Stadium.

“We knew against them, you couldn’t be the ones playing catch-up,’’ Grand Island coach Jeff Tomlin said. “The last month or so, we’ve continually gotten better with our execution.’’
Roberg broke several tackles on the screen pass, which came the play after Adam Werner tripped coming away from center, fumbled and fell on the loose ball.

“That was near-perfect execution,’’ Roberg said.

Grand Island gave up 287 yards to the Vikings, with returning all-stater Ron Coleman picking up 119 yards on 17 carries. The bruising back, however, scored only on a 2-point conversion.

North’s touchdowns, both in the second half after Marco Corona’s 35-yard field goal opened the scoring, were on a 40-yard keeper by Jordan Davis and a 19-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter by Thomas Hodges.

At that point, North trailed 21-18 and a decision late in the first half to run a fake field-goal play loomed large.

Set up for a 27-yard attempt, the Vikings had holder Mitch Johnson throw into the end zone for tight end Andrew Jindra. But Louis Kaelin made the first of his two interceptions.

“It was worth going for, because we thought we’d score a couple more times,’’ Martin said. “We just couldn’t get them stopped on defense.’’

Grand Island added to its 28-18 lead with a five-play, 67-yard drive aided by a horse-collar penalty on North at the end of a 21-yard run by Adam Werner.

Three plays later, Kellen Werner’s touchdown made it 28-18 and a 26-yard field goal by Logan Mendez, after the Islanders’ defense forced the only three-and-out of the game, pushed it to a 13-point game.

Kaelin’s second interception, at midfield, ended North’s last hopes with 2:27 left.
Werner threw for 130 yards. Kellen Werner ran for 65 yards.

It was Grand Island’s fourth consecutive victory since a 19-0 loss to Fremont (1-8) on Oct. 2.


Contact the writer:
444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com