It was a perfect 60 degree Friday night and the Elkhorn North Wolves hosted the Blair Bears for the regular season finale. The Wolves received the first half kickoff. The first drive, for the Wolves, took forever, taking off more than seven minutes off the game clock. After some quick, short yardage gains, Johnny Ferguson took matters into his own hands and scrambled for a 20+ yard touchdown. Shortly after, the Bears wasted no time, and scored a touchdown of their own with a 30 yard pass. Johnny Ferguson showed signs of struggle after he threw an interception with one minute left in the first quarter, giving the Bears the ball at midfield. The first quarter ended with a score of 7-7.
The second quarter started off with the Bears punting the ball immediately. As seen in the first quarter, Johnny Ferguson threw another interception with ten minutes left in the half. The Wolves defense stepped up yet again and forced the Bears to punt. Ferguson and the Wolves took the stop to heart and turned things around. Ferguson found senior receiver Tommy Meckna deep for a 75 yard touchdown pass. The Bears thought this big play was all luck, because they marched down the field with ease, getting to midfield. However, the momentum continued to swing in favor of the Wolves as the drive came to an abrupt stop with senior lineman Sam Thomas getting a big time sack. The Wolves defense continued to show no mercy, and made the Bears give up their possession with just over a minute left in the first half. The Wolves attempted a quick field goal, kicked by Chase Loftin, that went wide, ending the half 14-7.
The third quarter started off with the Wolves defense stopping the Bears in every possible way. The Bears offense was struggling so much on the opening drive of the second half, that they had to punt the ball just over a minute into the third quarter. Quickly after this defensive stop, starting quarterback Johnny Ferguson threw a beautiful 50 yard pass, but this time it was to senior receiver Ty Kunz. This big play resulted in another touchdown for the Wolves. Following a quickly ending drive by Blair, Ferguson continued to create big plays, including a huge 40 yard run, where he was tackled just short of the end zone. On a quarterback keeper, he punched the ball in for a score. The Bears were growing desperate and pulled a trick play out of their back pocket, but it only resulted in a short ten yard gain. This play ended the third quarter with a score of 28-7.
After a long and one sided third quarter, the fourth quarter started with yet another long run by Johnny Ferguson. Just a few plays after this, Johnny Ferguson drops back to pass, and throws a deep ball to junior running back Jett Tingelhoff, but the Bears defense interferes with the route running, resulting in a pass interference call. Just a couple plays after this penalty, Johnny Ferguson gets another touchdown with a ten yard run. As repeated and seen all game, the Wolves defense stops the Bears again, with a Tommy Meckna interception to almost seal the game. A hiccup came for Elkhorn North when senior running back Jeriah Station fumbled the ball around midfield. Fortunately for the Wolves, their defense stops Blair one last time, to end the game with a score of 35-7.
With this win, the Wolves become the 5th seed in the 2023 Class B state playoffs. They will face off against their rivals at Elkhorn High, who are the 12 seed, on Friday, October 27, at 8:00pm. If the Wolves win this game, they will continue on to play the winner of #4 York and #13 Scottsbluff.
