How Aurora 'sunk the ship' and kept playoff hopes alive with 28-point comeback

Aurora is far from home free in making the playoffs for a 21st consecutive year.

The chances would have been zero for the Huskies had they not staged what’s believed to be the largest comeback by a Class C-1 team.

Spotting Class B Grand Island Northwest a 28-0 lead after 15 minutes, a fifth consecutive loss to open the season looming, they won 36-35 on their homecoming night.

“I’m so glad they didn’t quit on us,’’ Aurora assistant Cole Ashby said on the KRGY postgame show. “It’s so easy when you’re down 28-7 and just seems like it’s a repeat of the last four weeks, and there was no quit, so much effort, out of our guys.”

With 15.8 seconds left, Jayden Smith scored from the 2 to cut Northwest’s lead to one. This game was going to be decided in regulation. With a play called “Blackbeard.”

Ashby said there was never a doubt to go for two.

“I tried to get coach (Kyle) Peterson to do it the touchdown before. You watch enough NFL, the analytics say to do the 2-point conversion on the touchdown when you’re down 14,’’ he said. “I tried to get him to do it, but he said, ‘No, let’s hold it. Let’s go win a game with it.’”

Canon Allen, who caught 14 passes, took the snap and got the ball on an end-around to quarterback Booker Scheierman. The younger brother of Boston Celtics first-round pick Baylor Scheierman from Creighton, threw to Asher Prins.

“We had set it up so well with just running that formation over and over and over, and it had been working up until the very end,’’ Ashby said. “There was never a doubt. (Peterson) called it before we even scored. He said, “We’re going to score this and then we’re going right into Blackbeard, what we call it, (for) the most famous pirate.’

Aurora likely must win the next four weeks in district games to extend its playoff streak. The opponents are 2-3 Adams Central and three 4-1 teams – Lincoln Christian, Milford and No. 6 Central City.

Our list of the 10 largest comeback victories:

35 points: Bellevue West 52, Omaha Westside 49, 2004: The Thunderbirds trailed 35-0 with 19 minutes left.

31: Bellevue East 35, Bellevue West 34, 2009: East trailed 34-3 at halftime of its season opener before outscoring the Thunderbirds 32-0.

28: Bellevue West 40, Kearney 35, 2010: West spotted the host Bearcats 28 points in the first quarter.

28: Ainsworth 52, Elgin/Pope John 44, 2022: The Bulldogs fell behind 36-8 with four minutes left in the first half.

28: Aurora 36, Grand Island Northwest 35, 2024: The Huskies trailed 28-0 early in the second quarter and used a two-point conversion as the game winner.

26: Omaha Creighton Prep 29, Millard West 26, 2020: The Junior Jays wiped out a 26-0 deficit by scoring the final 29 points in the final 9:13.

25: Millard South 29, Omaha Central 28, 2007: Patriots trailed 28-3 at halftime.

25: Prep 31, Omaha Burke 28, OT, 2012: Down 28-3 at halftime, the Junior Jays scored 18 points in the final 5:03 of regulation.

24: Grand Island 31, Omaha North 24, 2018 Class A first round: Down 24-0 midway through the second quarter, the Islanders got a goal-line stand to swing the momentum.

23: Gretna 40, Bellevue West 37, 2022: Gretna fell behind 37-14 with 7:09 left before future Oklahoma State quarterback Zane Flores threw for two touchdowns and ran for one in the final 5:57. The winning score came on Cameron Bothwell’s 25-yard field goal with 8 seconds left.

Ratings comments

Top 10/Class A

No. 2 Omaha Westside, No. 3 Elkhorn South and new No. 7 Papillion-La Vista are the remaining unbeatens. Elkhorn South visits Westside on Oct. 11. Papio comes off a 22-3 win over Omaha Creighton Prep, which falls from fourth to ninth in the Top 10 and eighth in Class A, to visit No. 1 Millard South on Friday. Class A No. 10 Millard West no longer is winless, taking a five-touchdown lead in a 42-14 victory over Grand Island.

Class B

No. 1 Bennington (eighth in the Top 10), No. 2 Elkhorn North, No. 3 Omaha Skutt and No. 4 Seward are the remaining unbeatens. The top three start their district tussles in another week with Skutt going to Elkhorn North. No ratings changes from last week are necessary. No. 9 Lincoln Pius X played No. 6 Norris tough in a 24-14 loss. Same for No. 10 Blair in a 21-7 loss to Elkhorn North.

Class C-1

No. 1 Wahoo, No. 3 Sidney, No. 4 Columbus Lakeview, No. 6 Boys Town, Chadron and O’Neill are the remaining unbeatens. O’Neill’s first four opponents were from C-2. The Eagles host Lakeview on Oct. 25. Chadron’s had two C-2 opponents. It closes with a home game against Sidney on Oct. 25. No ratings changes from last week are necessary.

Class C-2

No. 1 Norfolk Catholic, No. 2 Battle Creek, No. 5 Kearney Catholic, No. 10 Raymond Central are the remaining unbeatens. Battle Creek-Norfolk Catholic is Oct. 18. Oakland-Craig fell from the ranks with a 45-38 loss to Battle Creek, which drops the Knights a notch to fourth while Wahoo Neumann moves up into third.

Eight Man-1

No. 1 Stanton, No. 2 Sandy Creek, No. 3 North Platte St. Patrick’s, No. 4 Arapahoe, new No. 10 Pleasanton, David City and West Point Guardian Angels are the remaining unbeatens. NPSP-Arapahoe is Oct. 17. Dundy County-Stratton, which lost 26-20 to Arapahoe, remains at No. 5.

Eight Man-2

No. 2 Howells-Dodge, No. 3 Sandhills/Thedford, No. 4 Humphrey Archangels, No. 5 BDS, No. 6 Overton, new No. 9 Loomis, new No. 10 Weeping Water and Bancroft-Rosalie are the remaining unbeatens. B-R’s opponents are a combined 4-21, the same for Weeping Water. Archangels hosts Howells-Dodge on Oct. 18, the same day for Loomis-Overton.

Six Man

No. 1 Sumner-Eddyville-Miller, No. 2 Arthur County, No. 3 Hay Springs, No. 5 Pawnee City (ineligible for the playoffs), No. 6 Red Cloud, No. 7 Garden County are the remaining unbeatens. Arthur-Hay Springs and Pawnee City-Red Cloud are on Oct. 25. New No. 10 Wallace beat previous No. 9 Southwest 67-45.