For about the first 23 minutes of Friday night’s football game at Seacrest Field, it was pure defense that prevented Lincoln Southeast and Lincoln Southwest from scoring.

But a big 35-yard pass play from quarterback Coleby Daffer to Isaac Appleget set up a 6-yard touchdown run from senior running back Nick Halleen for the first score of the game right before halftime and helped the Class A No. 9 Knights to a 28-0 win over the Silver Hawks before 5,295 fans, in a game heard on ESPN Lincoln FM101.5/1480AM.

Halleen’s first touchdown with 56 seconds left in the second quarter gave Southeast a 7-0 lead.  The transfer from Lincoln Northeast finished with 224 yards rushing on 28 carries.

Halleen capped a 9-play, 65-yard drive on a seven-yard touchdown run on the Knights’ first possession of the third quarter for a 14-0 lead.  He then ran the ball a total of 49-yards on Southeast’s next drive and capped it with an eight-yard run to start the fourth quarter.

Southwest’s Grant Miller fumbled the football on the ensuing kickoff and Southeast recovered.  Halleen later scored from three-yards out to give the Knights their final scoring drive of the game with 11:28 remaining.

Southeast (1-1) had 292 yards on the ground as a team.

Southwest (1-1) had drive opportunities in Southeast territory on three occasions but nothing materialized.  The Silver Hawks had a drive stall at the Southeast six-yard line and another resulted in a 25-yard field goal attempt from Jacob Hohl being blocked.

Southwest quarterback Laken Harnly had 108 total yards, 70 of which were rushing.