Week 5 Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - Part 1

These Boone Central Offensive lineman provided the blocking and pass protection for rookie QB Alex Christo, who went on to orchestrate an upset of Class C-1, #1 Pierce last Friday in Albion.

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*Alex Christo, Cardinals Offensive Line - Boone Central - 5-11, 140 pound junior backup quarterback drew the first starting assignment of his varsity career and came through like an All-State performer. Filling in for injured starter Brandon Benes, Christo completed 10 of 24 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. The junior also ran for 124 yards on 20 carries that included a crucial 26 yard scoring gallop last in the going.

Prior to this game, Christo had thrown one pass in 2021 (Central City game) and was one for two a year ago, the only completion of his career going for a touchdown.

BUT, when you you have the following gentlemen blocking and providing pass protection against the #1 team in C-1, no less, you are in good hands.

Here are the members of that superb Boone Central O-Line (L-R in photo); #50 Trent Patzel (6-3, 240, Sophomore), #65 Carson Maricle (5-11, 190, Sr.), #58 David Figgner (5-1, 245, Sr.), #55 Hank Hudson (6-0, 210, Sophomore), #57 Dakota Rose (6-1, 285, Sr.) and Garrett Rasmussen (6-2, 235, Sr.)

You think these guys are for real? Think about this. This group opened gaps for Christo, Parker Borer, Cody Maricle and others for 222 rushing yards. That means the Cardinals out rushed the mighty Pierce Bluejays 222 to 175. Yeah, these boys are for real.

*Cole Ballard, Will Skradis, Gabe Whitten-Elkhorn South - Storm RB Cole Ballard blasted his way for 179 yards and 4 TDs on 25 carries in Elkhorn South’s 45-14 win over Papillion-La Vista. Ballard’s scoring runs came from 1, 15, 2, and 8 yards away. Not far off Cole’s pace was quarterback Will Skradis, who carried just 11 times, but rolled for 151 yards and touchdown runs of 80 and 2 yards. Skradis also completed 4 of 6 passes for 73 yards.

Gabe Whitten, who is the hardest hitter on that Elkhorn defense, led the defense with 6 tackles. 3.5 of those were behind the line of scrimmage too. Putting it in a nutshell, you really don’t want Mr. Whitten chasing you around in the backfield.

Elkhorn South rolled up 529 total yards in the game and remain the #5 rated team in Class A.

*Logan Bokamper-Wakefield - Set the State 8-Man Single Game Touchdown record with his 11 trips to the end zone in Wakefield’s 82-62 win over Plainview. Bokamper scored on runs of 50, 5, and 37 yards in the opening quarter. Wakefield TRAILED 28-22. In the 2nd frame, Logan had a 7 yard scoring run and a 65 yard kick return. Wakefield TRAILED 54-36. In the 3rd quarter the Wakefield ace ran it in from the one for his only TD. The game was tied 52-52 after three, but in the 4th quarter Logan Bokamper was at it agin, scoring FIVE times on runs covering 1, 1, 1, 23 and 43 yards.

Bokamper, a 5-10, 160 pound senior, rushed for 455 yards and 10 TDs a year ago, but already has 811 yards and 22 touchdowns after his 283 yards on 25 carries against Plainview. And hey, let’s not forget about the Trojans quarterback Cade Johnson, who ran for 219 yards on 20 carries in the game.

Johnson did not score a touchdown, but did have several long runs in the game, setting up Bokemper’s big night. Those great rushers up in Wakefield seem to come in pairs like Justin Erb and Blake Brown a year ago.

*Noah Walters-Lincoln East - Riddled the Lincoln SE defense with 23 of 29 passing and 430 yard Thursday night in the Spartans 47-10 thrashing of the Knights. Walters threw 5 touchdown passes in the blowout victory and they went to; Malachi Coleman (79, 17 yards), Luke Greisen (4 yds), Billie Stephensen (50 yds) and Cooper Erikson (20 yds).

This season alone, Walters has connected on 93 of his 142 pass attempts for 1,6665 yards and 22 TDs with ONE INT. During his relatively brief 25 game career, Noah has completed nearly 60% of his passes for a whopping 5,212 yards and 59 touchdowns with more on the horizon. This lad is fun to watch.

*Dominic Rezac, Anthony Rezac, Teddy Rezac, Carter Hogan, Caleb Benning-Omaha Westside - The Rezac brothers were busy in Westside’s 41-9 victory over Grand Island. Senior RB Dominic ran 16 times for 141 yards and touchdown runs covering 1, 9 and 70 yards. Sophomore QB Anthony completed 9 of 12 passes for 124 yards and a pair of scoring passes: 5 yards to Dominic and a 10 yarder to Grant Guyette.

On defense, Teddy Rezac, Dominic Rezac and Caleb Benning all had interceptions.

Dominic has 747 yards with 9 TDs after 5 games.

*Jackson Roberts-North Platte St. Patrick - Another sensational Friday night for the Irish sophomore, who was just the 12th freshman in history to crack the 1000 yard rushing mark when he ran for over 1,300 yards a year ago. Roberts sliced and diced the Bridgeport defense for 241 yards and 4 touchdowns on just a dozen touches in St. Pats 57-15 win.

