Week 9 Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - Part 2

Gentry Anderson of Arapahoe is a three time 1000 Yard Rusher and one of 8-Man football's premier players the past 4 seasons. *(photo courtesy of Arapahoe football)

***3,000 Career Passing Yards Aler***

****4,000 Career Rushing Yards Alert***

***1000 Yard Rusher Alert - 3rd Time Around***

*Gentry Anderson- Arapahoe - 4 year starter ran for 277 yards on 39 carries in Arapahoe’s crazy 52-50 win over pesky Alma. Arapahoe apparently needed every yard churned out by Anderson, because the victory wasn’t yet secured when Carson Schroeder slipped into the end zone for a two point conversion with 1:15 left in the game, giving the Warriors the 52-50 lead.

The 277 yards by Anderson raises his 2018 rushing total to 1,069 yards, his 3rd consecutive season to hit that coveted 1000 Yard Mark. Arapahoe’s nickname (mascot) is the Warriors, and nobody fits that description better than one Gentry Anderson. I’m not certain the 6-0, 190 pound do-it-all Warrior even played one game during the past two seasons without some type of injury and some type of pain.

Gentry rushed for 516 yards his freshman campaign, then reeled off 1,560 yards his sophomore year, followed by an 1,125 yard junior season and his current, active mark of 1,069 yards. That’s 4,270 yards and 67 rushing touchdowns in just 36 career games.

During that 36 game span, the 6-0, 195 pound Warrior has run for over 100 yards 19 times. 8 of those exceeded the 200 yard mark and then there was the 303 yard game vs. Axtell during Anderson’s sophomore year.

Gentry has also completed 51% of his 381 career passes for 3,111 yards, 46 TDs, with only 8 interceptions. Thus far in his illustrious career, Gentry Anderson has accounted for 7,653 total yards and had a hand in 117 touchdowns.

Oh yes, are you kidding me, he plays defense alright. Try 198 career tackles (115 solos), 5 INTs, and 3 recovered fumbles, on for size.

Arapahoe (5-3) will compete in the Class 8-Man (D-1) playoffs this Thursday, making the 279 mile trip to meet 5-3 Hemingford. Kickoff is set for 2:00 MT. It’s the Warriors 17th straight playoff appearance.

**1000 Yard Rusher Alert - 2nd Time Around**

*Chris Busby, Bearcat Defense - Scottsbluff - Reigning Class B 100 Meters champion gauged the McCook defense for 223 yards on 33 carries and 3 touchdowns in the Bearcats huge 23-13 win over the Bison and supremacy in the West. Busby scored from 52, 31 and 30 yards out, as Scottsbluff notched their first victory over McCook since 2012. Chris Busby, who rambled for 1,440 yards a season ago, has now gained 1,115 yards and scored 16 TDs going into the playoffs.

The stifling Bearcat Defense, who allowed McCook just 227 total yards in the game, was paced by juniors Sebastian Harsh and Luke Rohrer, who both had 6 tackles and a sack. Senior Kevin Prince also recovered a fumble in the win.

2nd seeded and unbeaten Scottsbluff opens postseason with a home game, facing 4-5 Ralston Friday night in a 6:00 MT start.

*Connor Pohlmeier - Plattsmouth - 5-7, 140 pound stick of dynamite, exploded for 253 yards on 38 carries in the Blue Devils regular season curtain closing 35-14 win over Omaha Gross. That lifts the junior star’s final 2018 rushing total to an unofficial 1,253 yards. Plattsmouth concluded the season with a 3-6 record.

*Jaxson Kant - Lutheran High Northeast (Norfolk) - Talk about ending the regular season with a loud bang. The 5-11, 180 pound senior was responsible for 433 of his team’s 466 total yards in the Eagles 50-26 triumph over Neligh-Oakdale. Kant rushed for a gigantic 313 yards on 32 carries and touchdown runs of 18, 4, 49 and 5 yards in the win. He also completed 10 of 21 passes for another 120 yards and a pair of TD passes. Kant’s scoring aerials were caught by big Tanner Koss (20 yards) and Ben Gebhardt (17 yards). Gebhardt also pirated a Neligh-Oakdale pass and turned it into a 67 yard Pick-6.

Lutheran High Northeast begins the Holy Season (playoffs) with home matchup against 4-4 Elmwood-Murdock with a 5:00 kickoff.. The Eagles have one of the most prolific offenses in 8-Man football.

*Sid deMayo - Elkhorn Mt. Michael - The senior quarterback did about everything a man could possibly do in the Knights 38-35 cliffhanger win over Bennington. The 5-10, 180 pound senior Dual-Threat QB, hit a blistering 25 out of 34 passes, good for 331 yards and 2 TDs. The TD passes were nabbed by Calvin Benson (20 yards) and Matt Zarybnicky (65 yards), who ended up with 10 receptions for 168 yards.

