For much of Friday night’s game against Millard North, things weren’t going the way the thousands of Millard South fans inside Buell Stadium had envisioned them going, but in under 90 seconds in the fourth quarter, the Patriots flipped the script and started the season with a win.
Class A No. 1 Millard South trailed by 13 with under 9 minutes to play, but a long touchdown on a screen pass and a special teams score helped the Patriots rally for a 35-34 win over the No. 3 Mustangs.
“I’m fortunate and grateful that we hung in there as a team, and I just told them, I said, ‘You guys know that we have a lot to learn and a lot to clean up and we’ll get that taken care of,’” Millard South coach Taylor Mendenhall said.
Down 34-21 with 8:32 to play, the Patriots (1-0) needed a quick scoring drive, and quarterback Trae Taylor delivered. He opened the drive with a 16-yard completion to Antayvious Ellis, and after Taylor gained two yards on a running play, he connected with Aidan Marshall on a screen pass that went 63 yards for a touchdown to trim the Patriot deficit to six at 34-28 with 7:28 left.
“They gave us a chance at the game, and if you give us a chance, we’re always going to execute,” Taylor said.
Marshall found a hole in the Mustang defense ran untouched (with Ellis escorting him the whole way) into the end zone.
“We knew from the first time we ran it it was a really open play, we just had to execute it,” Marshall said. “We came back to it, and I saw the open lane and just went.”
Millard South took the lead for good a few plays later thanks to its special teams unit. The Patriots forced the Mustangs (0-1) to commit penalties on back-to-back punt attempts, and on Millard North’s third attempt, the snap sailed over punter Luke Jacobsen’s head. Before Jacobsen could pick up the ball to kick it, Millard South’s Drew Kozeal pounced on it for the touchdown.
“I’m usually a safety valve on punt, but Coach (Mendenhall) sees my speed and sent me off the edge,” Kozeal said. “I see it over (Jacobsen’s) head and I just go and get it. Big play. We knew something special was about to happen”
Kooper Wilkason’s extra point put the Patriots in front 35-34 with 6:08 to play. Millard South’s game-altering touchdowns were 80 seconds apart.
Millard South’s defense made the lead stand up, forcing the Mustangs into a punt and a turnover on downs in their final two possessions.
Taylor, the No. 1 quarterback in the class of 2027 according to 247 Sports, opened the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter to put the Patriots ahead 7-0. He led Millard South’s rushing game with 23 carries for 103 yards.
“We kind of heard (Millard North) weren’t going to plan for my legs as much,” Taylor said.
Millard North quarterback Logan Grosdidier tossed two of his three touchdown passes in the second quarter to put the Mustangs in front. He found Kylonn Haynie out of the backfield after he evaded a Millard South blitz for a 21-yard score to tie the game at 7-all early in the second quarter.
Grosdidier gave the Mustangs their first lead when he connected with Tory Pittman for a 48-yard score. He again avoided a Patriot blitz and completed the pass to Pittman, who spun out of a tackle and ran the rest of the way for the score.
Taylor started the game slowly, completing just one of his first six passes, but he accounted for 55 yards on Millard South’s final drive of the first half (45 passing, 10 rushing). Grant Scribner capped the drive with a four-yard run with 46 seconds before halftime to tie the game at 14-all.
“The first half was a little hard because it was the first time really all getting to play with each other,” Taylor said. “It was a lot ours first varsity game in Nebraska. We were able to adjust to it and get it down in the second half.”
Taylor threw his first touchdown pass early in the third quarter, connecting with Ellis on a 67-yard score. Ellis got behind the Mustang defense, and Taylor lofted the pass to his open teammate for the touchdown.
Taylor completed 16 of his 31 pass attempts on the night for 310 yards and two scores.
Ellis’ touchdown got the Patriots within six at 27-21 after Millard North scored a pair of quick touchdowns to open the third quarter.
Grosdidier found Pittman for a 79-yard score on the second play of the quarter, and Josiah Wardlow returned a Marshall fumble 20 yards to put the Mustangs ahead 27-14 89 seconds into the third quarter.
Pittman finished with four catches for 151 yards and two scores. Grosdidier completed 10 passes for 242 yards and three touchdowns.
Ellis had three catches for 104 yards and a touchdown for the Patriots, and tight end Carter Margheim added seven receptions for 81 yards.
