Week 7 Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - Part One

*Ethan Shaw, Mack Owens-Aurora - 6-3, 200 pound junior All-State Athlete Mack Owens rushed for 159 yards on 21 carries with touchdown runs of 6, 5, 2 and 13 yards in the Huskies 55-34 win over then #1 Hastings. Owens was also a sparkler on defense, recording at least a pair of sacks I can recall.

Quarterback Ethan Shaw completed 11 of 18 passes for 183 yards and a TD and also added 117 yards on 21 carries, plus another pair of scores covering 9 and 14 yards in the huge Aurora win.

The 5-2 Huskies have now reeled off 5 straight wins after starting the season 0-2. This football team will not be a good draw for any Class B team in the upcoming postseason. 5th rated Aurora has an excellent offensive line, solid defense and possesses two of the Class B’s top players at their respective positions in Ethan Shaw and Mack Owens.

**1000 Yard Rusher Alert-Second Time Around**

*Jake Stoner-Fillmore Central - 5-9, 170 pound Swiss Army Knife player erupted for 279 yards on 26 touches and 4 touchdown runs covering 5, 57, 38 and 68 yards in Fillmore Central’s 28-6 win over Wood River/Shelton. This gives Stoner, who rushed for 1,001 yards a year ago, a 7 game total of 1,010 yards (14 TD) in 2020.

Jake Stoner’s 32 game football career is the magnificent story of a warrior who consistently performed at a high level against all odds. Despite Fillmore Central compiling a record of 8 wins and 24 losses during his career to date, Stoner has always stood out for the Panthers.

In 32 games, Jake has thirteen 100 yard plus rushing games to his credit and an amazing career total of 3,500 rushing yards right on the nose. Stoner’s career All-Purpose Yardage total of 5,139 yards is nearly impossible to fathom, considering that 8-24 record over the past four years.

And a stat line that doesn’t even show up in the aforementioned statistical gem, is the fact Jake has made a staggering 176 tackles in those 32 games. 88 solo stops, 88 assists and 20 tackles for losses make this young man once of Nebraska’s most complete prep football players.

*1000 Yard Rusher Alert*

*Matthew Schuster-Ashland-Greenwood - The son of former Fullerton high school and Nebraska football star Brian Schuster, blasted through Wahoo for 267 yards on 19 carries and touchdown gallops of 15, 4, 86 and 57 yards in the Bluejays 47-22 thumping of the Warriors. The rushing outburst puts Matthew’s 2020 rushing total at 1,129 yards (17 TDs)

Two-Time All-State basketball star and Bluejay quarterback Cale Jacobsen also had a big night, running for 106 yards on 13 carries with a 48 yard TD run. Jacobsen also completed 4 of 6 passes for 65 yards which included a 37 yard scoring hookup with Lane Zimmerman. Jacobsen also recorded 6 tackles and an interception on defense for Ryan Thompson’s 7-0 and second rated (Class C-1) Ashland-Greenwood squad.

*1000 Yard Passing Alert* - (In Just Four Games)

*Luke Johanssen, Keagan Johnson, Thunderbird “D”-Bellevue West - Johanssen, the Bellevue East transfer, apparently likes his new home. The 6-2, 180 pound junior was on fire in the Thunderbirds 42-7 win over Millard West. Johanssen connected on 10 of his 16 passes for 256 yards and FIVE touchdowns, as Michael Huffman’s Thunderbird machine improved to 4-0.

Johanssen’s favorite target, yardage wise, was Keagan Johnson, who 4 passes for a monster 176 yards and TD grabs of 55 and 49 yards. Micah Riley caught Luke's other three touchdown tosses, covering 41, 4 and 6 yards.

The Bellevue West defense was about as efficient as you could ever get, holding Millard West to just 107 total yards (91 rushing/16 passing). All-State LB Jack McDonnell led all tacklers with 10 crunches (7 solos). Ryan Rogers added 9 tackles (7 solos, 3 TFL) as did 6-1, 190 senior Christian Lilienkamp (4 solos).

In just 4 games this fall, Luke Johanssen has completed 68 of 97 passes (70%) for 1,052 yards with 13 touchdowns and NO interceptions.

*Heinrich Haarberg, Spencer Hogeland-Kearney Catholic - Husker commit Heinrich Haarberg was a Dual-Threat nightmare for Adams Central in the Stars 33-22 win last Friday night. Haarberg completed 14 of 19 passes for 175 yards and rushed 19 times for 134 yards with short scoring bursts of 3 and 9 yards.

The difference maker in the game could have been kicker Spencer Hogeland, who solved Adams Central’s stingy red zone defense by kicking FOUR field goals. Spencer’s scoring boots came from 23, 27, 24 and 22 yards away in the Stars upset of Class C-1, #1 Adams Central.

