PONCA, Neb. — Jared Curry and the Ponca offense ran out the game's final 5:33 to start the Indians celebrating their first trip to the Nebraska high school football playoff finals.

Tuesday night's 21-14 victory over David City Aquinas puts Ponca in next Tuesday's 10:15 a.m. Class C-2 final at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln against Hartington Cedar Catholic (10-2). In the regular season, Ponca beat the Trojans 36-27.

Aquinas (11-1) fell behind 21-0 at halftime, but scored on two of its three second-half possessions. Brian Prigge's 1-yard run and Landon Stouffer's extra point ended the scoring.

But it took the Monarchs almost two minutes to get that yard by Prigge. They were first-and-goal from the 1 at the 7:20 mark, only to see leading rusher Nate Roh stopped three times short of the goal line.

“It wasted a lot of time, and when we got the ball back we were able to run the clock out,'' Curry said.

Curry, a 180-pound senior, ran three times for first downs as the Indians moved from their 20 to the Aquinas 20 before time expired.

“I kept telling them, ‘Give me the ball,' because I knew we could run out the clock,'' Curry said. “I knew the line would get me a block, get me what I need to get yards.”

With 210 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries, Curry pushed his season totals to 2,216 yards and 38 total touchdowns.

“He's a good player, and they're a good team,'' Aquinas coach Ron Mimick said.

Ponca's 21-0 lead came on a 1-yard run by quarterback Andrew Watchorn midway through the first quarter, a 1-yard run by Curry in the final minute of the first quarter and a 15-yard pass from Watchorn to Nolan Block on fourth-and-8 with 40 seconds left in the half.

“I would have liked to have gotten on the board in the second half, but Aquinas made some good defensive adjustments,'' Ponca coach Joe Kvidera said.

Aquinas, held to 35 yards rushing in the first half, took five plays to go 53 yards on the opening drive of the second half. Quarterback Will McCawley scored from the 5 two plays after scampering 45 yards.

McCawley finished with 94 yards and Roh added 77 yards for the Monarchs, who haven't been to the finals since winning Class C-1 in 1997.

David City Aquinas (11-1)...............0 0 7 7—14
At Ponca (12-0).......................14 7 0 0—21

P: Andrew Watchorn 1 run (kick failed)

P: Jared Curry 1 run (Curry run)

P: Nolan Block 15 pass from Watchorn (Ben Gehring kick)

A: Will McCawley 5 run (Landon Stouffer kick)

A: Brain Prigge 1 run (Stouffer kick)

Att.: 1,000 (est.)

Contact the writer:

444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com

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