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SENECA – After allowing a pair of big scoring plays toward the end of the second quarter and trailing going into halftime in Friday’s Class 2A playoff game, Seneca flipped the script in the third quarter against El Paso-Gridley.
Down four, the Fighting Irish scored on the first possession of the second half to retake the lead, stopped the Titans after an extended drive, then scored a pair of touchdowns in eight seconds before getting another stop and posting another score in the third quarter on the way to a 39-23 victory.
The win improves No. 7-seeded Seneca to 9-1 on the season as it moves on to a road game against No. 2 seed Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin, a 14-6 winner over Erie-Prophetstown on Saturday. El Paso-Gridley, which was the No. 10 seed, ends the season 6-4.
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“As good as our offense was in the third quarter, I feel like our defense was even better,” Seneca coach Terry Maxwell said. “We gave up a couple of big pass plays there in the second, and we challenged the defense to step up in the second half, and they did and then some.
“We had kids flying to the football in the third quarter, and that’s part of what it takes to win playoff games. The kids really came out in the second half with better energy and showed they want to keep this season going.
“El Paso-Gridley is very tough and explosive, and they showed that in the first half. Having the ball to start the second half and then being able to put the ball in the end zone was a big momentum-builder for us.”
“I know eventually, maybe me or one of my teammates, is going to get a big hole from our offensive line and good things are going to happen.”
— Brody Rademacher, Seneca senior running back
On the fifth play to start the third, Seneca took the lead for good on a 54-yard TD run by Nick Grant. EPG then went 60 yards in 13 plays but was stopped on fourth down at the Irish 27.
[ Photos: Seneca vs. El Paso-Gridley in the Class 2A football playoffs ]
On the next play, Brody Rademacher streaked 73 yards for a TD, and Kevin Einhaus recovered the ensuing kickoff when it bounced away from the Titans’ return man at the EPG 21. The following play, QB Paxton Giertz hit a wide-open Cameron Shriey straight down the field for a TD to make it 32-16.
Rademacher added a 36-yard score to make it 39-16 heading to the fourth quarter. EPG notched a TD with 4 minutes to play.
“You just have to keep running hard,” said Rademacher, who had 16 yards on five carries in the first half and ended with 124 yards on eight. “I know eventually, maybe me or one of my teammates, is going to get a big hole from our offensive line and good things are going to happen.
“The hole was unbelievably wide on the first (TD) and even wider on the second one. When you can get through the line untouched, that just gives you so much momentum once you get to the second and third levels.”
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Seneca led 6-0 after the first quarter on a Giertz 1-yard plunge. EPG opened the second quarter with a 26-yard field goal by Owen Bergquist, but the hosts made it 12-3 on a Giertz-to-Brady Sheedy 10-yard TD pass.
The Titans closed to 12-10 on an Owen Adams-to-Cha’von Maxon 71-yard tunnel screen, and after forcing a punt grabbed the lead on an Adams-to-Jayvion Maxon 32-yard passing score to lead 16-12 at the intermission.
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Behind Rademacher, Grant finished with 11 carries for 106 yards, Giertz 12 for 62 and Shriey 10 for 34. Seneca finished with 367 total yards, 336 coming on 43 carries.
EPG finished with 405 total yards, with Adams, a sophomore, going 19-for-31 passing for 281 yards, 11 of those completions going to classmate Jayvion Maxon for 160 yards.
“The margin for error in the playoffs is very thin,” EPG coach Tanner Benedict said. “When you play a team like Seneca that is well coached and runs the offense they run, you almost have to be perfect on every play defensively, and I thought we did a great job in the first half. Then in the second half we made a few overall mistakes, and they took advantage of every one. We had a couple big plays in the first half offensively to get us the lead, and then they came right back and had big plays in the third quarter to turn the game around.
“Credit to Seneca, they did what they do really well tonight, but I also want to credit our kids for hanging in there and battling them to the end.”