The Millard South Patriots will take on the Kearney Bearcats at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.
Millard South is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Millard West, who was ranked 25th in their home state at the time (Millard South was ranked third). Millard South really took it to Millard West for the full four quarters, racking up a 56-0 victory at home. The Patriots pushed the score to 49-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Wildcats had no chance of recovering from.
Millard South's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Chase Loftin led the charge by picking up 111 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Aamir Hill was another key receiver, picking up 52 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Millard South wouldn't let Millard West keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Amarion Jackson, Dayton Gaius, and Eli Mitchell picked up one apiece. Gaius also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, forcing a fumble, making two total tackles (1.0 for loss), and defending two passes. Another thorn in Millard West's side was Dylan Kuhl, who picked up a sack and made eight total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Kearney got themselves on the board against Grand Island on Friday, but Grand Island never followed suit. They took their contest on the road with ease, bagging a 42-0 win over the Islanders. Given the Bearcats' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska football rankings (they are ranked tenth, while the Islanders are ranked 50th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Griffin Novacek went supernova for Kearney, rushing for 21 yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing for 90 yards and two touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes. Samuel Nachtigal was another key player, rushing for 135 yards while picking up 7.5 yards per carry.
Nachtigal wasn't the only one working in the rushing yards department: Kearney was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 293 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September of 2023.
The victory got Millard South back to even at 1-1. As for Kearney, their win was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 2-0.
Millard South strolled past Kearney in their previous matchup back in October of 2022 by a score of 35-21. Does Millard South have another victory up their sleeve, or will Kearney turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