The multi-talented deMayo also ran for 67 yards on 19 totes and two scores (1, 15 yards) and even caught a 5 yard touchdown pass from Drew Thornton. For the season, Sid deMayo has passed for 1,855 yards with 23 TDs, and rushed for an additional 638 yards and 12 scores.

Mount Michael (6-3) enters the Class B playoffs with a 6-3 record (10th Seed) and will play at Omaha Roncalli (7-2, #7 seed), hoping to avenge a 55-29 loss to the Crimson Pride which occurred back on September 28th, despite deMayo running for 135 yards and a TD, and passing for 263 yards and 3 scores. Stay tuned. Gametime is 7:00 PM.

*Andrew Aldana - Nebraska City Lourdes - Averaged 25 yards a pop in Lourdes Central Catholic’s 70-22 thrashing of Weeping Water. The 5-10, 175 senior carried 6 times for 151 yards with 4 touchdowns, coming on sprints of 11, 55, 66 and 14 yards. Aiden Aldana added 47 yards on 4 touches, with two of those going for touchdown runs of 25 and 6 yards. The 5-3, 9th seeded Knights will open Eight-Man 1 playoff play with a trip to Wisner-Pilger to meet the 6-2 and 8th seeded Gators in a 6:00 pm kickoff contest.

*Cooper Jewett, Drew Reetz - Elkhorn South - In the Storm’s huge 21-20 win over Creighton Prep, it was Jewett rushing for 113 yards on 21 carries and QB Drew Reetz adding 55 yards on 2 totes, with a pair of short touchdown blasts of 1 and 2 yards. Reetz also completed 2 of 4 passes for 40 yards in the win. Jewett now has 972 yards rushing as Elkhorn South (6-3, 11th seed) prepares to meet powerful Lincoln High (6th seed, 7-2) in the opening round of the Class A playoffs. Gametime at Lincoln High Friday is slated for 7 pm.

*James Burks, Tyler Chadwick, Chris Hickman, Xavier Watts - Omaha Burke - In the Bulldogs 42-13 win over Papillion LV; Burks cruised for 193 yards on 19 carries and 3 TDs (2, 5 and 6 yards), QB Chadwick hit 10-13 passes for 173 yards and 2 TDs (Hickman-5 yds, Watts-41 yds), Chris Hickman caught 3 passes for 91 yards, had 2 tackles and an INT, and Watts had 2 catches for 49 yards (41 TD) and led the team with 8 tackles on defense and more importantly, received a scholarship offer from Nebraska last Saturday. That went with his recent offers that Northwestern and Wisconsin made earlier last week.

Omaha Burke (9-0), #1 seed in Class A, opens the playoff season with #16 seeded, 5-4 Papillion La Vista, the team they just beat Friday, 42-13.

*Tristan Dirks - Sterling - In the Jets 67-29 Six-Man route over Dorchester, the 5-5, 150 pound senior speed blazer shook loose or 182 on 17 carries, with TD runs of 9, 14, and 49 yards and a 57 yard punt return for another score. Dirks, who was 2nd in the Class D 200 and 4th in the 400 last May at the State Track Meet, has a least 1,012 yards this season (I may be missing one game).

The Jets, 5-3 and #10 seed in their initial 6-Man playoff appearance, draw 7-1 McCool Junction and visit the 7th seed Mustangs Thursday in a 6:30 kickoff.

*Edwin Baptista - Exeter-Milligan/Friend - 196 yards rushing and touchdowns of 13, 1 and 5 yards in EMF’s 46-38 win over Cross County. Exeter-Milligan/Friend will be a major player in the upcoming Eight-Man 1 playoffs, drawing the #2 seed in the East bracket, opposite #1 Creighton.

EMF (8-0) will host defending D-1 champion East Butler (3-5), who posted a late season rally to make the 2018 playoffs. Game time is 7:00 Thursday.

*Colby Bliss - Lincoln Lutheran - To say Colby Bliss did it all in the Warriors 26-21 victory over Ashland-Greenwood, would be an understatement. The 5-7, 150 pound senior, one of the best defensive backs in Class C-1, was everywhere on offense, playing quarterback, running back, receiver, blocker, plus safety and corner on defense and kick return man on special teams.

To top it all off, Bliss rambled for 191 yards on a grueling 41 carries and 4 TD runs covering 6, 3, 8 and 3 yards. Colby credits center Zac Streich for clearing the way for him much of the time.

Lincoln Lutheran (7-2, 6th seed) will open the C-1 playoffs with an immediate rematch with 7-2 Ashland-Greenwood. The Warrior home game will be played at Nebraska Wesleyan with a 7:00 kickoff slated for this Friday.

*Jace Williams - Burwell - Powerful running junior broke loose for 164 yards on 22 totes in the Longhorns 48-0 whitewash of Ansley-Litchfield. Burwell (8-0) grabs the #1 Seed the Class D-1, 8-Man West Bracket, and will entertain 2-6 Palmer Thursday at 7pm. You may remember that the 6-0,190 pound Williams churned his way to 1,205 yards and 19 touchdowns last year as a sophomore for the Horns.