Millard South beats Millard North 45-28, reaches Class A final

No. 2 Millard South beat No. 3 Millard North 45-28 on Friday at Millard South in a Class A semifinal. Both teams entered 10-1. Millard South is 11-1 after the win. Millard North finished 10-2. Millard South had beaten No. 15 Lincoln Standing Bear 56-7 and Papillion-La Vista South 41-7. Millard North had beaten No. 14 Creighton Prep and then shut out Omaha North 21-0. Millard South won the regular-season meeting 35-34 on Aug. 28. Trusted play-by-play covers all 11 scoring plays.

Millard South won the toss and deferred, and Millard North received. The game was scoreless with 9:20 left in the first quarter after Millard North turned the ball over on downs inside the Patriot 35, and Millard South took over at its own 33. Taylor capped a 15-play opening drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, and the extra point was good for a 7-0 lead with 4:25 left in the first. After a Millard North three-and-out, Millard South went 39 yards, and Taylor finished it with his second 1-yard touchdown run. The extra point was good, making it 14-0 with 1:17 left in the first. It was 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Austin Ruhter took a fullback dive 31 yards up the middle for a touchdown, and the extra point was good, cutting it to 14-7 with 10:36 left in the second. Hudson Hanover scored on a 5-yard touchdown run with 7:11 left, making it 21-7. Owen Pearson intercepted a pass for Millard South with 4:24 left in the half. After the teams traded turnovers, Logan Grosdidier hit Tory Pittman for a 26-yard touchdown pass, and the extra point was good, making it 21-14 with 2:42 left. After a long pass to Margheim, Kooper Wilkason kicked a 26-yard field goal with 14 seconds left to put Millard South up 24-14 at halftime.

After a Millard South three-and-out in the third, Millard North went to the flexbone and drove 50 yards in six plays, capped by Pittman's 10-yard touchdown run and the extra point, making it 24-21 with 7:54 left in the third. With 52 seconds left in the third, Millard North recovered a Millard South fumble, with Hanover credited on the play. Millard South led 24-21 at the end of the third.

In the fourth, after a Millard North fumble, Taylor found a wide-open Carter Margheim for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 10:46 left, making it 31-21. Millard North answered in under 30 seconds: Grosdidier hit Pittman on a long completion, then threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Josiah Wardlow. The extra point was good, making it 31-28 with 10:17 left. JaRon Faughn made a big catch for Millard North in the fourth, from one 30-yard line to the other.

Out of a timeout, Taylor scored on a touchdown run with 5:11 left, his third rushing touchdown of the game, and the extra point was good, making it 38-28. Millard South stopped Millard North on fourth down with 3:02 left. Aidan Marshall then ran 10 yards for a touchdown with 2:41 left to put the game away, and the extra point was good, making it 45-28. The 45-28 score stood as the final.

Taylor entered having completed 202 of 320 passes for 3,166 yards, 38 touchdowns and six interceptions, and he had rushed for 816 yards and 15 touchdowns. Antayvious Ellis had 50 catches for 867 yards and nine touchdowns, and Carter Margheim had 34 receptions for 497 yards and seven touchdowns. Aidan Marshall had 609 rushing yards and five interceptions. On defense, Urban Kennedy had 106 tackles, including 18 for loss, and Hudson Hanover had 9.5 sacks. Grosdidier entered having completed 111 of 158 passes for 1,525 yards and 15 touchdowns, and he had rushed for 403 yards and five touchdowns. Kylonn Haynie had 1,293 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. Pittman had 36 catches for 754 yards and 12 touchdowns, plus four interceptions. Austin Ruhter had rushed for 410 yards. Drew Nelsen led Millard North with 88 tackles, and Evan Robinson had four sacks.

Millard South's only loss this season was 41-17 at Omaha Westside on Oct. 23. Millard North's only loss was the August game against Millard South. The Mustangs also beat Bennington 35-0. The teams shared three regular-season opponents. Against Elkhorn South, Millard North won 14-13 and Millard South won 49-17. Against Omaha North, Millard North won 21-0 and Millard South won 49-47. Against Millard West, Millard North won 42-0 and Millard South won 59-0.

Millard South will face Omaha Westside in a rematch in the Class A final on Monday, Nov. 23, at 7:15 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. Westside beat Bennington 45-14 in the other semifinal. It is Millard South's third straight trip to Memorial Stadium.

Scoring summary

Published scoring plays (coverage marked complete):

Final: Millard South 45, Millard North 28

Sources

Updates from trusted accounts. Season stats from MaxPreps. Seeds, records and prior playoff results from the NSAA bracket.

Game Center · Class A bracket · Semifinal preview