*Kylan Fyfe-Grand Island - The 6-1, 175 pound junior brother to former Islander and Nebraska standout Ryker Fyfe, waited patiently for his turn to earn a start at quarterback for the Islanders. The son of super GI Track and Field Coach Monte Fyfe, then took the opportunity and ran with it and simply tore things up. No, the Islanders lost a 38-35 double overtime heartbreaker to Millard North, but Kylan let everyone know he was there.

Fyfe completed 9 of 19 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns, rushed 12 times for 143 yards with a 30 yard touchdown scamper, made 9 tackles on defense (5 solos) and punted 5 times for an average of 41 yards a boot. Who knows, he may also have driven the team bus home.

The junior dazzler’s TD passes were hauled in by Brandon Fox (83 yards), Augustine Atikpohou (72 yards) and Will Knuth (6 yards). Fox led all receivers with 3 catches for 114 big ones. Aiden McDermott also added 92 rushing yards on 20 totes with a 21 yard TD dash.

The Islander “D” was led by Ben Francl, who made 15 tackles (7 solos), Jace Chrisman, who also had 15 stops (5 solos) and of course Kytan Fyfe, who had 9 tackles with 5 solo stops.

*Rylan Aguallo-Mitchell - The Tiger speed burner torched the Ogallala defense with 296 yards on 36 carries and touchdown sprints 63, 2 and 66 yards in Mitchell’s 55-39 win over the Indians. Aguallo also returned a kickoff 90 yards for a score and caught a 20 yard scoring pass from QB Ryan Thyne. He also made 4 stops on defense and honestly, how much more can a man do in a single game?

That vaults Rylan Aguallo to the top of the Class C-1 rushing charts with his 1,325 yards (13 rushing TDs). The amazing Tiger back now has 1,712 All-Purpose Yards in 7 games for 6-1 Mitchell.

*1000 Yard Rusher Alert*

*Gabe Esacalente-Winside - The 6-2, 165 pound junior captain fired up for 284 yards on 21 carries and SIX touchdowns in the Wildcats 48-22 win over Wausa. Gabe hit paydirt from 23, 3, 9, 11, 1 and 50 yards out and caught a 45 yard touchdown pass from Art Escalante (bro?) Escalente has started fast in 2020 and never let up on the gas pedal, accumulating 1,131 yards rushing on 116 carries (9.8/pop) with 22 TDs. Gabe also has 10 pass receptions for 213 yards and 4 TDs, and has made 41 tackles on defense with a pair of Interceptions to go with those tackles.

Winside is currently 5-2 on the season, but has yet to crack the crowded and tough Eight-Man 2 ratings.

*Russell Martinez, Isaac Herbek, Marcus Lowrey, Gage Steinke-Grand Island Central Catholic - All-State basketballer Russ Martinez can play a little football too in case you hadn’t noticed. In the Crusaders 36-0 route of old rival Hastings St. Cecilia, Martinez hit 13 of his 20 passes for 237 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also rushed for 44 yards on 17 carries.

Martinez touchdown tosses were caught by junior Isaac Herbek (65 yards), who led all receivers with 109 yards on 6 grabs. Junior classmate Marcus Lowrey hauled in a pair of Martinez touchdown passes covering 37 and 47 yards. RB Gage Steinke was very efficient, rushing 4 times for 54 yards with two of his carries going for touchdowns covering 3 and 44 yards. Steinke also made 7 tackles on defense.

The 4-3 Crusaders crack the Omaha World-Herald Class C-2 ratings, coming in at #10 this week.

**1000 Yard Rusher Alert-Second Time Around**

*Carter Seim-Cross County - Outstanding two-way junior player rushed 9 times for 109 yards in the Cougars 62-22 win over East Butler, elevating him over the 1000 yard rushing mark for the second straight season (1,013 yards/20 TDs). Fellow thousand yard rusher Isaac Noyd led the way in the East Butler win with 158 yards on just 12 carries. The speedy Noyd now has 1,266 yards with 21 TDs.

By the way, Noyd is averaging 13.9 yards a carry while Seim punishes defenses with his 15.5 yards a pop. Seim is also a strong All-State candidate at the linebacker position as well as running back.

Cross County (7-0) is currently rated #3 in the recently released OWH Eight-Man 1 ratings.

*Jimmy Quaintance, Jason Cox, Noah Boyd-Millard North - Mustang quarterback Jimmy Quaintance rushed 223 yards on 28 carries and scored touchdowns on runs of 4, 1 and 58 yards in Millard North’s 38-35 double OT win over Grand Island. Fullback Jason Cox powered his way to 167 yards on 27 tries with TD runs of 7 and 3 yards.

Noah Boyd booted the winning field goal for the Mustangs from 19 yards out. Blake Closman and Brian Perry led the Mark Chavez coached Millard North defense with 11 tackles each.

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……..Up next, Part 2 of Friday Night Lights Football Heroes featuring players like Dexter Larsen of Blair, Keagan Brodersen of Ravenna, Kale Bird of Bennngton others.