One way for a lower-seeded team to upend a higher-seeded foe in playoff football is to break their confidence and spirit early.
The 11th-seeded Boone Central Cardinals did just that at #6 seed Broken Bow Thursday, Oct. 28. The Cards pillaged four first-half turnovers and bolted to a 21-0 lead by intermission on their way to a 21-9 upset victory in the Qualifying Round of the 2010 Nebraska State High School Football Playoffs.
In all, Boone Central forced six Indian turnovers and passed for 190 yards, all in that scintillating first half, to knock off a 6-2 Broken Bow squad that entered the contest ranked 5th in Class C1 by the Omaha World-Herald.
The win advances the Cardinals to the second round and a rematch with District C1-8 foe St. Paul Wednesday. Boone Central (6-3), which defeated the 5-4 Wildcats 24-15 Oct. 8, will host the contest at the athletic field in Albion (6 p.m.).
Terrific Start
Boone Central Coach Arnie Johnson and staff scripted a nearly perfect first half Thursday, making ample use of a shotgun-spread offensive attack, and Cardinal players executed at a high level on both sides of the ball.
“We had a fantastic start!” Johnson acknowledged. “Our defense did a great job stopping Broken Bow’s strong running game and our offense’s execution was really quite amazing at times.
“We saw Broken Bow players on the ground often from solid, hard blocking by our line and the backs and receivers made some really outstanding plays to keep scoring drives alive.”
Domination would not be an overly lofty description of Boone Central’s play in the opening 24 minutes.
Broken Bow went three-plays-and-punt on its first two series, then turned the ball over on four straight possessions in the first half. Meanwhile, Boone Central racked up 280 of its 330 total yards and scored all of its points by intermission.
Complete Details in Print & Online Editions of Albion News
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