WEEK FOUR STATE-WIDE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL HEROES

Talk about being in heaven on the sidelines, friends! What a gorgeous

day for the king of high school sports. Another week loaded with nice

State-Wide rushing performances and some other goodies worth

mentioning as well. Let's get to it!

*Tyler Freeland-Dundy County - His 55 yard TD scamper the first play

from scrimmage was all the Tigers would need to subdue Bridgeport. The

score held up for a Dundy 7-0 "W".

*RYAN RANDALL-BLIAR - Oh Mother, how good is this guy? Can you say "Leading Rusher in The State"? Randall has TWO games over 300 this year and ran for 327 last week against a good Beatrice squad. The JUNIOR now has 980 in 4 contests. Reminds me of some of McCook's former backs.

*Millard West Offense - After scoring a meager 19 points in their

first 3 games, the defending champs "O" exploded for 46 straight

points and put a shocker on Omaha Burke 56-28 last Thursday night. The

fireworks started with the Wildcats trailing 28-13 entering the 3rd

quarter. Vincenzo Guido scampered 23 yards for a score, Zach Leinbaugh

then returned a punt 76 yards to the house. Not to be outdone, Guido

then applied a crushing blow by shaking loose for an electrifying 95

yard TD run to give MW their first lead. The 'Cats weren't done

however, as Darius Evans caught an 80 TD strike from Zach Whitham and

the barrage continued through the 4th quarter. Are the Green and Black

back?

*Quentin Urban-Millard South - In another wild top 10 match-up, the

Patriots scored 4 times in the final stanza, with the amazing Urban

tallying TWICE in the last 1:41 to lift MS to the 47-41 victory over

Elkhorn. Urban scored on a 74 yard Punt Return and must have like that

yard number, because he took a blocked field goal attempt 74 yds. for

another touchdown just a bit later. 160 pound DB Tyler Harris was

credited with the field goal block. Bad part of the deal was the 517

rushing yards given up by the Patriots "D", but not too many teams

have the 1-2 running punch Elkhorn has.

*Speaking of Elkhorn, their Two-Headed Rushing Machine of Dane Eccles

and Trevor Roach blitzed the MS "D" to the tune of 367 yards between

the two. Eccles had 234 yds on only 12 carries and Roach bulldozed his

way to 133 on 19. Eccles now has 534 and Roach 431 for the season. I

WILL see this Elkhorn team at Kearney in October.

*Josh Crowell-Ravenna - After being throttled by Kearney Catholic a

week ago, the All-Stater gave Sutton a lesson on long distance running

by going off for 320 yards on only 16 carries. He scored on runs of

48, 56, 34, 73, 38 yards.

*Garrett Kolling-Alma - Helping to try and bring the Cardinals back to

football prominence, he rushed for 169 yds on 26 carries and scored on

runs of 41, 10, and 50.

Alma staged a furious comeback in the nightcap at Foster Field on the

campus of UNK Friday by reeling off 52 unanswered points in the 60-22

win over Franklin. Cards trailed 24-8 before scoring 2 Tds in the

final 2:16 of the first half and the avalanche continued the remainder

of the way.

*Yusef Wade-Lincoln North Star - He ran for 111-23 and scored twice as

the Gators beat Kearney 35-28.

*Sean Campbell-Pleasanton - Exploded for 226 yds on 28 totes as

Pleasanton beat SEM 62-28. He scored runs of 56 and 42 yards and

caught a 40 yard TD pass. The 2000 yard rusher in '08 now has 594

yards for the '09 campaign.

*Jared Curry-Ponca - In yet another huge game for the Indians, Curry

came up big with 159 yds on 23 carries in a 38-16 win over Stanton. He

tallied on runs of 5, 12 and 39 yards. Stanton 1000 Yarder Tate Erbst

ran for 123-20 in the game. Curry's total for the year is 490 and

Ersbt if right behind with 475 rushing.

*Big Ron Coleman-Omaha North - Steamrolled his way to 200-25 carries

in the Vikings 33-27 win over Papio. Two other North backs hit the

century mark also. Raechien Logan-Martin rushed for 153 yards and

speedster Thomas Hodges blazed for 133 yds. on only 6 carries.

*Brad McNabb- Bellevue East - The QB rushed for 161 yards on 27

touches and ran for 2 scores in their 22-17 win over Papio South.

*Brauillo Castillo-Columbus Lakeview - Escaped for 247 yds on 19 tries

and hit P-dirt from 3, 56, 18, and 81 yards out. Little Bro Roberto

also topped the century mark on the ground. Lakeview rushed for 395

yards in the blasting of Mt. Michael (50-16)

*Ben Coenen-Omaha Gross - The signal caller ran for 144 yds on only 10

carries, scoring on HALF of those runs! He went in from 3, 30, 49, 8

and 5 yards out.

*Josh Egbarts-Douglas Co. West - In a 28-26 heartbreaking loss to

Elmwood-Murdock, he ran for 149 yards. DCW had a failed 2 point pass

try to tie the game and send it into a possible Overtime.

Jacob Salomons-Lincoln SE - How about this guy! Star runner Zach

Taylor had been hit violently in the back and then later finally

collapsed in the end zone with a hip pointer, so the back-up Salomons

came in and rambled for 185 yards as the Knights, who were already

without QB Darius Vick, beat rival Lincoln NE, 21-10.

*Bryce Bostwick-Lincoln East - The Spartain must have thought he was

Jimmy Ebke and ran for 178 yards and scored from 55, 36, and 12 yards

out. They beat Lincoln High 41-0. Bostwick had already rolled up

137-12 by halftime.

