Touchdown? Check. Onside kick? Check. One more touchdown to be hailed as heroes? No such luck.
The Colorado Ice won every statistical battle, but Nebraska won the war, defeating the Ice in a home Intense Conference Championship game Saturday and punching its ticket to the United Bowl.
The teams were gridlocked through halftime, but the Danger pulled away to secure the 55-50 win, pushing the Danger’s record to 4-1 against the Ice this season.
The Danger (11-4) finally took the upper hand with a 17-14 third quarter, and they closed out the Ice when Randy Bell ran 3 yards for a touchdown to make it 55-44 with less than a minute left.
The phrase “closed out” is used loosely, as the Ice gave the Danger plenty to worry about in the closing seconds.
The Ice answered with quarterback Willie Copeland finding University of Northern Colorado product Patrick Walker for a 3-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left. Colorado couldn’t convert the 2-point conversion but did nab the ensuing onside kick. A few plays and a personal foul against the Danger later, the Ice had one untimed down at the Danger 19 with a shot at a conference championship. Copeland’s pass to Kyle Kaiser was incomplete.
The Ice (9-6) knew they would be in for a challenge against a Danger team that hadn’t lost a home game all season.
“That’s a rowdy crowd; they’re going to be sold out. It’s going to be a fun atmosphere, but a loud one,” Ice quarterback Willie Copeland told The Coloradoan earlier this week. “We’ve got to start fast and not spot them 18 to 20 points and have to come back at halftime.”
Colorado accomplished Copeland’s goal, keeping the Danger within striking distance all game. In fact, an argument could be made that the Ice controlled the game.
Colorado had more first downs (28-17), passing yards (162-121), total yards (277-243) and time of possession (32:41-26:59). The Ice had fewer penalties (4-10) for fewer yards (43-70) but couldn’t get those numbers to translate to a win.
In the end, the man the Ice knew they had to stop couldn’t be stopped. Danger quarterback Jameel Sewell led Nebraska with 58 yards rushing and three touchdowns, and the playmaking quarterback threw for 128 yards and two touchdowns with nary an interception.
And though the Ice put up strong numbers thanks to quarterback Willie Copeland, who had three rushing touchdowns on seven carries for 43 yards and two passing touchdowns on 162 yards passing, the rest of the cast slogged through. Where the Danger averaged 6.1 yards each time they ran the ball, the Ice averaged 4.3. Without Copeland, that average plummeted to 3.6.
Dennis Kennedy led the Ice with 52 yards rushing on 17 attempts with a touchdown. Kaiser, for whom Copeland’s final pass was intended, led the Ice with six catches for 66 yards.