Down by two points to Maur Hill-Mount Academy with 90 seconds left in the fourth quarter Friday night, the Nemaha Central Thunder had a chance to tie with a 2-point conversion try.

After a timeout to draw up a play, the Thunder decided to keep the ball in their senior quarterback Dalton Schmelzle’s hands on a designed quarterback run.

Schmelzle tried the left side of the line, but the Raven defense was up for the task as Logan Housh held the Thunder out of the end zone to maintain a two point lead before going on to run out the clock and claim the Class 2A district three title with a 27-25 win.

The Ravens got off to a slow start for the second consecutive game, as Nemaha Central jumped out to a 13-0 lead on a pair of Schmlezle runs of 1-yard and 28 yards.

MH-MA desperately needed a big play to try to get some type of momentum, and the Ravens got just that and some as junior quarterback Jack Caudle connected with senior wideout Tate Vowels on a 79-yard touchdown to pull within one score with two seconds left in the first quarter.

After the two teams traded possessions in the second quarter the Ravens finally were able to put something together right before the half, as Caudle found senior receiver Korrighan Liggett on a 17-yard score to tie the game up at 13 at halftime with both teams missing extra points in the first half.

The Ravens took the opening kick out of the break and took their first lead, as Caudle scored from a yard out to cap off 20 straight points giving MH-MA a 20-13 lead.

Nemaha Central wasn’t going to go down easy though, as the Thunder responded with an 80-yard drive capped off by a touchdown pass from Schmelzle to Ty Hermesch. The Thunder decided to go for two, but the conversion was stopped leaving the Ravens with a 20-19 lead with 6:31 left in the game.

The Ravens then went on a lengthy drive and got inside Thunder territory, and with 2:31 left Nemaha Central decided to let the Ravens go in for a 30-yard touchdown run by Cameron Taft to give the Thunder the ball back and a chance to tie with plenty of time on the clock.

After a clutch fourth down catch by Cole Kramer the Thunder got the play they needed, as senior tight end Matt Baumgartner broke free in the secondary and Schmelzle found him for a 44-yard touchdown to pull Nemaha within two points before the Ravens eventually stopped the try.

MH-MA was then able to recover the ensuing onside kick and run the clock out for the victory.

The Ravens finished with 355 total yards of offense as Jack Caudle completed 9 of 17 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns, while Tate Vowels finished with 134 yards on five receptions and a score. Cameron Taft added 80 yards on the ground and a score with 78 of those yards coming in the second half.

Nemaha Central had Dalton Schmelzle throw for 219 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for two more, while Noe Gauna ran for 84 yards but had negative rushing yards in the second half.

The Ravens (7-1) locked up a district title with the win and will face Mission Valley (5-3) in week nine, while the Thunder (5-3) finish as the two seed and will take on Southeast of Saline (7-1) Friday.