PLAINVIEW - Plainview responded every time Thayer Central scored in the second quarter, and then pitched a second-half shutout to help the #7-seeded Pirates (9-1) sail past the #10-seeded Titans (8-2) 51-22 in the second round of the 2025 Nebraska 8-man D1 football postseason on Halloween night in Plainview.

Just like they did in the first round against Perkins County, Thayer Central started off slowly in the second round against Plainview. But the Titans quickly found that the Pirates were a much more potent foe than the Plainsmen were. Plainview scored on its first two possessions of the game and held Thayer Central to a total of one first down on its first two, and built a 13-0 lead after one period of play. 

Despite the slow start, the Titans were able to surge back in the second quarter. The TC defense forced Plainview into a three-and-out, and immediately, the offense countered with a 43-yard bomb on a play fake from Laken Wiedel to Brady Degenhardt to get the visitors on the board with 10:14 to go in the second quarter.

But the Pirates punched back immediately with a six-yard run from Gage Walton two-and-a-half minutes later, and that set the stage for a trend that lasted for the remainder of the second quarter: every time Thayer Central scored, Plainview provided an immediate response. Wiedel hit Murphy Sudbeck with a 53-yard bomb and then found the end zone himself on a 42-yard scamper, but the Pirates answered back with scores - all courtesy of Gage Walton. The Titans fought back to within a score on three different occasions, but the Pirates pushed back out to up by two possessions all three times. 

Walton's fourth score of the first half came with 30 seconds to play, giving Plainview a 34-22 lead at the break, and that's as close as Thayer Central would get. The Plainview defense pitched a second-half shutout, and on the other side Walton scored twice more - through the air this time off passes from freshman Kobe Maertins - in the second half and Kohen Lingenfelter iced things with a 37-yard field goal, his first of the season, in the fourth quarter, sealing a 51-22 second-round win for Plainview. 

#7-seed Plainview advanced to the third round of the 2025 D1 football postseason and will now travel to face #2-seed Dundy County Stratton on Friday afternoon after they dispatched #15 McCool Junction 52-8. Thayer Central's season ends in the second round with an 8-2 overall mark, the same fate the Titans finished with in 2022. This group of Thayer Central seniors, which head coach Mitchell Shepherd called "a constant presence" for his team and "a tremendous example" for the school and the community, end their high school careers with 29 total wins over four years, unquestionably an impressive achievement.

#10 THAYER CENTRAL (8-2) 22:  0 | 22 | 0 | 0

#7 PLAINVIEW (9-1)               51:  13 | 21 | 7 | 10