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WISNER - Hartington-Newcastle hit the road as the lower seed in the opening round of the Class D1 Nebraska Football Playoffs and fell to Wisner-Pilger 38-28 to end its season at 6-3.
It was an even game until the third quarter when the Gators found the end zone three times to establish a slight lead.
Wisner-Pilger scored first on a short run then scored again early in the second 12 minutes on another short burst up the middle to make it 14-0 in favor of the Gators with 10:22 left in the first half.
Austin Sudbeck hooked up with Jason Heimes and a 23-yard toss and run and after a Kayne Gratzfeld extra point kick the ‘Cats cut the deficit in half with 6:30 left before the halftime huddle.
A little over two minutes later, Sudbeck was standing in the end zone after a 9-yard run and with the Gratzfeld kick the score was tied 14-14.
Wisner-Pilger scored to open the third frame with 7:31 left in the period, but Sudbeck blasted in from the 3 and the score was tied again at 20-20.
The Gators scored on a long run, but Sudbeck spotted Mason Krause running free in the middle of the field and they hooked up for a 42-yard touchdown and after Sudbeck ran in the conversion, HNS had its first lead of the game 28-26 with 2:28 left in the third.
The Wildcat lead lasted just less than a minute as the Gators scored from 48 yards out to go up 32-28.
Wisner-Pilger scored one last time in the fourth quarter to go up by the 10-point final score.
Sudbeck had another solid performance under center completing 15-of-26 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns and toted the pigskin 24 times for 113 yards and two additional scores.
Jason Heimes caught three Sudbeck passes for 54 yards and one touchdown, Krause caught three for 50 yards and a touchdown and Keatyn Arens hauled in seven passes for 62 yards.
Ashton Wakeley set the tone for the defense getting in on 13 total tackles and had one tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
Ty Opfer, Kyptin Collier and Lincoln Grutsch all had nine tackles with Opfer recovering a Gator fumble and Collier getting a tackle behind the line. Colton Cavanaugh also had a tackle for a loss.
H-N 0 14 14 0 — 28 W-P 8 6 18 6 — 38 FIRST QUARTER W-P: Jaxon Knoell 1 run, Knoell run, 6:08. 0-8.
SECOND QUARTER W-P: Knoell 2 run, run no good, 10:22.
0-14.
H-N: Jason Heimes 23 pass from Austin Sudbeck, Kayne Gratzfeld kick, 6:30.
7-14.
H-N: Austin Sudbeck 9 run, Kayne Gratzfeld kick, 4:11. 14-14.
THIRD QUARTER W-P: Logan Nelson 2 run, run no good, 7:31. 14-20.
H-N: Austin Sudbeck 3 run, kick no good, 5:02. 20-20.
W-P: Jaxon Knoell 45 run, run no good, 4:09. 20-26.
H-N: Mason Krause 42 pass from Austin Sudbeck, Sudbeck run, 2:28. 28-26.
W-P: Jaxon Knoell 48 run, run no good, 1:37. 28-32.
FOURTH QUARTER W-P: Jaxon Knoell 2 run, pass no good, 8:12. 28-38.
Hartington-Newcastle Passing Yards: 27-170.
Hartington-Newcastle Rushing Yards: 33-162.
Hartington-Newcastle Total Yards: 60332.
Hartington-Newcastle Individual Passing: Kayne Gratzfeld 1-1 (-10); Austin Sudbeck 15-26 180 2TD. Hartington-Newcastle Individual Rushing: Keatyn Arens 5-33; Austin Sudbeck 24113 1TD; Jason Heimes 4-16.
Hartington-Newcastle Individual Receiving: Kayne Gratzfeld 1-6; Keatyn Arens 7-62; Austin Sudbeck 1-(-10); Jason Heimes 3-54 1TD; Mason Krause 3-50 1TD; Gabe Reyes 1-8.
Hartington-Newcastle Individual Tackling: Ty Opfer 9 1FR; Keatyn Arens 5; Austin Sudbeck 4; Jason Heimes 9; Mason Krause 7; Trevon Hopping 1; Ashton Wakeley 13 1TFL; Gabe Reyes 1; Kyptin Collier 9 1TFL; Cris Kneifl 5; Colton Cavanaugh 4 1TFL; Lincoln Grutsch 9.
