Spartan defense bears down, halts Panthers

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By TOMMY DAHLK / Lincoln Journal Star

Yes, that was the same Lincoln East defense in the second half Friday.

After letting Norfolk quarterback Lance Lawson and fullback Tyson McGill do practically whatever they wanted in the first half, the Spartan defense forced three  second-half turnovers and helped East to a 38-31 homecoming victory at Seacrest Field.

“We started playing with heart,” said senior safety Reece Schwartz, who had two interceptions. “We hadn’t done that all year. We just tackled and played hard. We didn’t do that in the first half, but we did in the second.”

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Norfolk took a 10-point first-quarter lead. The Spartans answered with a touchdown on the opening drive of the second quarter.

The Panthers answered when  McGill scampered 56 yards to set up a Lawson score.

Trailing 17-7, East’s Drew Zobel couldn’t grab the ensuing kickoff but quickly snatched it off the ground and returned it 82 yards for a score. The PAT failed.

Spartan coach John Gingery said the return kept East in the game.

“That was huge,” Gingery said. “That’s the way it always goes, too. The kid bobbles the ball a little bit and everybody breaks down and  he makes a good read and zips to the outside.”

Lawson coughed up the ball on Norfolk’s next series, and East’s Pete Meginnis recovered the fumble deep in Norfolk territory.  East settled for a field goal.

Lawson made up for his fumble on Norfolk’s next series and scored on a 72-yard run.

East again responded with a score. This time, sophomore quarterback Bryce Bostwick led the Spartans down the field. He replaced senior starter Scott Sunderman, who had injured his neck on the previous drive. Bostwick found a wide-open Tyson Clark in the end zone for a 15-yard score and later connected with Nick Kohler on the two-point conversion to tie the game 24-24 at halftime.

Lawson ran for 118 yards in the first half, while McGill had 122. The Panthers didn’t punt once in the first half.

Norfolk’s backfield duo couldn’t get anything  going in the second half. The Spartan defense didn’t allow a first down during the whole third quarter.

“They have a great quarterback,” Gingery said. “You’ve got to take care of that quarterback in that offense. He killed us in the first half but our defensive ends did a great job of closing down and our linebackers did a better job of scraping outside.”

Schwartz, who had an interception at the end of the first half, grabbed another one and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown three minutes into the second half to give the Spartans a 31-24 lead.

Sunderman took over under center in the first series of the second half, but asked Gingery to put Bostwick back in after the drive.

The Panther offense finally got something going early in the fourth quarter, but the Spartan defense again rose to the challenge. Jeff Morrison picked off  Lawson and returned it 46 yards into Norfolk territory.

That set up another Bostwick touchdown pass and the Spartans took a 14-point lead with 7:29 left.

Norfolk scored a touchdown with two minutes left and got the ball back with 1:25 remaining.

The Panthers started to drive, but once again, the Spartan defense came up big. Kaleb Mar intercepted Lawson at the East 34-yard line to clinch the win.

Bostwick finished with 99 yards passing and 71 yards rushing on 25 carries.

“He stepped up after Scott got hurt,” Gingery said. “Our sophomore played like a veteran. He really did and I’m really pleased with the way Bryce played.”