LEXINGTON, Neb. — Playing a home game almost 254 miles from its home field, Gering looked right at home.

Quarterback Patrick O'Boyle threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns on a soaked, muddy playing surface to power Gering to a 23-7 win over Lexington in the Class B football playoffs Saturday afternoon.

Gering — the No. 2 seed in the West Bracket — was originally scheduled to host No. 7 seed Lexington on Friday, but heavy snow postponed the game, which was eventually moved to Lexington.

It didn't take long for O'Boyle to get Gering's offense going. The senior quarterback connected with his brother Danny for a 67-yard TD pass on the game's second offensive play. Danny O'Boyle finished with three catches for 99 yards.

“We tried to catch them early in a broken coverage, and we did, and that early ball I think really loosened us up and let us play,” Gering coach Tom O'Boyle said.

Patrick O'Boyle later found Saxon Lee on a quick slant for an 11-yard score with 5 minutes, 52 seconds left in the second quarter. Patrick O'Boyle was 7 of 11 passing for 182 yards in the first half, and finished 12 of 20 with one interception.

His accuracy helped Gering pick up big chunks of yardage on short passing plays, as O'Boyle was able to hit his receivers in stride.

“We wanted to throw the ball a lot. We could run the ball off-tackle, and I think we did do a good job of doing that late,” Tom O'Boyle said. “We wanted to run the ball off-tackle, but it just ended up we were able to throw short stop routes or slants, and our kids did a great job of catching the ball.”

Lexington had its chances to put up points early, but came away empty.

“When you have a chance you have to convert,” Lexington coach Phil Truax said. “If you don't convert you're going to lose and that's what happened.”

Gering's defense held Lexington to 119 total yards before the Minutemen marched 90 yards on four plays for their only score — a R.J. Seberger 26-yard touchdown pass to Hawken Albus — with 17.5 seconds left.

Lexington (5-5)...............0 0 0 7—7
Gering (9-1)..............7 6 7 3—23
G: Danny O'Boyle 67 pass Patrick O'Boyle (Schyler Ferguson kick)
G: Saxon Lee 11 pass from Patrick O'Boyle (run failed)
G: Patrick O'Boyle 1 run (Ferguson kick)
G: Ferguson 28 FG
L: Hawken Albus 26 pass from R.J. Seberger (Matt Karges kick)

Aurora 54, Alliance 18

AURORA — Aurora put its explosive offense on display early in its Class B playoff first round meeting with Alliance on Saturday.

The No 1-rated Huskies' first quarter numbers were impressive — eight plays, 215 yards and three touchdowns.

And the big plays kept coming. In the end, Aurora (10-0) amassed 428 yards of offense on just 31 snaps while rolling to a 54-18 win.

“I really think the kids were ready to play,” Aurora coach Randy Huebert said. “I hoped for us to play hard and show improvement, and I think we did. Our kids did a nice job executing on offense.”

Alliance (3-7) found itself staring at a 27-0 deficit at the end of the first quarter.

Aurora's second play of the game resulted in a 91-yard touchdown run by quarterback Tyson Broekemeier.

James Van Pelt added a 10-yard touchdown run and an 80-yard TD reception which was tipped right into his hands by Alliance linebacker Cody Anthony. Van Pelt finished with two receptions for 100 yards, four carries for 41 yards and two kickoff returns for 98 yards.

Broekemeier's totals in his half of work were 5-for-7 passing for 152 yards and three touchdowns and two carries for 95 yards.

“We've got a lot of athletes,” Van Pelt said. “We can go different ways. We can run the ball or we can throw the ball. We can do anything.

“It's nice getting up on them right away. You know you can get your starters out and stay healthy. It seems like when we get ahead early is when we start driving, and that's when we blow people out.”

Alliance (3-7)................0 3 7 8—18
Aurora (10-0)...............27 13 14 0—54
Aur.: Broekemeier 91 run (kick failed)
Aur.: Van Pelt 10 run (Broekemeier kick)
Aur.: Bart 40 interception (Broekemeier kick)
Aur.: Van Pelt 80 pass from Broekemeier (Broekemeier kick)
Aur.: Suck 11 pass from Broekemeier (kick blocked)
All.: Clark 31 field goal
Aur.: Suck 31 pass from Broekemeier (Broekemeier kick)
Aur.: Vincent 2 run (Bieke kick)
All.: Pflughaupt 90 kickoff return (Clark kick)
Aur.: Thorell 55 run (Bieke kick)
All.: Pancost 5 run (pass)

McCook 13,Ogallala 2

OGALLALA, Neb. — After losing at home in the final week of the season to Ogallala, McCook got its revenge, winning 13-2 and knocking the Indians out of the playoffs. Chad Stull scored both Bison touchdowns, one in each half. Ogallala moved the ball to the McCook 1-yard line midway through the fourth quarter, but lost the ball on a fumble. The Bison then held on to the ball and ran out the clock.

McCook (7-3)............7 0 6 0—13
Ogallala (7-3)..............0 2 0 0—2
McC.: Stull 48 run (Wallen kick)
Og.: Safety
McC.: Stull 1 run (run failed)

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