Crete prevails in OT for Class B crown

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BY KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star

Crete took the best-in-show award along with the Class B state football championship Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

The Cardinals posted back-to-back state championships with two stunning plays in overtime.

Quarterback John Levorson scored on a 10-yard run on the first play in the extra session and teammate Skyler Brandt tripped McCook quarterback Matt Berry on fourth down to help Crete to a 14-7 victory before 5,613 fans.

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Crete's Trevor Florendo (right) gets a hug from Cody Wockenfuss after defeating McCook on Saturday. (Heidi Hoffman)

Crete's Trevor Florendo (right) gets a hug from Cody Wockenfuss after defeating McCook on Saturday. (Heidi Hoffman)

“We ran the dog-trade for big plays and we got the option play for the biggest play of the night,” said Crete coach Chuck McGinnis, whose team finished 13-0 and dropped McCook to 12-1. “We played like bulldogs out there. And McCook showed it had all the fight we had, and at times a lot more.”

After running the “Dog trade,” shift �” moving four players from one side of the ball to the other before the snap �” on key fourth-down plays, Crete decided to go with an option play for the overtime touchdown.

Levorson, a Nebraska football recruit, took off to the left side of the field in the overtime behind tight end Garrett Reckling, tackle Brandon Wagner and guard Shane Renner. Levorson held the ball, almost in the stomach of fullback Marcus Smith for a few yards toward the sidelines.

Levorson then yanked the ball away, cut up the field and scored almost untouched to end the first Class B championship overtime game ever.

“All through the second half, we ran that play and I’d get the pitch because their defensive tackles would go for the quarterback and I was getting five, six yards a pop,” said Smith, who finished with 47 yards rushing, including 35 on nine carries in the second half. “That was the hardest hitting game we’ve ever been in. And we tried to play harder in the second half and they hit us harder, too.”

McCook’s Matt Berry ran for three yards on the Bison’s first play in overtime. He picked up two yards on the next play and handed off to Sam Frazier for three yards to the Crete two-yard line.

On fourth down, Berry took the snap from center but before he could make a move, Crete’s Brandt grabbed Berry’s ankle to end the game.

“I wanted to tackle him, of course,” Brandt said. “But I’m glad I saw him and I could grab him.”

Defenses ruled the game between the teams that both averaged more than 34 points a game. By the end, Crete finished with 217 yards of offense and McCook 218 yards.

--� Crete missed a field goal on with 1:06 left in regulation �” although many observers said Jordan Pedersen’s 23-yard effort would have been good if the goal posts were at high school width (23-feet, 4-inches) instead of the college width of 18-6.

--� Crete also had a 13-play drive end with a bad snap on a field goal attempt in the second quarter.

--� After Crete took a 7-0 lead on a touchdown run by Smith, McCook drove to just inside the Crete one-yard line with the help of a 30-yard run by Berry and a 23-yard pass from Berry to Andrew Reitz.

But by that time, according to McCook coach Jeff Gross, the Bison center, Joe Vetrovsky, had a gash in his thumb and was bleeding so much it hampered his efforts to get the snap to Berry. Berry fumbled and recovered the ball for a two-yard loss on third down. Then, a pitch from Berry to Zach Wieser went awry and Crete took over at the Cardinal nine-yard line.

McCook finally tied the game on a lighting drive that was ignited on two passes from Berry to for 80 yards to Tyron Sellers, including a 34-yard touchdown strike with 6:32 left in the fourth quarter.

“I thought 0-0 was nerve-wracking but we had a half left,” Levorson said. “Then, we get the lead and they tie it up. We played some great defense and they got those two long passes on us and tied it up. Our defense was the most physical I’ve ever seen. They notched it up and we hit harder.

“Both teams are going to feel this on Sunday.”

McGinnis said he had not practiced for overtime until the championship game this year.

“I knew it was going to be close, I just didn’t know which way, high scoring or low scoring,” he said. “Actually, I didn’t even see the play we stopped McCook on with fourth down in overtime. I was preparing for the second overtime.

“But we had big playmakers, make big plays and John Levorson finishing it off for us,” McGinnis said.

Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or�  khambleton@journalstar.com.