Week 10 Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - Part 1

Osceola junior sensation Isaiah Zelasney (#5/w ball) sets sail on a 50 yard touchdown gallop in the Bulldogs 54-28 win over Leyton last Friday in the 2nd Round of the Class D-2 playoffs. #2 Xavier Blackburn is leading the blocking here.

*Isaiah Zelasney-Osceola - Nebraska’s Fastest 8-Man Football player rushed for 337 yards and SEVEN touchdowns on 24 carries in the Bulldogs 54-28 win over a fine Leyton team. Zelasney’s 7 touchdowns covered 55, 50 (punt return), 63, 1, 21, 50, 59 yards. That gives the jet propelled Bulldog junior 1,792 rushing yards on just 133 carries with 36 touchdowns. That’s a scoring run every 3.5 times Isaiah carries the football.

I’m going to tell you something about this Osceola bunch. Isaiah Zelasney is NOT a one-man show. These other 7 offensive dudes are hard blocking son-of-a-guns at the point of attack and even DOWNFIELD. Yes, Zelasney is going to pass them up at some point during a TD run, but on the way, there are defensive bodies falling like bowling pins. Let’s salute Zelasney’s blocking and pancake partners;

#59 Alexx Winkleman (175, Jr), #55 Carter Girard (250, Sr), #50 Bransen Lavaley (210, Freshman), #53 Creighton Sterup (220, Soph), #14 Caleb Peterson (180, Jr) and the backfield blockers #33 Kale Gustafson (205, Soph) and #2 (Xavier Blackburn (175, Sr).

Osceola will next travel northwest to meet the NO.1 seed in D-2, Sandhills-Thedford in the Quarterfinals. Kickoff is 5:30.

**State Record Alert - Times Two**

*Noah Walters-Lincoln East - Spartan sharpshooter completed 27 of 41 passes for 427 yards and 5 touchdowns in Lincoln East opening round playoff loss (59-42) to Gretna. That yardage vaulted Walters to a 2021 ten game total of 3,382 yards, a new CLASS A SINGLE SEASON PASSING YARDS record.

It also appears that the 6-1, 195 pound senior established a new 11-Man and Class A record for PER GAME AVERAGE-SEASON (Passing yards) with his 338.2 passing yards/game. Noah ended his illustrious 30 game high school career by completing 417 of 682 passes (61%) for 6,932 yards with 81 touchdowns and just 17 picks. The Spartan senior amassed 7,434 total yards with 89 touchdowns in those 30 games for super coach John Gingery.

*Tyson Denkert-Kenesaw - Two-Time All-State QB brought his team back from a 38-24 halftime deficit to earn a hard fought 62-56 win over perennial power Falls City Sacred. Denkert carried the football an incredible FIFTY FIVE times for 360 yards and SEVEN touchdowns in the Sweet Sixteen playoff game. That gives the Blue Devil magician 1,805 yards rushing with 39 TDs after 10 games. Denkert has also completed 57% of his 49 passes for 659 yards, 10 touchdowns with just a single INT.

Denkert’s Career stats and are you sitting down for this? 5,689 yards rushing with 105 touchdowns. 1,832 passing yards with an additional 29 TDs. Throw in 27 receiving yards, 656 kick return yards and 597 punt return yards and you have a man that has accumulated 7,548 Total Yards during his 38 game career and he’s not done yet.

So on we go as Tyson an his #7 seeded (Class D-2) