Football Preview: Scottsbluff Bearcats vs. Elkhorn North
Two dominant signal callers in Nate Kelley and Ethan Beachy are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Scottsbluff Bearcats will square off against Elkhorn North at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Scottsbluff is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They took their game with ease, bagging a 55-27 victory over Gretna. The Bearcats pushed the score to 48-27 by the end of the third, a deficit the Dragons had little chance of recovering from.
Scottsbluff can attribute much of their success to Kelley, who rushed for 273 yards and six touchdowns on only 15 carries, and Desmonde Smith, who rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 13.4 yards per carry. With that strong performance, Kelley is now averaging an impressive 2.3 rushing touchdowns per game.
Another reason for the win was Scottsbluff's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for 4.5 sacks. In that department, Jhett Webb was the leader with two. He also set a new season high mark in total tackles with 20.
Scottsbluff was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 495 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Elkhorn North, who bounced back after a loss on the road two weeks ago. They blew past Elkhorn 35-14 on Friday. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for Elkhorn North considering their six-point performance the contest before.
Elkhorn North's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Beachy led the charge by rushing for 76 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries, while also throwing for 124 yards and two touchdowns. Jett Tingelhoff was another key rusher, rushing for 144 yards and a touchdown.
The win was the sixth in a row for Scottsbluff, bringing their record for this year to 9-1. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 31.3 points. As for Elkhorn North, they pushed their record up to 8-2 with the victory, which was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season.
Scottsbluff lost to Elkhorn North on the road by a decisive 35-16 margin in their previous meeting back in November of 2023. Can Scottsbluff avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
