STATE FOOTBALL: Gretna Survives a Scare From Lincoln Southeast

GRETNA–(KLMS Oct. 28)–A typical two-seed vs. fifteen-seed in a playoff setting usually doesn’t end in a narrow margin.

On Friday night, that’s what it took for No. 2 seed and top-ranked Gretna to defeat No. 15 seed Lincoln Southeast by the final of 27-24.  Not at any point in the game did either team lead by more than seven points.

But Gretna had to rely on defense late to seal the win and remain undefeated at 10-0, when they host Bellevue West next Friday.

The Dragons initially converted on their first play of the game, but later was forced to punt.  The Knights, meanwhile, wasted no time utilizing their ground game on their first possession.  Quarterback Owen Baxter managed to score on an 19-yard touchdown run off a broken play that capped Southeast’s initial 66-yard drive for a 7-0 first quarter lead.

Riley Egenberger had a pair of touchdown runs to give Gretna a 14-7 lead with 1:39 left in the first quarter.

Baxter would score again for Southeast on an 18-yard run to tie the game at 14 and the Knights took control with 11:07 left in the second quarter on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Baxter to Henry Woods for a 21-14 lead.

Tyson Boganowski returned the ensuing kick 71-yards that later set up Gretna’s Riley Egenberger to score off a six-yard run.  Following the recovery of a Southeast fumble off a dropped punt, the Dragons utilized some tricks out of the old playbook.

Gretna quarterback and Oklahoma State commit Zane Flores threw a swing pass to Boganowski, who found Blayke Moore on a 29-yard touchdown pass the tied the game at 21 early in the second quarter.

The Dragons went up 24-21 when Cameron Bothwell nailed a 30-yard FG and the defense continued to stymie the Knights’ game plans.  Baxter was sacked several times in the second half, as Gretna’s defense continued to show blitz.

Still, Southeast found a way to tie the game on a 31-yard field goal from Nate McCashland.

The Knights had opportunities to convert and take the lead, including with 3:32 left when Baxter threw a deep pass into the end zone that was intercepted by Gretna’s Tyson Boganowski.

The Dragons snapped the football and moved it across midfield before setting up in victory formation to run out the clock.