Northwest football coach Kevin Stein stood on the sideline and waited. He watched kicker Evan Wiles line up for a 43-yard field goal with 1:15 on the clock and the score tied at seven.

"We were actually into a little bit of a headwind, crosswind and I wasn't sure Evan had the leg to make it there and I thought it came up short. So my mind instantly went to OK, what are we doing, overtime? And then it was good," Stein said. "So my mind instantly switched to 'OK, they've got a really good kickoff return team, what do we do.'"

That was the scene for Northwest's biggest win of the season against then-ranked York. Northwest won 10-7.

The effort to make that happen started a couple of minutes before the kick with leading receiver Camden Walker calling his shot. He was on the receiving end of a 67-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.

"That was kind of neat because they were double and even triple teaming Cam Walker because he's a special player, was having a heck of a night and then all of a sudden we were able to hit Preston Murphy on the other side, we hit him three or four times in a row," Stein said. "They went back to only double-covering Cam and right then, it was after the second down play, Cam comes running over to the sideline and said 'run this play.' He actually called the play because he knew he could get that deep post and ran like he was possessed."

But the game wasn't over after Northwest took a 10-7 lead. There was still 1:10 on the clock and time for York to score. Northwest still had to kick the ball over to a team that specialized in kick returns.

"They've got a dynamic kickoff return and they reverse it, they fake reverse it, the whole nine yards. So we actually chip shot it to about the 25-yard line and it landed about two yards from the sidelines, away from where they were setting up their return," Stein said. "Everybody was bailing to the other side and it checked up and we recovered it."

The win was huge, not only because it was against a ranked team, but because it was Northwest's first district win. Northwest is 1-1 in the district and has two games left to play. If Northwest wins out there's a chance it makes the playoffs as a top two team in the district.

Class B No. 4 Seward is 2-0 in district play and hosts York on Friday. If it wins that would open the door for Northwest to make the playoffs.

"Being top two in our district would be really cool. Just to give a chance in the playoffs, these guys have worked their tails off in the offseason and preseason and during the season, they've never wavered from their work ethic," Stein said. "They deserve a chance to get into these playoffs and to keep our streak alive. We've been in the playoffs for a lot of years in a row, and these kids deserve it just for the way they have persevered."

Stein said he also believes that a win like that helps change the attitude amongst the team.

"They knew that this was our big hurdle to win three games in a row down the stretch, and so now it's got to change our mindset a little bit, into we'll be heavy favorites going into the next two weeks," Stein said. "We have to be a little more focused in how we prepare and just execute well."

Caejon Suttles is the Northwest quarterback, but he wasn't named the week one starter. He's started since week two and has thrown for 1,149 yards and 10 touchdowns.

"Things did not start the way that he wanted, but he stayed the course, he was a great teammate, he stepped in and played some inside linebacker," Stein said. "He played extremely well since we put him in at quarterback, and he's done whatever the team's needed and now he's really figuring out how to just distribute the ball to our athletes and letting them make plays."

The defense has also stepped up in recent weeks.

Against Seward, Northwest had allowed 14 points in the first half and the game was tied. Then against York, Northwest held a team that was averaging 27.8 points per game to just seven.

"They ran a lot more plays than us, but they just had to nickel and dime us and they came out early and threw the ball on us, which kind of took us back a little bit, that really surprised us," Stein said. "It really loosened our defense up, so we changed our mindset early and then got back to stopping the run late."

On Friday Northwest hosts 1-6 Crete and then in the final week of the season Northwest will play at Lincoln Northwest on Thursday, Oct. 24.

To get two wins and make a push for the playoffs, Stein said, it's going to take all 11 players on the field playing as a single unit.

"We still aren't executing with all 11 guys on the same page doing their job consistently. We're always having nine or 10 guys doing their job extremely well and one or two not in the right position or not getting their job done," Stein said. "I think down the stretch is trying to consistently get 11 guys doing what they're supposed to do with great effort."

City games

Bellevue East at Grand Island Senior High, 7 p.m.

Grand Island Senior High is still looking for its first win of the season after a 13-7 loss to Lincoln North Star. Bellevue East is 1-6 on the season and coming off a 55-14 loss to Omaha Westview.

Grand Island Central Catholic at Boone Central, 7 p.m.

The Grand Island Central Catholic Crusaders are rolling and have won five straight games. It faces its toughest test of the season in Class C-2 No. 6 Boone Central, who's also the defending Class C-1 state champ. Boone Central is 5-2 on the year and coming off a 23-7 win over St. Paul.

Heartland Lutheran at Santee, 7 p.m.

Heartland Lutheran is 1-5 on the season and is coming off a 63-28 loss to Ansley-Litchfield. Santee is 0-6 on the year and coming off a 63-26 loss to Shelton.