Lafayette County likes to run the football — that’s no secret.
The Huskers (3-1) did exactly that Friday night against visiting Summit Christian, en route to an impressive 35-21 victory spurred by Gabe Nevels, Aron Vazquez and Austin Gard. The trio accounted for all five Lafayette County touchdowns, with Nevels scoring three of them.
After both teams failed to convert fourth down situations in the first quarter, Nevels decided to take matters into his own hands early in the second quarter as he ripped off a 25-yard run to open the scoring. Summit Christian had the play bottled up, but Nevels was able to break several would-be tackles, scampering into the end zone to give the Husker an early 7-0 lead.
Gard had scored on the play prior to Nevels’ 25-yard touchdown, but his 90-yard rumble was called back to an illegal block in the back.
“They (Summit Christian) had him (Nevels) hemmed up when he tried to bounce outside,” Lafayette County coach Steve Cook said. “He went down to hand and kept his legs churning and regained his balance and was able to find the end zone. … It was just a huge play and great second effort (by Nevels).”
The Huskers added to their lead midway through the second quarter. This time it was Vazquez who provided the fireworks as he cut his way through the Summit Christian defense for a 61-yard touchdown giving Lafayette County a 13-0 lead just before the half.
Looking for some momentum, Summit Christian turned to first year starting quarterback Joseph Lepak. After struggling to get things going through the air Summit Christian coach Todd Berck called the junior’s number and Lepak delivered in a big way with a 70-yard touchdown that trimmed the lead to 13-7.
“They, Summit Christian, did something they haven’t done all year,” Cook said. “They stayed in a trip set, but they stayed under center. It kind of adjusted our rules. We had some growing pains there when he busted a couple of those long runs. We switched the rules in the middle of the game and that’s hard for high school players anywhere. Once we got that figured out, we were able to come up with some big stops.”
Trailing 21-7 at the start of the fourth quarter, Summit Christian came storming as they scored on back-to-back drives. Senior running back Max Shoemake cut the Huskers lead to 21-14 with a 5-yard run and Lepak tied the game with a 25-yard run.
Summit Christian’s comeback was short lived as again, it was Nevels who put the Huskers back on top with yet another 45-yard run. Gard capped off the win in dying minutes, with an impressive 41-yard run as several Eagles had him wrapped up in the back field before breaking loose to put an exclamation point on the game for Lafayette County
