LINCOLN — The season may not have ended the way Crofton had hoped, but it’s a season that’s left plenty to build off of.
Sandy Creek raced out early and never let its foot off the pedal in a 66-26 win over Crofton on Monday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
In coach Johnnie Ostermeyer’s first year at the helm, Crofton has accomplished plenty. The team went 10-3, beat the No. 1-seeded Shelby-Rising City and had Tyson Jackson break both the season rushing and touchdown records as a junior.
“I’m very proud of these kids,” Ostermeyer said. “All year long, they battled, they competed. We came out a little flat in that first half. I think the shock and awe of being in Memorial Stadium got to us to start; we couldn’t quite get things going up front. But I’m so proud of the way these guys fought.
“They easily could have hung their heads in the second half, we battled, put some points on the board. Not enough to get it done today, but these guys are winners in life with the way they played this season.”
Jackson finished his day with 171 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries, much of which came in that second half. That performance pushed Jackson to 2,468 yards on the season.
He’ll return along with Crofton’s starting quarterback, Preston Foxhoven, a sophomore. He finished his day completing 6 of 18 passes for 159 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. Foxhoven came out a little shaky early, but once he was able to settle in a little bit, he started to find his receivers deep downfield.
“(Foxhoven) is a huge part of our offense,” Ostermeyer said. “(Jackson) and him are two of the main guys that we have to have playing their top game. And he wanted those (early throws) back right away. He knew it right away. He’ll be down on himself. I just told him, ‘Hey, relax, make the next one.’
“A couple of big plays we could have had in the first half that maybe would have helped us stay in that game a little longer. Unfortunately, we couldn't get stops on third down.”
A big part of the struggles on third down was because of Sandy Creek sophomore Kam Sealey. All season long, he’s been impossible to stop; that didn’t change on Monday.
Sealey finished his day contributing nine touchdowns total, throwing for 271 yards and rushing for another 203. He also grabbed an interception on the defensive end, further cementing himself amongst the best players in eight-man football across the state.
“We knew (Sealey) was good coming in,” Ostermeyer said. “You don’t throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,500 yards and not be a good quarterback coming in. We knew we had to contain him, and we just didn’t do a very good job of that tonight.”
Crofton started with two three-and-outs, drives Sandy Creek answered with touchdowns from Sealey and Wes Biltoft.
The Warriors were finally able to get on the board right before the half. Foxhoven connected with Jace Panning on a 45-yard bomb to set up Jackson from the 1-yard line.
Sealey contributed four more touchdowns, and Foxhoven found Jackson Lynde for a 52-yard score to bring the game to 53-14 right before the half.
At halftime, Ostermeyer told his team not to give up, and they didn’t. Jackson put the Warriors on the board first, off a 65-yard touchdown run, something he did again early in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the Warriors, Sealey matched that effort, keeping any comeback efforts at bay.
Now, eyes turn toward the 2026 season, with plenty of firepower returning for Crofton.
“We had a really good senior class, but most of the team is juniors,” Jackson said. “Getting back to the basics, (being) fundamentally sound. We screwed up fundamentals a few times in this game. I feel like we kind of lost focus after those first two touchdowns, down 14-0. The stage it’s different. So hopefully we can get back into the offseason and grind and get back here.”
The Warriors will graduate six seniors, returning the majority of their roster.
Ostermeyer said that he was named head coach a little later in the offseason last year. Having that full offseason to prepare and get the kids into the system could help the team get over the hump.
While that will have to play out over the next year, Monday was still a special opportunity for the boys getting to play in the stadium they’ve watched Nebraska in their whole lives.
“It was amazing,” Jackson said. “I’ve dreamt of playing here since I was a little kid, and it was very fun. Even my lineman, they really got going during halftime. They sat together like, ‘We got this, we’ve got to block.’ And hats off to them, they did that and allowed me to get those big runs.”
CROFTON 8 6 6 6 — 26
Sandy Creek 16 37 6 7 — 66
Scoring summary
First quarter
SC: Kam Sealey 1 rush (Logan Tomky pass from Sealey), 5:00
SC: Wes Biltoft 12 pass from Sealey (Kaeden Schmidt pass from Sealey), 2:27
CR: Tyson Jackson 5 rush (Jackson Lynde pass from Preston Foxhoven), 1:44
Second quarter
SC: Sealey 9 rush (Tomky pass from Sealey), 8:10
SC: Tomky 29 pass from Sealey (Ben Burger XP good), 4:35
CR: Lynde 52 pass from Foxhoven (2-pt no good), 2:48
SC: Sealey 26 rush (PAT good), 1:58
SC: Kaeden Schmidt 26 pass from Sealey (PAT good), :30
Third quarter
CR: Jackson 65 rush (2-pt no good), 3:08
SC: Sealey 14 rush (PAT failed)
Fourth quarter
SC: Biltoft 57 pass from Sealey (PAT good), 8:39
CR: Jackson 65 rush (2-pt no good), 8:11
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