Trae Taylor has made numerous big plays for Millard South in the passing game, but Friday night it was his rushing attack that finished the job for the Patriots.
Taylor surged past the initial wave of defenders for a 2-yard, fourth-down touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter that helped seal Millard South’s 45-28 win over rival Millard North in a Class A state semifinal at Buell Stadium.
“We said we were gritty,” Taylor said. “That’s really about it. We’re gritty and I feel like we were that (Friday) and we’ve just got to continue moving forward.”
The second-seeded Patriots (11-1) will face No. 1 seed Omaha Westside in the Class A state championship on Nov. 23 at Memorial Stadium. The Warriors defeated Bennington 45-14 in the other semifinal.
Following a Mustang touchdown to get within three at 31-28 early in the fourth quarter, the Patriots went on a nine-play drive that covered 55 yards and took just under 5 minutes off the clock. Taylor and Aidan Marshall accounted for all the yards on the drive.
Taylor hit Marshall on a wheel route out of the backfield for a 31-yard gain to get down to the Mustang 21-yard line. Millard South followed with seven runs in a row, with Taylor reaching over the goal line on fourth down to push the Patriot advantage 38-28 with 5:11 left in the game.
“We took what they gave us,” Taylor said. “Obviously heavy in the run game this week. That’s what we planned on.”
The Patriots stopped the Mustangs (10-2) on downs on the next possession, and Marshall needed just three plays to get Millard South back in the end zone. He started with a 1-yard run, followed that up with a 32-yard carry and took his next rush 10 yards up the middle for a score to increase Millard South’s lead to 45-28 with 2:41 to play.
“We’ve been talking about it all week, we can establish the run game if (the wide receivers and offensive line) can get their blocks accounted for, and that’s what they did,” Marshall said.
Millard South finished with 250 yards rushing. Taylor ran for 103 yards and three scores on 23 carries and Marshall added 99 yards on 17 rushes.
“We knew we had some advantage in the trenches,” Millard South coach Taylor Mendenhall said. “We were going to be physical and we were going to lean on the run game, and we did that.
“They have some elite athletes in the secondary, and we challenged our offensive line to step up when it mattered, and they did that all game.”
The Patriots stopped the Mustangs on downs on the game’s opening possession and then moved 67 yards in 15 plays to take the lead. Taylor twice converted fourth downs on the ground on the drive, and he found the end zone on a 1-yard run to put the Patriots in front 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
Millard South started its next drive at the Mustang 39-yard line, and four plays later, Taylor had his second 1-yard rushing score of the night to put the Patriots ahead 14-0 late in the first quarter.
Austin Ruhter got the Mustangs on the board early in the second quarter with a 34-yard run up the middle that cut the Millard North deficit in half at 14-7.
The Patriots responded with their third touchdown in as many drives. Grant Scribner had a 22-yard run on the drive to get Millard South inside the Mustang 25-yard line, and Hudson Hanover cashed in the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run on a fullback dive to extend the Patriot lead to 21-7. The touchdown was Hanover’s first rush of the season.
“I’m a hard runner,” he said. “If I’m going to get the ball, I’m going to get into the end zone. We’re all there for each other, and we’re just doing our job executing.”
After trailing 24-14 at halftime, Millard North twice got the Patriot lead down to three. Tory Pittman III had a 10-yard rushing touchdown early in the third quarter to trim the deficit to 24-21. Following a Taylor touchdown pass, Mustang quarterback Logan Grosdidier had a 42-yard touchdown pass to Josiah Wardlow to close to 31-28.
Pittman III caught five passes for 88 yards and also ran for 40 yards. Grosdidier threw for 187 yards and two scores.
Taylor completed 12 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown pass to Carter Margheim. He also caught a pass for five yards.
The Patriot defense forced three Mustang turnovers and also stopped Millard North on downs twice.
