JOHNSON, Neb. — Those early-round blowout losses the past two years to Bancroft-Rosalie had Johnson-Brock stoked for another chance against the Panthers.

Grahm Butler, the Eagles’ junior quarterback, ran for three touchdowns, caught a touchdown pass on the last play of the first half and grabbed two of their five takeaways in a 46-34 quarterfinal victory Tuesday night.

“We were happy to play them again,” Eagles coach Brett Davis said.

The No. 2 Panthers (10-1) walloped the Eagles 74-8 in 2007 and 56-14 in 2008 and threatened to go for another rout when quarterback Alex Berg’s 59-yard run gave coach Jon Cerny’s team a 20-6 lead late in the first half.

The Eagles, however, scored the next three touchdowns and led 34-28 at halftime on the pass to Butler from Cody Baack. It’s a play Davis said he drew up only Tuesday afternoon and had the pair practice it a couple of times during pregame warmups.

A scoreless third quarter was surprising, given the first-half outbursts. The Panthers gained their final tie, 34-34, on Ryley Mohl’s 2-yard touchdown run with 9:37 left.

Four minutes later, the Eagles had their final margin. On the first snap after Mohl’s score, fullback Tyler Huey rambled 45 yards to the B-R 20 and Butler scored six plays later.

Butler stopped the Panthers’ next possession with his second interception and broke for a 35-yard touchdown two plays later.

“He played a great game,’’ Cerny said.

Besides losing three interceptions and two fumbles, the Panthers were called three times for holding and two for pass interference.

“Maybe we’ve been doing it (holding) and haven’t had it called,’’ Cerny said. “But if we can’t get blocks on the outside and get people freed up, this team was too big and we couldn’t run it at them.’’

Bancroft-Rosalie (10-1) 20806—34

At Johnson-Brock (11-0) 1222012—46

JB: Clint Damme 47 run (pass failed)

BR: Alex Berg 10 run (Berg run)

BR: Matt Stansberry 35 fumble return (run failed)

BR: Berg 59 run (run failed)

JB: Grahm Butler 23 run (run failed)

JB: Tyler Huey 45 run (run failed)

JB: Huey 9 run (Tyler Hahn pass from Butler)

BR: Ryley Mohl 20 run (Mohl run)

JB: Butler 38 pass from Cody Baack (Mason Pelchat pass from Butler)

BR: Mohl 2 run (run failed)

JB: Butler 7 run (pass failed)

JB: Butler 35 run (pass failed)

A: 800 (est.)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: BR, Berg 34-184, Mohl 19-92, Stansberry 2-28. JB, Butler 20-123, Huey 15-159, Damme 11-91.

PASSING: BR, Berg 5-17-3 119. JB, Butler 1-5-0 4, Baack 1-1-0 38, Damme 0-1-0 0.

RECEIVING: BR, Aaron Brown 2-83, Stansberry 2-26, Mohl 1-10. JB, Butler 1-38, Nick Behrends 1-4.

Howells 64, Exeter-Milligan 12

At Exeter, Clint Belina had 197 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone.

Giltner 58, Overton 31

At Giltner, Hornets quarterback Nate Most completed 17 of 23 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns and ran for three more scores in the second half. Most now has 99 career passing touchdowns.

Palmer 44, Amherst 8

At Palmer, Tigers quarterback Tyler Wichmann rushed for three touchdowns, passed for two, had one receiving, ran in two 2-point conversions and passed for another two-pointer.

Eight Man-2

Ewing 28, Hampton 12

At Hampton, No. 2 Ewing (11-0) jumped to a 14-0 lead on scoring passes by Philip Thramer.

Hayes Center 49, Chambers 6

At Hayes Center, Keifer Messersmith led the Cardinals with 211 yards on 31 carries with three touchdowns. Tyler Clifford added three touchdowns.

Humphrey St. Francis 52,

Elgin Pope John 20

At Humphrey, the No. 1 Flyers opened up a five-touchdown lead in the third quarter.

Pleasanton 34, Sargent 8

At Pleasanton, Sean Campbell rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns, and Garrett Reese caught two touchdown passes for No. 4 Pleasanton (11-0).

Contact the writer:

444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com

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