On Nov. 3, the Central-Valley Cougars traveled to Arnold to play the South Loup Bobcats in a highly anticipated game that lived up to all of the hype. The coin toss went in favor of the Bobcats who elected to defer, kicking off to the Cougars.

The first drive of the Cougars would end very quickly with Bobcats from all over suffocating the Cougar offense. After a Cougar punt, the Bobcats would take over on downs. After just one first down, they would fail for another first, leaving the Cougars with the ball.

The Cougar QB would then hit receiver Zaden Wolf for a long touchdown to open up the scoring column for the game. The Bobcats, however, would respond with a 43yard touchdown run from Connor Paulsen to leave the first quarter score tied 6-6.

To begin the second quarter, the Bobcats would initiate stops, which resulted in a Bobcat touchdown by Trey Connell. However, the Central Valley defense continued to make plays, forcing a safety, and the first half ended with Central-Valley trailing the Bobcats, 12-8.

The Bobcat offense opened up the second half with a couple of first downs before the Cougar defense would come up big, forcing a punt. The Central Valley offense followed suit, punching it in for a touchdown and regaining the lead, 14-12 after a failed 2-point conversion.

After stops by both defenses, Connell would once again punch in a touchdown for the Bobcats. Following the touchdown, Connell connected with Cache Gracey on a conversion to take the lead, 20-14.

The fourth quarter started, and football fans from all over started to huddle around the field biting their nails. Defenses from both sides would continue their dominance getting stops of their own. The Central Valley offense, however, would punch in a touchdown, and a conversion to take a 22-20 lead with only 6 minutes left in the game.

The South Loup offense took the field in desperate need of a touchdown. The power game of the Bobcats dominated the first set of downs. However, the Central Valley defense would force a 4th and 2 yards-to-go situation. The Bobcats offense did not break, after Connell gained 8 yards on the quarterback keeper. However, the Bobcats quickly found themselves in the same situation, only 4th down with 4 yards for the first. The Bobcats would once again gain the yardage, knocking on the door of Central Valley.

The very next play, the Bobcat's power game showed their strength, with Connell gaining 14 yards and marching it all the way down to the Cougar 3-yard line. Just two plays later the Bobcats ran a quarterback sneak for a go-ahead score. This would be followed by a twopoint conversion to give the Bobcats a 28-22 lead with Football on pg.9 just 18 seconds left in the ballgame.

The defense of South Loup continued their season-long dominance and didn’t allow another Central Valley yard. This thriller would be one for the ages, adding to the South Loup win column and making them 11-0 on the season.

The Cougars would end their season 10-1, and the Bobcats will now play the Sandhills-Thedford Knights on Friday, Nov. 10, in the semi-finals. The game will feature the top two ranked teams in Class D2, with #1 South Loup v #2 Sandhills-Thedford with the winner heading to the state championship held at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Nov. 20.