Grand Island Senior High Football @ Norfolk 2023 // Terry Douglass
NORFOLK — Getting a 200th career coaching victory for Grand Island Senior High’s Jeff Tomlin didn’t come easily for the Islanders.
Possessing a 21-6 lead after three quarters, Grand Island lost two fourth-quarter fumbles and Norfolk scored 13 points in the game’s final 6:42 and had a chance to tie the score with 17 seconds left. However, Islanders’ senior safety Hunter Hanquist broke up a pass on a two-point conversion attempt and GISH made one final defensive stand after the Panthers recovered an onside kick to hold on for a 21-19 road victory Thursday night.
Grand Island’s dramatic victory resulted in a milestone for Tomlin, who was asked about the significance of win No. 200.
“It means the Good Lord has blessed me with good health, so I’ve had some longevity, and I have a great wife (Maria), great coaches and great kids,” Tomlin said. “There have been a lot of people packing my parachute over the years, so this means that I need to say thanks to a lot of people.”
Tomlin is 200-108 overall as a head coach with a 144-70 mark in 21 seasons at Grand Island. He has guided the Islanders to 18 playoff appearances, including a trip to the 2018 Class A state championship game.
Following the contest, the Islanders presented Tomlin with a commemorative game ball in the Grand Island locker room. Hanquist said he and his teammates were proud to be a part of the team to give Tomlin his 200th win.
“He’s just a great coach, who works hard on teaching discipline and making sure we do everything right,” Hanquist said. “He wants us to have honor and integrity in everything that we do. Coach always holds us accountable and — as always — he did a great job of getting ready for this game.”
Hanquist wound up playing a major role in the win. After Norfolk (2-1) cut its deficit to two points with 17 seconds remaining, Hanquist found himself in man-to-man coverage and made a break on a pass near the goal line, batting it down the Panthers’ two-point conversion try.
“My corner and outside linebacker did a good job of not letting me get picked, so I was able to have a path to make the play,” Hanquist said. “When I saw the ball in the air, I just knew that I was going to give it my best effort. Fortunately, I was able to dive in front of the ball and smack it down.”
Hanquist made the pass deflection with his heavily bandaged right hand. He suffered a broken wrist during a seven-on-seven tournament in June.
“It was just a lot of heart by Hunter and he’s been through a lot of adversity,” Tomlin said. “He’s still playing with the club (on his hand) and still experiencing some pain, but he has just kept battling and he’s just kept fighting.”
Even while celebrating his pass breakup that left Grand Island (2-1) with a two-point lead, Hanquist said he and his teammates knew their job might not be finished.
“It was a great feeling,” Handquist said. “All my boys came and we started getting hyped, but we knew that there was a chance that we would have to go back out on the field. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the onside kick, but we responded well.”
Norfolk was able to recover an onside kick at the Grand Island 47-yard line with 13 seconds left. After two incomplete pass attempts, the Panthers completed a short pass and tried a hook-and-lateral play, but Islander Trey Engberg made the tackle at the GISH 40 as time expired.
“We showed the heart of a champion at the end — our resiliency was good,” said Tomlin, whose team had three turnovers overall. “It was a little disappointing that we weren’t consistent, offensively. We showed some signs of brilliance at times, but then when we had a chance to sew it up, we didn’t get it done and that’s something that I’m sure our offensive staff is going to address.
“At the same time, they’re kids and they’re not trying to turn it over. They’re trying as hard as they can and so we’ve got to be patient. We’ve just got to get better.”
Caleb Richardson rushed 16 times for 73 yards and two TDs for Grand Island, including scoring runs of 22 and 1 yards. Justyce Hostetler produced the Islanders’ other score with a 14-yard TD run, putting his team ahead 14-6 with 9:28 left in the second quarter.
Quarterback Bode Albers completed 10 of 18 pass attempts for 126 yards for GISH with one interception. Albers’ top target was tight end Riley Holling, who had four receptions for 80 yards.
Tomlin said he was proud of how the Islanders bounced back on a short week after falling 45-0 at Class A No. 1-rated Omaha Westside on Sept. 1.
“I felt like our kids played their guts out at Westside, but if you focus only on outcomes (on the scoreboard), then you’re going to drop your dobber,” Tomlin said. “We just wanted to focus more on the process and getting better. They bounced back quickly — I’m super proud of them for that.”
Grand Island 21, Norfolk 19
Grand Island (2-1)
7
7
7
0—21
Norfolk (2-1)
6
0
0
13—19
First Quarter
N—Rowdy Bauer 3 run (kick failed), 4:20.
GI—Caleb Richardson 22 run (Thatcher Panowicz kick), 1:32.
Second Quarter
GI—Justyce Hostetler 14 run (Panowicz kick), 9:28.
Third Quarter
GI—Richardson 1 run (Panowicz kick), 5:00.
Fourth Quarter
N—Hudson Waldow 2 run (Sam Zazueta), 6:42.
N—Tanner Eisenhauer 6 pass from CJ Hoffman (pass failed), :17.
GI
N
First downs
15
18
Rushes-Yards
28-119
35-122
Passing Yards
126
160
Att-Comp-Int
10-18-1
22-38-1
Return Yards
0
20
Kickoff Returns
3-55
3-41
Fumbles-Lost
3-2
0-0
Punts-Avg.
3-36.3
3-35.3
Penalties-Yards
3-25
1-5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—GI, Richardson 16-73, Hostetler 4-20, B.Albers 4-12, Coslor 1-8, Wheeler 2-6, Barrientos 1-0. N, Bauer 14-57, Waldow 9-30, Hoffman 11-30, Merkel 1-5.
Passing—GI, Albers 10-18-1 126. N, Hoffman 21-35-1 154, Signor 1-3-0 6.
Receiving—GI, Holling 4-80, J.Albers 2-22, Wheeler 2-11, Hostetler 1-7, Bolton 1-6. N, Bauer 7-45, Eisenhauer 4-42, Streich 5-30, Barritt 2-23, Waldow 3-14, Skiff 1-6.