Five of the last six years Nemaha Central and Jeff West have played a game decided by seven points or less and through one half of action it looked like it could be the same again until the Thunder sounded in the second half to earn the 28-15 win. 

The night started with Jeff West taking the ball down the field and taking just over five and half minutes off the clock and splitting the uprights with a Luke Herring 27-yard field goal to make it 3-0 early Tigers on top. Nemaha Central wasted no time answering as Tristan Allen busted an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and with the PAT it was 7-3 Nemaha Central without the Thunder having run an offensive play. 

The Thunder however would turn the ball over via fumbles twice in the first half and Jeff West picked the second one up on the five-yard line and two plays later Keishon Brown scored on a two-yard run and after a failed conversion the Tigers led 9-7. Offense for the Thunder had been sluggish up to this point in the first half when they orchestrated a drive resulting in a six-yard touchdown run by Ryan Hasenkamp with 1:59 left in the first half and led 13-9, taking that margin into halftime. 

Nemaha Central looked to put things further in their favor in the second half as they received the kick and marched down the field in just under four minutes to score on a three-yard Kyle Rethman touchdown run and with the two-point conversion led 21-9. Jeff West tired their best to get it back with one score but Nemaha Central held them off and made it 28-9 on a four-yard Rethman run with 5:23 left to go in the contest. 

Tigers clawed back on the next drive, striking quick with a Quentin Guerra four-yard touchdown run making it 28-15 and then tired an onside kick but was unable to come up with it and Nemaha Central ran the clock out for the win. 

In the win Ryan Hasenkamp was 9-14 for 154 yards with 64 yards rushing and a touchdown to earn Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" honors on KMZA, while Dalton Hiltbrand caught two passes for 76 yards and Rethman ran for 53 yards on 18 carries with two scores. The Thunder improved to 6-0 on the season and wrap up Big Seven action 6-0 this year. 

Jeff West in the loss had Hunter Dean throw for 110 yards on 6-11 passing, while rush for 58 yards on 14 carries, while Brown posted 71 yards on 17 carries with a score and Guerra caught four passes for 106 yards and had a rushing touchdown. The loss sends Jeff West to 3-2 on the season. 

Both teams open District play next week as Nemaha Central travels to Centralia and Jeff West will host Holton.