After a dominant victory over Burke, Prep traveled downtown to take on the Central Eagles. Prep came into the game 2-4 looking to start a winning streak. Meanwhile, Central came in after a crushing last-second loss to Omaha North. Central was looking to open districts with a win on their homecoming night.
The first quarter was a defensive showdown. Neither team could score, with the only scoring opportunity being a missed field goal from Prep kicker Andrew Gotch.
In the second quarter, Prep quarterback Tony Coniglio found running back Jacob Ruby for a 31-yard touchdown.
After the score, the Eagles offense was forced to punt but quickly responded as cornerback Kevon Newsome picked off Coniglio.
On the next play, wide receiver Dashawn Prince took a pass from quarterback B.J. Newsome 50 yards for an Eagles touchdown. On their next drive, Central extended their lead with a 6-yard rushing touchdown from running back Kylonn Haynie. Haynie tore up the Junior Jays, with 17 carries for 115 yards.
The Junior Jay offense tried to respond, but Eagles safety De’anthony Dial intercepted Coniglio. Fortunately, the Prep defense forced a punt and Coniglio snuck in a 1-yard touchdown.
It looked like the half was over, but with 54 seconds and 1 timeout, Central drove down the field and Prince got his second touchdown on a 32-yard grab, sending the Junior Jays into the locker room with a 20-14 deficit.
The third quarter saw little action until Coniglio found receiver Eddie Schafer for a 42-yard touchdown, giving Prep a 21-20 lead.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Junior Jays defensive tackle Shalingy Krani dropped back in coverage and picked off Newsome. This led to a 28-yard touchdown grab for Michael Burt, giving Prep an eight-point lead with just 4 minutes left in the game.
With their backs against the wall, Central showed they wouldn’t go down easy. A big return from receiver Amir Hill set the Central offense at the 50-yard line to start the drive. Central drove down the field and capped off their drive with a 13-yard touchdown from running back Kevin McGee. McGee then ran in the two-point conversion, tying the game with a minute left.
Regulation ended and Creighton Prep was off to overtime for the second time this year (cue the flashbacks to the heartbreaking loss to Gretna).
The Junior Jay defense took the field needing a stop, and that’s exactly what they did. Defensive end Sean Skrydlak forced a fumble from Newsome, and linebacker Ian Asselin dove on it. All the offense needed to do was score and the Junior Jays would walk away as victors.
The offense took the field, and on the second play from scrimmage, Jacob Ruby took a 14-yard rush into the end zone for a walk-off touchdown, spoiling the Eagle’s homecoming night.
The Junior Jays showed lots of resilience in this game. Prep had lost every game where they were losing at halftime, yet overcame the deficit this time. The defense only allowed 7 points in the second half and forced 3 turnovers from the Eagles.
Most importantly, the offense kept gaining momentum. Although Prep turned the ball over twice, 34 points was their second-highest total of the year.
In the past two games, Coniglio and the Prep offense have scored 96 points and hope to keep that momentum going throughout the end of the season.
This week, Prep has a bye before hosting Papillion at Burke Stadium on October 12.
