HobbsDailyReport.com
LOWMAN
CATAWBA – Bandys High outlasted visiting North Lincoln on Friday night — winning 53-50 at Butler Stadium behind Ethan Howard and Ja’Tay Culliver – to collect the 23rd postseason varsity football bid in school history.
BANDYS 53
N. LINCOLN 50
Howard ran 31 times for 205 yards and two TDs and Culliver scored on three of his seven rushes and gained 148 yards as the Trojans (5-6, 3-4) finished fifth in the South Fork 2A after winning their third straight game.
The Trojans led 24-23 at the half via a 25-yard field goal by Ben Joseph, and they were up 46-42 after Culliver ran 58 yards for a TD and Joseph kicked a PAT.
When Howard ran 5 yards for a score and Joseph kicked another PAT, Bandys led 53-42 and held off the Knights (2-9, 1-6) after they scored on a 7-yard pass from quarterback Reed McRorie to Daekwon Camp. Those two connected on a two-point conversion pass to get North Lincoln within three points.
McRorie, a smooth-throwing passer with more than 2,000 passing yards coming in, completed 21 of 31 passes for 347 yards and three TDs in the loss. He hit Jake Soorus five times for 101 yards and Caleb Holley had five catches for 97 yards.
The game featured 47 points in the opening half, with Clayton Cribb (12 carries for 100 yards, three TDs) opening the scoring on a 1-yard run.
North Lincoln led 9-7 at one point, after a 36-yard field goal, before Culliver broke a 70-yard run for a score for Bandys. He had an earlier long TD run nullified by a holding penalty.
Cribb’s 2-yard scoring run opened the second-half scoring and had the Knights up 29-24. But Coby Morgan ran 6 yards for a TD and added a two-point conversion run to get Bandys in front 32-29.
Cribb gave North Lincoln another lead with a 26-yard TD run, then Culliver ran 12 yards for a score to push Bandys back into the lead.
The Trojans outgained the Knights 527-511.
Bandys, winning its 23rd game under Trent Lowman in his fifth season as head coach at his alma mater, improved to 3-1 all-time against the Knights.
The Trojans have now won at least five games 20 times in the last 23 seasons and return to the state playoffs after missing them each of the previous two years.