ELKHORN — Grand Island’s early season woes continued as Class A No. 3-rated Elkhorn South posted a dominant 49-14 victory over the Islanders Friday night at Elkhorn High School.
The Storm (4-0) led 42-0 at halftime, outgaining the Islanders 331-54 in total yards in that span. Grand Island (0-4), which was playing without five injured starters, managed just two first downs in the opening 24 minutes.
Elkhorn South running back Gavin Shanahan led the way, rushing for 150 yards on 18 carries, scoring on runs of 4, 64 and 10 yards. Storm quarterback Madden Riggs completed 7 of 9 pass attempts for 155 yards and three TDs, including scoring strikes of 29 yards to Landon Tate, 35 yards to Devin Meier and 18 yards to Ryan Siemek.
Tate also had a 67-yard punt return for a TD for the Storm, which finished with 411 total yards. The entire second half was played with a running clock.
Islanders’ running back Nelsyn Wheeler came into the night third in Class A in rushing (125 yards per game), but was bottled up by the Storm, carrying 12 times for 35 yards. Sophomore Max Holling led Grand Island’s ground attack with 47 yards on four attempts.
GISH quarterback Gavin Semm was 9 of 17 passing for 45 yards. Noah Bauer had five receptions for 33 yards for the Islanders.
Grand Island got on the board when Holling broke loose around the end for a 34-yard scoring run with 6:52 to play. The TD was set up when Hudson Oliver blocked a punt for the Islanders, which was returned 16 yards by teammate Ryan Boehle to the Storm’s 40-yard line.
An errant snap on the point-after kick attempt led to an unlikely two-point conversion for Grand Island. Kicker Thatcher Panowicz tracked down the loose football and tossed it to Gavin Kuhlman, cutting the Islanders’ deficit to 49-8.
Bauer’s bulled his way into the end zone from 1 yard out with 57 seconds left to give the Islanders their second TD.
Grand Island is scheduled to enter district play next Friday when it hosts Millard West (0-4) at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
