NEBRASKA CITY, NE - After a tight three quarters of play, the Lourdes Central Catholic Knights put together a solid final frame to pull away and grab a 43-12 win over Guardian Angels Central Catholic in the opening round of the Class D1 football playoffs Thursday, as heard on Otoe County Country.

Neither team got on the scoreboard in the opening frame, as the squads turned it over on downs and had a missed field goal.

Alec Schnitzer started the scoring with a 31-yard touchdown run with 9:27 to go in the first half, as LCC took an 8-0 lead. Just over five minutes later, Isaac Guenther responded with a one-yard scoring plunge that capped an impressive 12-play, 68-yard drive for the Blue Jays. With just 105 seconds left in the half, Callen Schnitzer hit Simon Bruggeman on a 27-yard TD toss, pushing the Knights' lead to eight at the break, 14-6.

The third quarter saw another stalemate, as the teams were both kept off the scoreboard, leaving it at 14-6 heading into the last stanza.

Callen Schnitzer bumped LCC's lead to two scores with a one-yard scoring scamper with just over ten minutes to go, as Lourdes went ahead 20-6. Less than three minutes later, though, GACC's Guenther connected with Timothy Gerrish, who then tossed a lateral to Maverik Smith for a 32-yard "hook & ladder" TD. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful, leaving the Knights ahead 20-12. The Blue Jays' momentum disappeared on the kickoff, as Bruggeman took said KO back 42 yards for the score, making it 28-12. Callen Schnitzer tacked on an insurance score with a 65-yard TD run with just over five minutes to play, and he added a 29 yarder with 2:40 remaining for the final score of 43-12.

Unofficially, GACC held a lead in yardage of 331-265, including an impressive 191 yards through the air. LCC passed for only 27 yards in the victory. The Knights made up for that yardage differential by not coughing up the ball and grabbing two interceptions.

LCC improves their mark to 7-2 on the season, while GACC's year ends with a record of 5-4. Lourdes Central Catholic  (8-seed) will host 9-seed Pender on Friday, October 31, after the Pendragons torched Mead, 47-6.