LINCOLN — Rylan Cotton was only a freshman at the time, but he still vividly remembers the last time he played against Millard North.

Lincoln Southwest had gone into the half with a 21-0 lead in its state playoff quarterfinal game against North in 2006. The Mustangs surged back and forced overtime. Cotton stood on the sidelines and watched as Southwest lost a five-overtime heartbreaker, 51-45.

When Cotton walked into the locker room Friday night with a 32-14 lead, it all came back to him.

“I made sure to emphasize that to everybody, that we were up 21-0 and they ended up beating us,” he said. “We couldn’t take anything for granted.”

This time, his Silver Hawks held on for the game’s final two quarters and defeated North 32-21 in the first round of the Class A state playoffs at Seacrest Field.

Cotton paced Southwest’s spread offense with 160 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.

Cotton and Jeff Seybold owe much of their success to a patchwork offensive line that pushed North off the ball and opened holes all game. Though injuries have hampered Silver Hawk linemen all season, coach Mark King said the unit is gelling and powering the run game like he’d hoped.

“This is about the third week in a row with this same line, so I just see that they’re coming together,” King said. “So much of it is communication, and the kids are starting to figure it out.”

Southwest powered its way through the defense to open the game with a 10-play, 74-yard drive capped by a 9-yard touchdown run by Cotton.

North responded with an 11-play, 73-yard scoring drive to tie the game, but Vino Brown’s subsequent 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown gave Southwest momentum that it never gave up.

Southwest received big contributions from Seybold as well. The senior running back rushed for 135 yards and a score, and he caught a 26-yard jump ball for a touchdown on the final play of the first half.

“Jeff’s huge for our offense, I’m glad he’s on our team,” Cotton said.

“I wouldn’t want to try and take him down.

“He runs hard, he’s fast and he adds another dimension to our offense. He can break any play.”

The duo of Cotton and Seybold burned North for 215 rushing yards in the first half, and King said their bruising running styles give Southwest a big advantage when its line is playing well.

“Both those guys, you have to tackle them,” King said. “That may seem like a small statement, but you have to tackle them. You don’t hit them and they just fall down.”

Fullback Chris Bailey rushed for 106 yards and quarterback Kyle Erickson added 105 for the Mustangs, who lost four of their final five games.

Millard North (5-5)..................7 7 7 0—21

Lincoln Southwest (6-4).....................13 19 0 0—32

LSW: Rylan Cotton 9 run (Tay Bender kick)

MN: Jacob Bergmeier 5 run (Andy Bayne kick)

LSW: Vino Brown 84 kickoff return (kick blocked)

LSW: Cotton 70 run (run failed)

LSW: Jeff Seybold 24 run (kick failed)

MN: Kyle Erickson 2 run (Bayne kick)

LSW: Seybold 26 pass from Cotton (Bender kick)

MN: Erickson 6 run (Bayne kick)

A: 1,098

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing: MN, Chris Bailey 20-106, Kyle Erickson 24-105, Jacob Bergmeier 10-76. LSW, Rylan Cotton 21-160, Jeff Seybold 13-135, Matt Marisette 4-36, Zach Ross 1-2.

Passing: MN, Erickson 0-3-0 0. LSW, Cotton 3-5-0 76.

Receiving: LSW, Vino Brown 1-37, Seybold 1-26, Seth Shreve 1-13.

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444-1201, sports@owh.com