The Lincoln East Spartans will venture away from home to square off against the Millard North Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Lincoln East is coming into the contest hot, having won their last four games.
Lincoln East is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Kearney, who was ranked 17th at the time (Lincoln East was ranked 22nd). The Spartans came out on top against the Bearcats by a score of 17-10 on Friday. The score was all tied up 3-3 at the break, but the Spartans were the better team in the second half.
The critical scores for Lincoln East came from Kyle Campbell and Najee Brown.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Lincoln East proved: they limited Kearney to a paltry 0.8 yards per carry. While one picked up at least four total tackles, Dominic Velasquez stood above the rest. He picked up a sack and made four total tackles in addition to snagging an interception. Lincoln East's ground attack was stronger, having averaged 3.5.
Lincoln East's defense didn't let Zach Atchison, get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for 3.5 sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Velasquez, Parker Johnson, and Elijah Gutz, who each picked up one sack apiece.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Millard North). Their defense stepped up to hand Bryan a 56-0 shutout on Thursday. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Mustangs considering their seven-point performance the game before.
Millard North's win came from a few key players Lincoln East will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Isaiah Traylor, who rushed for 75 yards and one touchdown on only eight carries, and also picked up 46 receiving yards and one TD. Another player making a difference was Zion Rush, who picked up 55 receiving yards and one score.
Millard North didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Araf Evans JR and Carter Peterson. Evans JR is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in each of the last three games he's played.
Special teams was a major factor in the game for Millard North, racking up 14 points in total. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Jaron Faughn, who ran a punt back for a touchdown.
Millard North's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-4. As for Lincoln East, their record is now 4-1.
Lincoln East took a serious blow against Millard North in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, falling 55-28. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rush, who threw for 310 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 11.5 yards per attempt. Now that the Spartans know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
