Gering's game plan? Stop Lexington wide receiver Tyler Thorell.
"We knew coming in — he's an unbelievable football player, and that's what I just told our guys after the game. I said, you kind of made him a non-factor'" Gering coach Danny O'Boyle said. "He's one of the best football players we're going to see, you know, for a lot of these guys, maybe in their entire careers. He's that good."
O'Boyle praised his defensive staff for their game plan on shutting Thorell down. "And our guys really bought into what we wanted to do, and took him out of the game."
Gering evened out their record Friday night, defeating the Minutemen 24-7.
The Bulldogs struck first near the end of the first quarter, Joel Brown put three points on the board with a field goal.
Lexington got off a few snaps before the quarter ended.
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Gering's defense had a huge sack on Bryant Truax, forcing the Minutemen to punt.
A tackle by Lexington's Drew Reynolds on Gering's third- and 2, set the Bulldogs up for a 32-yard field goal.
Brown lined up, kicking into the wind. The field goal had the distance, but went wide to the right.
Lexington dug in for a third- and 14, Truax found Thorell down the Gering sideline for an 84-yard touchdown. The Minutemen took the lead 7-3 after Alexis Alvidrez drilled the point-after kick.
Gering's Jack Judy took the snap, looked for a receiver down field. The pass was picked off by Thorell. Thorell weaved through the field and into the endzone, but a defensive penalty erased the Minutemen effort.
The Minutemen held a 7-3 lead into halftime.
Gering's momentum revved up in the second half. Coming out of the break, the Bulldogs used their first possession to gain the lead back.
Rudy tucked the ball, and went seven yards into the endzone.
Not only did the Bulldog offense step up, their defense looked completely different in the second half.
A Bulldog sack on Lexington's next possession put the Minutemen into fourth- and 15, forcing a punt.
"We were a little too tight on one side of the coverage," O'Boyle said, of their first half defense. "We kind of brought the pressure at selective times. And when we had them behind the sticks, we kind of floated a little bit more into coverage. We got a couple of tips, and were able to get a couple of takeaways."
Lexington turned up their defense, going three and out.
After holding Lexington to punt again, Gering used their next possession to take a 17-7 lead.
Evan Strom took the hand-off, ran up the middle for a Bulldog touchdown.
Gering took a 17-7 lead in to the fourth quarter.
Lexington faced a difficult situation on their offense, Truax went out with an injury and freshman Oliver Fellers took the field.
All the momentum fell on Gering's side. The Bulldogs reeled in a couple interceptions, with one turning into the game winning touchdown.
O'Boyle touched on brothers Jack and Max Judy, and how their connection during games plays into their offense.
"Heading into the season, we didn't really know what was going to shake out, and Jack's done a really nice job for us, especially as a freshman quarterback," he said. "It's just a bonus that big brother Max is out on the edge — that's really special.
"It's not like we target that specifically, it just kind of plays out that way. And there's a definite trust between the two. Both of those guys are a big piece of our offense, so it's good for us that we have them on our team.
Gering has a long week ahead of them, preparing to take on No. 2 Sidney on the Bulldogs home field Sept. 11.
"First of all, when you win, it makes everything a little bit easier. Makes it easier to coach the mistakes, and makes it easier to watch the mistakes on film," O'Boyle said. "It just keeps morale high in the locker room, but we know next week is gonna be a big challenge.
"Sidney played in the state championship last year. They've got a really good program right now, and a lot of good football players. They're physical and they're going to run the ball. We got our hands full moving forward, but we're gonna enjoy this win and take a look at the film over the weekend and put together a game plan.
