McCOOL JUNCTION, Neb. — The town was buzzing.

It was the first round of Nebraska’s six-man high school football playoffs. The McCool Junction Mustangs (9-0) were undefeated and seeded fourth in Class D6. And while the Crawford Rams were 5-4, no one was taking them lightly. The Rams were tall and intimidating.

“They are ranchers,” Jabe Wurtz, a Mustangs assistant coach, said. “Tough kids.”

McCool Junction’s mantra this season has been “FINISH.” Ideally, that would mean getting to the championship game.

Mission accomplished. The Mustangs defeated Crawford on Nov. 1 to move on in the playoffs. With two more wins after that, McCool Junction advanced to the Class D6 title game on Friday night, where it lost to the Harvard Cardinals, 50-33, on the campus of the University of Nebraska, Kearney.

As the playoffs unfolded, the McCool Junction coaches emphasized the importance of keeping together their football team, with its 16 players and five coaches. One loss, and they would never play again as a team.