Week One Friday Night Heroes - Part 1

Boone Central/NG TE Keaton Henry (with football) bulls for yardage in the State C-1 Championship win against Ashland-Greenwood last year. *(photo courtesy of Journal-Star)

Week 1 Friday Night Heroes - Part 1

by Bobby Mills (1000 Yard Guy)

*Milton Sargbah-Omaha North - After introducing himself to the Nebraska prep football world a week ago against powerful Millard West, the 165 pound sophomore followed up his 132 yards rushing performance with an incredible encore. In a stunning 51-50 two overtime loss to Omaha Burke, Sargbah ran for a Calvin Strong-like 304 yards on 29 carries while scoring on runs of 81 and 18 yards. Filling in for Calvin's "little" brother Jordan and yet to play Tavion Seals, the high flying sophomore has put 'em in the aisles with his electrifying speed, tackle breaking ability, and precision cuts. In just a game and a half, Milton Sargbah has rushed for 436 yards on 55 touches (7.9) and scored three TDs.

*Ryan Neumann-Creighton - Made former Papillion LV, Hall of Fame coaching legend Gene Suhr's re entry back in the coaching ranks a successful venture. In the Bulldogs 61-36 victory over an excellent Elgin/Pope John team, the 5-11, 195 junior did it all. Neumann scored 7 touchdowns and accounted for a staggering 298 yards of total offense.

Neumann rushed for 110 yards on only 10 carries, scoring on runs of 1, 7, and 77 yards. He also caught TD passes of 24, 24, and 58 yards from QB Austin Diedrichsen. The 7th score came on a 47 yard punt return. Where does Creighton come up with terrific athletes? I'll take some of that water up there.

*Tanner Gideon-Gibbon - Must enjoy the new uniform and new digs because the Wood River transfer rushed for 163 yards on 16 carries and scored 2 touchdowns in Gibbon's 39-6 win over Bayard. The speedy Gideon has 263 yards a 3 Tds in 2 games.

*Gage Orton-Plattsmouth - Get used to this name friends. Schuyler doesn't care to hear it again very soon, though. In the Blue Devil's 56-0 thrashing of the Warriors, Orton accounted for a mind boggling 372 yards of total offense. You heard right, 372. Orton rushed for 119 yards and a TD against Schuyler, returned 7 punts for 212 yards including a 49 yard touchdown, and brought a kick-off back 85 yards for yet another 6 points. Orton has rushed for 292 yards leading Plattsmouth to a 2-0 record in 2015.

*Bradley Bunner-Clarkson-Leigh - 6-1, 175 junior from up in God's country, broke loose for 235 yards on 29 carries and scored 4 times on the ground in a 69-30 opening game win over Wakefield. Bunner added another touchdown on a 33 yard pass from senior QB Kobe Paprocki. Seems like super coach Jim Clarkson always has an outstanding running back in the land of the Patriots.

*Jacob Simonson-G.I. Heartland Lutheran - 6 foot, 160 pound sharpshooter rifled 21 passes, completing 15 of them for 327 yards and 5 Tds in the Red Hornets 42-34 season opening win over SEM. Simonson picked up right where he left off in 2014, a season he threw for 1,800 yards and 28 touchdowns.

In the SEM game, senior Devin Hueftle, Simonson's prime target, hauled in 4 passes, ALL for touchdowns. Junior Isiah Zapata caught 5 passes for 98 yards in the win. Heartland Lutheran returns every offensive and defensive starter from a year ago.

*Grand Island Defense - A week after shutting down a pretty good Kearney offense, the rugged Islander "D" limited Lincoln SE to just 151 yards of total offense in GI's 32-7 win over the Knights. Is Jeff Tomlin one of the best defensive coaches in the state or what?

*Tristan Anderson and Makoor Arop-Omaha South - Anderson ran for over a 100 yards for the 2nd week in a row, rushing for 155 yards on 21 carries and 2 TDs in a wild 56-49 double OT loss to Omaha Northwest. Anderson already has 401 yards on only 36 carries in 2 outings for the Packers.

Quarterback Makoor Arop completed 22 of 28 passes in the Omaha NW game for 253 yards for 5 TDs. Iowa recruit Noah Fant caught 2 of the scoring passes as well as Justin Stewart.

*Noah Fant-Omaha South - Had 7 receptions for 99 yards in that Omaha NW loss and TD receptions of 23 and 26 yards. In just 2 games, the Iowa recruit has 14 receptions for 175 yards. For his career, the ace basketball star has 46 catches for 669 yards and 11 scores. Fant has already made 28 tackles this year from his defensive end position and 10.5 of those have been tackles for losses. Yeah, he's Division One.

*Braden Schuppan-Doniphan-Trumbull - The speedy, slippery as an eel RB bolted for 204 yards on 23 tries and TD runs of 15 and 2 yards in the Cardinals 43-8 triumph over Twin River. Schuppan has already rushed for 334 yards in 2015.

*Dillon Hike-Bellevue East - His team lost again last week to a tough Millard South team 47-18, but the rock steady, quarterback with the fine mechanics still completed 17 of 28 throws for 245 yards and all three scores. Yes, the Chieftains are 0-2, but Hike has been on target for 46 of his 75 passes for 539 yards. That's nailing 61% of everything he puts in the air folks. Insert him in the other Bellevue team's QB slot and Dillon Hike would be breaking records like #10. That's no stretch.

*Moses Bryant-Elkhorn South - Parted Bennington's green sea for 123 yards on only 8 carries and 2 TDs in the Storm's 54-0 win Friday.

*Conner Ebeling-Elkhorn South - The 6-2, 175 senior signal caller is shaping up to be one of Class B's best quarterbacks. In that Bennington romp, the sharpshooting Ebeling threw 18 passes, completing 14 of those for a huge 291 yards and 4 TDs. In just two games, Conner has been on target on 21 of his 34 throws for 403 yards and 6 TDs and no interceptions. I'll do the math. That's a 62% completion percentage, a top notch number for any high school quarterback.

*Sean Lambert-Fremont Tigers - Lambert did it again. In Fremont's 41-12 win over South Sioux City, the swift moving senior ran for 164 yards on just 13 carries, hitting the end zone from 1, 38, and 26 yards out. Now wait. You just knew Lambert would have to return an interception 70 yards for a score to top off his evening and that he did just that.

In two games, Sean has rushed for 333 yards and 7 TDs. Good for Lambert and good for those Fremont Tigers!

*Keenan Rasmussen-St. Edward - Turned the corner for 176 yards on just 8 carries in the Beaver's 44-18 win over Hyannis. One of Rasmussen's runs was a sparkling 70 yard jaunt down the Beaver sideline. St. Edward threw only 3 passes in the game and piled up 367 yards on 31 team carries in the 92 degree temperature win.

*Gabe Haney-Hyannis - In that loss to St. Ed, the sweet running Haney rushed for 272 yards on 23 carries and scored on runs of 40 and 69 yards in the 1st quarter. Haney could be a 1000 yard rusher in 11-Man football, friends.

Keaton Henry-Boone Central/Newman Grove - Was a thorn in Lakeview's side Friday in the Cardinal's 59-34 win. Henry, the 6-2, 220 Tight End, turned running back and toted the ball 13 times for 113 yards. 4 of those runs went for touchdowns from 4, 8, 5, and 30 yards away. Henry also caught 3 passes for 87 yards, one of which was a 42 yard TD. The bruising DE also made 7 tackles and 1 was behind the scrimmage line. For the season, Henry has hauled in 8 passes for 164 yards. Serious All-State prospect.