Lyons-Decatur Loses Close One in First Round of Playoffs

By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

Lyons-Decatur journeyed to Nuckolls county next to the Kansas border for their first round game in the NSAA Class D-2 playoffs.   Their opponent was Lawrence-Nelson.  The Cougars and Raiders locked up in a defensive first half before the host pulled away for a 38-22 win.

The teams traded touchdowns in the first period.  Lawrence-Nelson scored with a 5 yard run by Gavyn Buschkoetter.  Northeast countered with a 37 yard pass play from Montana Riecken to Tyler Kroger.

The second period proved to be a scoreless, but the Raider defense had to  rise to the occasion to stop the Cougars in the red zone twice.

Lawrence -Nelson started the second half with as ten play drive.  The marched 42 yards with Buschkoetter finishing it off with a 3 yard.  The double extra point pass play made it 16-8.

Lyons-Decatur NE advanced the ball all the way into the Raider red zone on the ensuing drive, but Lawrence-Nelson stopped yet a 3rd drive at the Raider four yard line.

On the very next play, Gavyn Buschkoetter took a handoff into the heart of the Cougar line, appeared to be stopped, then pulled off a Tommy Fraiser type bowl game run, escaping from the pile to sprint 76 yards for a touchdown. That stretched the Raider lead to 24-8 with 5:08 left in the 3rd quarter.

Marcus Hegy brought the Cougars to within ten points as he scored with 2:09 left in the quarter.  The 24-14 score would be as close as the Cougars would get.  Penalties and a swarming Raider defense would limit the Cougars chances to get any closer in the fourth period.

L-N would stretch their lead to 38-14 with scores on a 13 yard pass and a 9 yard run in the fourth period.  Northeast would get the final points on a Hegy 1 yard run.

Gavyn Buschkoetter was the sparkler for the ground oriented Lawrence-Nelson (8-1) Raiders. The slippery, hard pounding junior ran for 195 yards on 27 carries and 3 TDs. He also was in on 21 tackles on defense.

Marcus Hegy closed out his career with 138 yards rushing on 31 carries.  Montana  Riecken got 66 yards on the ground and passed for 157 on 10 completions on 15 attempts. . Glue handed junior Jon Christensen caught four Riecken passes for 82 yards, and all were  tough circus type catches.

Marcus Hegy and Jayden Vetick, the two senior players closed out their year with a strong showing. Besides leading the rushing attack, Hegy  had 13 tackle and TFL.  Vetick had 6 tackles to go along with 3 receptions and 35 yards on offense.

For the LDNE  they will put away their Maroon, Gold, and White uniforms for the last time.  Next season will be a new name, new colors and a new mascot.  They  finish the year with a 5-4 record.

Lawrence-Nelson advances to the quarterfinals of the D-2 playoffs and will pack the bags and prepare for the long journey to Wynot.

LDNE 8 0 6 8 -22
L-N 8 0 16 14 -26

1st quarter

Gavyn Buschkoetter 5 Yard TD Run 0-8
run Good

Riecken to Kroger 37 Yard TD Pass 8-8
Riecken to Vetick Good

2nd Quarter

No Scoring

3rd Quarter

Buschkoetter 3 Yard TD Run 8-16
Pass Good

Buschkoetter 76 TD Run 8-14
run good

Hegy 1 Yard TD run 14-24
no good

4th Quarter

Biltoft to Miller  13 Yard TD 14-30
no good run

Byers  9 Yard TD 38-14
Pass Good

Hegy 1 Yard TD Run 38-22
Hegy Run good