Roberts broke free for TD sprints of 51, 49, 10 and 32 yards to lift St. Pats to their current 4-1 record.

*Tony Berger-Riverside - Senior speedster rambled for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns on 36 carries in the Chargers hard fought 44-30 loss to Humphrey St. Francis. Berger scored on runs of 17, 62 and 12 yards in the afternoon contest and unofficially has a 5 game rushing total of 810 yards. This Riverside team is good and that Chargers O-Line is improving each week.

*Carlos Collazo-Aurora - Huskie senior rushed for 120 yards and 6 touchdowns on 16 carries in Aurora’s 48-7 win over York. The power running Collazo hit paydirt from 3, 4, 5, 26, 4, and 26 yard away. I can tell you I certainly haven’t seen too many football players in the state better than this guy. What a player!

*Matt Bohy-Lincoln Pius X - Bolted for 136 yards and 3 touchdowns on 20 carries in the ‘Bolts 36-14 win over Lincoln North Star. Bohy, a powerfully built 215 pound junior fullback, scored on runs of 19, 11 and 17 yards in the contest. On film, Bohy appears to be the only back lined up in that Pius backfield for most snaps, so the defense knows when Matt is coming, but still has a very difficult time bringing this man to the turf.

Talk about yards after contact and dragging defenders along…..Wow!

*Prestyn Rogers-Arcadia/Loup City - The 5-10, 170 pound senior, who is one of 8-Man football’s most versatile athletes, exploded for 281 yards and 7 touchdowns on 25 carries in the Rebels 75-28 win over Ravenna. Rogers also caught a 35 yard touchdown pass in the game and had 42 return yards for 358 All-Purpose Yards.

Remember, Rogers is a lethal return man which will be a factor in all remaining games including the big matchup with #1 Burwell this Friday in Arcadia. Prestyn’s five game rushing total is at 852 yards with 14 TDs.

*Luke Kasten, Brayden Kasten, Jared Anton -Potter-Dix - Junior Luke Kasten rushed 20 times for 180 yards and a touchdown and completed 5 of 6 passes for 95 yards and two more scores. Sophomore Brayden completed 10 of 20 aerials for 5 touchdowns in the #3 Coyotes 68-50 win over 7th rated (6-Man) Arthur County.

5-10, 175 pound receiver Jared Anton, one of 6-Man football’s top pass catchers a year ago, grabbed 3 passes for 46 yards and made 11 tackles on defense, 2 of which were for losses. All in all, the Potter-Dix had 7 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, andkeepin mind that Arthur County has All-State quarterback Bryce Hanna running around back there.

*Demario Young-South Sioux City - Sophomore RB cruised for 195 yards and 3 touchdowns on 26 carries in the Cardinals 21-0 win over Class A Omaha Northwest. Young’s scoring jaunts covered 1, 2, and 82 yards.

*Eli Hayes-Clarkson-Leigh - Do-It-All senior rushed 173 yards on just 15 carries and touchdown runs of 7, 1, 4, 13, and 25 yards in the Patriots 52-24 win over West Point Guardian Angels CC. Despite missing some time due to injuries, Hayes has still accumulated 440 rushing yards with 7 TDs.

The Patriots, who are sitting at 3-2, with losses only to powerhouses Cross County, are in good shape for a playoff spot headed into a regular season ending Bacon Bowl meeting with Howells-Dodge.

*Noah Eggleston-SEM - 6-1, 160 pound junior QB completed 8 of 14 passes for 164 and 3 touchdowns, rushed 11 times for 175 yards and 3 more scores, made 4 solo tackles on defense and intercepted a pass in the Mustangs 54-22 win over Silver Lake. The win vaulted SEM back into the Omaha World-Herald ratings this week, entering at #10.

*Tate Hug, Ryan Dixon-Auburn - Hug, a 6-0, 180 pound junior, carried 7 times for 116 yards and scored on runs of 4, 67 and 11 yards in the Bulldogs dominating 50-7 win over Lincoln Christian. All-State candidate Ryan Dixon completed 7 of 10 passes for 135 yards and aTD pass to Rylan Boellstorff. Dixon also rushed for 73 yards on 14 touches in the contest.

Dixon led the Auburn defense with 10 tackles while Hug added 5 more. Hug appears to have only carried the football 3 times (as a freshman) prior to this season.

*Sam Souerdyke-Thayer Central - 6-2, 175 pound FRESHMAN continued to impress, running for 93 yards and a TD on 23 carries in Thayer’s 28-20 loss to Exeter-Milligan-Friend. Souerdyke also caught a pair of passes for 21 yards, one of which was for a touchdown. He also had 7 solo tackles on defense, caused a fumble and as the team’s punter, sent 3 skyward for an average of 36.3 a boot.

Thus far in 2021, Sam Souerdyke has rushed for 559 yards with 9 touchdowns, which leads the entire state as far as freshmen are concerned. His 31 tackles also rank Sam 10th in the state among freshmen..