• Photo Showcase: Nebraska prep football playoffs, Nov. 22

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• Video: Watch highlights from Monday night's Class A final between Millard North and Millard South:



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LINCOLN — What was one more comeback for the Millard North seniors?

They had been thrown into the varsity fray as sophomores, taking their lumps in a 2-7 season. More setbacks came last year from injuries.

Then in their final game in the gray helmets with the athletic tape, they trailed rival Millard South 17-0 in Monday night's Class A football championship game.

They were still behind 20-7 at halftime before coming up with three touchdowns in the third quarter and shutting out the defending champion in the second half for a 28-20 victory before 5,245 at Memorial Stadium.

At the half, linebacker Ben Jansen said, “we said if our offense can put some points on the board, our defense will step up.”

It was a combination that allowed the top-ranked Mustangs to finish an 11-2 season with their first state title since 2005 and the third in school history.

In the third quarter, senior Devin Bass scored on a 3-yard run and a 45-yard pass play that was sophomore quarterback Isaac Aakre's second touchdown pass of the game. Those put Millard North ahead 21-20, and Aakre made it 28-20 on a 1-yard sneak after he had scooted 52 yards to begin the 60-yard drive.

“Those touchdown passes, those are things you can't let them have, because they're not a passing team,” Millard South coach Andy Means said. “It's assignment football, and we didn't do the job."

Mark Chavez felt that way earlier. The Mustangs' defensive coordinator had watched Millard South senior quarterback Blake Headley break runs of 37, 20 and 72 yards that fueled the opening outburst for the No. 2 Patriots (11-2).

“We were being overaggressive on the running back slicing away, and that left nobody on the quarterback when we should have had two, maybe three guys on him," Chavez said. “It was a matter of being disciplined.

“We just settled them down, said to read your keys and we played base defense the rest of the way. As simple as that."

After gouging the Mustangs for 308 yards in the first half, Millard South managed just 129 in the second half. The Mustangs had 111 yards at halftime and finished with 450.

Aakre ran for 155 yards — seven more than Headley — and threw for 124.

Millard South built its lead as Headley found the end zone on his 37-yard run and Elijah Tostenson made a one-handed grab of a Headley pass for a 26-yard touchdown reception. Millard North then held the Patriots to a 21-yard field goal from Joel Fickel on their next series.

“What went right for us is we held them to a field goal," Millard North coach Fred Petito said. “Then we got a little spark, scored, and then we held them to another field goal and it's ‘OK, these guys aren't invincible."'

Millard North resorted to passing to get its offense untracked.

Aakre had four completions for 79 of the 80 yards of a possession that picked up three first downs before a 47-yard strike to Derek Hord along the right sideline. Hord caught the ball over Collins inside the Patriots 20 for the touchdown.

Even Petito was amused that it was Millard North's third consecutive completion.

“Millard North, right? What do you expect?” he said.

Millard South got another 21-yard field goal from Fickel to end the half — and its scoring, as it turned out.

In the fourth quarter, the Patriots got to the Millard North 29 before a 32-yard holding penalty led to a punt and to the MN 44 on what would be their final possession. The Mustangs ran out the final 5:51 to keep Millard South from being the first team in Class A to win state titles in consecutive seasons since Lincoln Southeast in 1997 and 1998.

“We just settled down totally and played the type of ball you can see we're capable of playing in the second half," Petito said.

Millard North (11-2)..................0 7 21 0—28
Millard South (11-2)..................7 13 0 0—20
MS: Blake Headley 37 run (Joel Fickel kick)
MS: Elijah Tostenson 26 pass from Headley (Fickel kick)
MS: FG Fickel 21
MN: Derek Hord 47 pass from Isaac Aakre (Andy Bayne kick)
MS: FG Fickel 21
MN: Devin Bass 3 run (Bayne kick)
MN: Bass 45 pass from Aakre (Bayne kick)
MN: Aakre 1 run (Bayne kick)
A: 5,245

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: MN, Aakre 17-155, Jacob Bergmeier 4-82, Chris Bailey 12-68, Devin Bass 8-25, Nick Bellus 2-minus 3, team 1-minus 1. MS, Headley 8-148, Tré Sacks 9-69, Quentin Urban 11-36, Eddie Collins 6-21, Eric Nicholsen 1-0.
PASSING: MN, Aakre 5-7-0 124. MS, Headley 11-24-0 163.
RECEIVING: MN, Bass 3-67, Hord 1-47, Eric Christopherson 1-10. MS, Urban 4-73, Tostenson 4-66, Sacks 2-14, Brandon Clark 1-10.
DEFENSE (unassisted-assisted-total): MN, Cole Fisher 7-5-12, Ben Jansen 7-3-10, Brandon Aldy 2-4-6, Christopherson 2-3-5, Josh Couch 3-0-3, Matt Miller 2-2-4, Landon Arnold 2-1-3, Bass 2-1-3, Kyle Erickson 1-2-3, Cale Korbelik 1-1-2, Damond Parker 1-1-2, Sam Davidson 1-1-2, Ryan Wheeler 1-0-1, Nick Marchese 1-0-1, Bergmeier 1-0-1, Nick DeLuca 0-2-2, Logan Arnold 0-1-1, Steve Price 0-1-1. MS, Tostenson 6-4-10, Freeman Coleman 4-3-7, Sheldon Garcia 2-7-9, Collins 4-0-4, Bryce Sasnowski 2-4-6, Urban 1-5-6, Logan Miller 1-5-6, Nick Ragan 2-2-4, Kyle Doran 0-5-5, Jordan Wisdom 0-5-5, Christian Spaccarotella 2-0-2, Marshall Scott 1-1-2, Jossue Cortes 1-0-1, James Fortner 0-2-2, Tyler Pavich 0-1-1, Alex Carr 0-1-1, Headley 0-1-1.
FUMBLE RECOVERY: MS, Garcia.

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