Storm, Patriots set to clash in top ten Friday night battle
Smashmouth.
No, not the iconic “All Star” band. It’s a term that has described Elkhorn South for years — but this season more than ever.
Behind senior halfback Cooper Jewett’s 701 rushing yards in the first five games, the ninth-ranked Storm are off to an impressive 4-1 start — by far the best record of any school that made the jump to Class A this season. They’ll have a chance at their first top ten win when they travel to sixth-ranked Millard South on Friday night.
Wide receiver Cole Skradis also attributed Elkhorn South’s early success to the strong mental state of the team.
“We, as a team, are cutting down on the mental mistakes we have made,” Skradis said. “We hope to keep showing everyone that we can play with anyone.”
The Storm’s lone loss, a 38-3 beatdown from second-ranked Bellevue West in week four, quickly became motivation to improve. Defensive back Shae Wright believes that the team utilized the loss as a learning experience.
“The [Bellevue] West game helped us realize that, if we wanted to have success over the season, we were going to have to work a lot harder,” Wright said.
In their way on Friday, however, will be the Millard South Patriots: a team also looking for their first big win of the season after a crushing 34-27 overtime loss to rival and then-sixth-ranked Millard West in week four.
The Patriots are riding momentum after last week’s 48-7 victory over Omaha Northwest, and they don’t plan on letting Elkhorn South slow them down.
“I would say we have some momentum moving into this game,” Millard South quarterback TJ Urban said. “The practices … this week have been pretty electric.”
