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WYNOT —The Wynot Blue Devils used a thrilling last-minute air assault to turn back Howells-Dodge here Friday, Nov. 10 to grab its first-ever ticket to the Class D2 finals at Memorial Stadium.
A destination shared by every single player and every single coach on the Wynot team.
“We have dreamed about this since we were little,” Wynot quarterback and defensive back, Dylan Heine said. “It is the best thing ever and we can’t wait.”
Wynot has waited, well, forever. It will be the first trip ever to Lincoln and Memorial Stadium, since the Blue Devils have been the Blue Devils.
“This is great for these guys,” Wynot coach Steve Heimes said. “We have knocked at this door, now we’re there and we’re going right in to see what we can do in the finals.”
The Blue Devils have disposed of backto- back Class D2 juggernauts, Humphrey St. Francis and the Jaguars on the journey to Lincoln.
In fact, Wynot defeated both powerhouses twice this season on the way to an 11-0 record.
The Blue Devils beat St. Francis, back on Sept. 1 in Humphrey, 14-6, and again in the quarterfinals of the playoffs, 34-12 to earn the right to play the Jaguars again.
“Give them credit,” Howells-Dodge head coach, Mike Speirs said. “They earned their way to Lincoln, no one can argue that.”
As for the Jaguars, Wynot defeated them back on Sept. 8, 32-26, to remain undefeated and keep the streak alive until the D2 semifinals.
“They just know how to win,” Speirs said. “They just know what to do to win, they just take care of their business.”
“Their business” involves throwing the football and being very stingy on defense to remain alive in the game.
The Blue Devils can run the ball, but prefer Heine find a receiver to either put distance between Wynot and an opponent, or take down an opponent.
“We have some talented guys, starting with Dylan,” Heimes said. “We also have Carson (Wieseler), Zack (Foxhoven), Joseph (Sudbeck) and Chase (Schroeder) who can catch the ball - and Dylan finds them.”
“We know when we get open, Dylan will find us,” Schroeder said. “You need to just grab the ball and hang on, he’ll get it to you.”
The Devil defense is a bit undersized, but has no trouble locking horns with the likes of Howells-Dodge, St. Francis, or Bloomfield.
“We’re going to play defense,” Heimes said. “We know our size, but we also know what we can do. We’ll mix it up with anyone.”
A fact to back up Heimes’ statement, the top two tacklers on the team, Zack Foxhoven and Andrew Haberman weigh 165 and 155 pounds, soaking wet.
The force along the line defensively is Schroeder, who does tower above his teammates with height, but looks more like a shooting forward on the hardwood than a menacing defensive end.
Don’t let looks deceive you. Foxhoven and Haberman combined for 268 tackles on the season and Schroeder registered eight sacks.
“They don’t look big on paper,” Speirs said. “But they will get after you, they hit you.”
In the finals, Wynot will come against an unknown commodity, Sandhills-Thedford, a team that earned revenge from a loss to South Loup earlier in the season to defeat the Bobcats, 33-18 to grab its trip to Tom Osborne Field and Memorial Stadium.
The Knights made it to the state finals in D2 in 2021 and 2020, where they lost both times.
Their style is the same as Wynot has faced all season.
Land versus sky will be the theme of the contest and which team does what it does best, better, will probably have some success.
Heine has passed for over 2,000 yards and 25 touchdowns in his senior campaign and has run for 334 yards and another five scores.
He has a very talented stable of receivers led by Wieseler who has 58 catches for 720 yards and six TD’s, Sudbeck grabbed 43 aerials for 656 yards and eight scores and Schroeder has scored on a third of his catches, grabbing 24 passes for 417 yards and eight TD’s.
If the Blue Devils do need to move the ball by land, they are more than capable.
Foxhoven has run the ball for 572 yards on the season and five touchdowns to add to Heine’s statistics on the turf.
Sandills-Thedford will counter with a prolific running game, spearheaded by Kyle Cox.
Cox has amassed 2,414 yards through 11 games and has scored a phenomenal 49 touchdowns.
And just as Wynot can switch gears and run the pigskin, the Knights can switch gears and toss the ball effectively.
Cox has completed 63-of-105 attempts for just under 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“We’re both in the same boat,” Heimes said. “No advantage there either way. I like the way we have battled all season. We aren’t in awe of anything, it should be a lot of fun.”
Heine agrees. “We have thought about this forever,” he said. “We won’t waste this opportunity, it should be a blast.”
Wynot and Sandhills-Thedford are set to tee it up Monday, Nov. 20 at 2:45 p.m. in Lincoln.
