North upsets South to win Shrine Bowl

LINCOLN - Tyler Legate says few people gave the North team much of a chance to win Saturday's Shine Bowl.

That wasn't just postgame dramatics talking, either. Internet chat rooms and tailgate conversations said the South would win in a rout.

But Alex Witmer's 31-yard field goal late in the third quarter was all the North team needed to prevail 10-9 in the all-star football game at Memorial Stadium.

Nate Finkey of Wayne scored on an 11-yard run in the first quarter, and the North defense came up with a number of defensive stops.

“This is awesome how we came together to win this,” said Legate, a linebacker from Neligh-Oakdale. “I don't think many people thought we were going to win. (The South team) was all over the paper, and had like eight out of the 10 Super-State players in the game. We just had a lot of small-school guys who had a lot to prove today.”

The North did just that, limiting the South to 10 first downs and 153 yards rushing, and giving South punter Jon Damkroger of Norris a workout.

The South was driving at the finish, but Jim Ebke's long pass completion to Mitch Montgomery came three yards short of a first down to preserve the North win.

“The defense was just flying to the ball, the coaches were yelling, and we just kept getting more fired up,” Legate said. “That goal-line stand in the second half just showed the heart of this team.”

The North team opened the scoring when Finkey capped a 36-yard drive with the 11-yard touchdown scamper at the end of the first quarter. Finkey also had a hand in the key play of the drive, with a third-down completion to Matt Donahue.

Finkey was the most overlooked of the four quarterbacks entering the game, mostly because of his 5-foot-9 frame.

But he settled down after two first-half interceptions to lead the North on a handful of long drives. Finkey finished 7-for-10 passing for 82 yards and earned offensive MVP honors. He also left with a lifetime of memories.

“Scoring in Memorial Stadium, it's just like you would imagine it, and it probably won't get any better than that for me,” said Finkey, while friends and family informed him that he's now in Johnny Rodgers company after scoring a TD in Memorial Stadium.

The South team was forced to punt on its first three possessions of the second half. Another chance to take the lead went awry when Josh Cherry's 18-yard field goal went wide right with five minutes left in the game.

After the North took the early lead, Colin Schroeder of Millard South quickly helped the South answer back to open the second quarter. He had runs of 23 and 20 yards, before capping a 60-yard drive with a 17-yard TD run.

The South team was sparked in an otherwise even first half by interceptions from Cody Kissel (Kearney) and Lance Thorell (Loomis).

The interception by Thorell produced points when McCook's Josh Cherry made a 34-yard field goal with three-seconds left in the first half which gave the South a 9-7 half-time lead.