*Jacob Ramsay-Lincoln Pius - Must have thought HE was Alex Henerey and

booted 4 field goals, TWO from 50 yards out, in the 'Bolts 27-7 win

over Ralston. The two 50 yarders had the distance to be through the

uprights at 55 yards, I was told.

*Christian Dudzik-Omaha Skutt - The magical QB with his stellar

blocking line, was 12-14 passing for 221 yards in the Skyhawks win

over Crete 33-0. He also ran for 112-12 carries. 6 of Dudzik's passes

were snared by Jacob Smith, 2 for TDS.

*Chase Wurdeman-Seward - Went off for 198 yards on 28 carries in a

18-10 win over winless Hastings. The BlueJays will entertain Numero

Uno Aurora this Friday.

*Matt Roth-David City Aquinas - Rushed for 168 yards and scored on

runs of 4, 59, and 3 in the Monarchs 41-31 win over Centennial.

*Kyle Herman-Milford - 150 yds on 26 carries and 2 scores in the win

over Auburn.

*Joe Marshall-Malcolm - Sure Fire 1000 Yard Rusher sped for 179 yards

and scored twice in the 48-0 route of High Plains. Marshall now has

472 yards in only 3 games.

*Jordan Pella-Freeman - I'm guessing this kid has nearly 400 on the

ground this season as he scored on runs of 5, 3, 2 and 75 in Freeman's

48-12 drubbing of Lewiston.

*Jake Wirthele-Sterling - From Pella's neck of the woods, The Sterling

fullback ran for 244 yards on 29 carries as his Jets broke a 16-16 tie

and scored 32 unanswered points in a 50-22 win over Pawnee City. This

is the 2nd straight 200 yard rushing game for Wirthele. He hit pay

dirt from 1, 55,and 57 yards out.

*Ryan Harre-Exeter-Milligan - Speed Merchant rushed for 132-15 in a

40-8 win over Shickley, who is playing their last season of football

before joining forces next season.

* Nate Most-Giltner - Came 209 yards closer to breaking Scott Frost's

career passing mark in the Hornets 50-13 win over Henderson Heartland.

The gun-slinging Most, who has 731 yards thus far, needs 1,069 to get

Frost's record.

*

Bits and Pieces:

*The McCook Bison travel to Hastings to take on the Tigers at one of

my favorite venues in the state. Never find better lighting than that

on the Hastings College football facility. Hastings is winless in four

tries and have struggled offensively, but still have a nice QB in ace

Discus man, Brady Rutt and a fine defensive stalwart in 5-11, 185 Sr.

Brandon Reeves. Bison should be able to crank up the ground game

here.....and if you are into score comparisons, Hastings lost 26-7 to

the same Scottsbluff team the Bison just beat 10-7 last Friday. The

Tigers have averaged under 180 yards per game on offense thus far in

'09 and have given up 98 points.

*Cambridge ventures to Kearney Catholic to take on a Stars bunch that

shocked Ravenna 35-0 two weeks back, then fought for their lives

before finally putting away a vicious hitting Doniphan-Trumbull team

13-12 in OT last Friday. The Stars wide-open offense usually causes

fits for any defense, and the thing that may be a concern is the way

KC shut off Ravenna's running game. Trojans are rated number 8 and the

Stars 10 in this week's ratings.

*How good is Arapahoe? After not only doubling the score on Hayes

Center, coach Daren Hatch's team put up 50 big ones. Junior runner

Dustin Park is the real deal, folks. He has rushed for 424 yards in 3

games, including a buck 92 against the Cardinals last week. An Overton

team rolls into Arapahoe Friday that has lost only to powerful Axtell.

Glen Snodgrass' has a stellar RB too in 6', 200 pound 1000 Yarder

Jared Hodgsen, who sat out all last season. Hodgsen ripped Elwwod to the tune of 305 yards last week and in the process, almost DOUBLED his season rushing total which now stands at 621. This should be a dandy of a game.

*How shell shocked is Scottie Jorgensen's Hayes Center team? The

Cards can't afford to dwell on last week's loss with an always

dangerous Wallace coming in. Wallace has one of the most versatile

QB's in all of 8-Man Two in Sean May. The 165 lb. Jr. ran for 696 yds.

and passed for another 366 last season. As a Freshman he ran for 610

and tossed for nearly 700 yards. The slickster had been the D-2 leader

in Rushing after two games with an amazing 446 yds. on only 50

totes....oh, yes, he also had another 199 in the air. I look for a HC

rebound this week.

*Good or bad? In the Gothenburg/Minden game I saw Friday evening, the

Whippets, trailing 26-6 with 5:22 left in the 3rd quarter, embarked on

one of the most time consuming drives I have ever witnessed in my

life. Starting on their own 6, they methodically pounded the ball

downfield, running behind big D-1 prospect 305 lb. Peter Trausch, and

kept the ball TWELVE MINUTES AND 27 SECONDS. They ended up scoring

with 4:55 left I the game on a 4th down play. Blum took it the final

yard. Gothenburg then proceeded to take it down the field and score on

a 3:15 drive and the game was in the bag. One heck of a drive by

Minden, but do you really want to take a quarter to do that down by

three scores late in quarter number three? Beats me, but I was

certainly impressed by the 25 play drive. Kept the ball for over a

quarter + 27 tics....WOW. Swedes touched the ball 3 times in that 3rd

frame.

Get out to see a game this week. I'll be seeing you on the sidelines!