Bears find the win column against Luth NE

NORFOLK - After trailing for the first three quarters, the Laurel-Concord- Coleridge football team exploded in the final 12 minutes to take down Lutheran High Northeast here at Memorial Field 32-14 for the Bears’ first win of the 2024 season.

Starting quarterback, Gibson Roberts was sidelined by injury for the game and it took the LCC offense three quarters to find its collective sea legs, but once they found them, they scored the 32 unanswered points to claim the victory.

Eli Haisch scored the first of his three touchdowns on the night with a four-yard blast in the fourth quarter after the Eagles had staked the 14-0 advantage through the first three periods.

The Bears defense got busy next as Cade Johnson scooped up a Lutheran High fumble and rambled 12 yards for LCC’s second score.

Roberts’ replacement under center, Connor Korth scored from five yards away to give the Bears their first lead of the contest.

Haisch, who finished the game with 124 yards on the ground on his 21 carries, scored his second touchdown of the night again from four yards away and after a conversion was good, the LCC lead was up to 26-14.

Haisch put his punctuation mark on the evening with an 11-yard run to the end zone and the finals score was set.

The Bears, who put up an even 200 yards on the ground, were led by Haisch’s effort on the night and 51 yards from Korth and his one touchdown.

Defensively, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge limited LHNE to just 84 yards through the air and 61 on the ground and caused three Eagle turnovers.

Haisch also paced the defense with 14 tackles, including 10 solo stops and one tackle for a loss and Korth added 10 tackles, with three tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Tanner Thompson had six unassisted tackles and recovered a fumble, Caleb Erwin picked off a Lutheran High aerial and Johnson had the scoop and score.

The Bears will return to Laurel to take on 2-2 Elkhorn Valley Sept. 27 at Haskell Field.

The Falcons dropped a 34-26 decision to Plainview in their last outing and sandwiched wins over Humphrey/Lindsay and Boyd County around an opening-season loss to West Holt.

LCC (1-3) 0 0 0 32 - 32 LHNE (1-3) 6 8 0 0 - 12 FIRST QUARTER LHNE: 11 run, kick failed. 0-6. SECOND QUARTER LHNE: 24 pass, conversion good. 0-14. FOURTH QUARTER LCC: Eli Haisch 4 run, conversion no good. 6-14. LCC: Cade Johnson 12 yard fumble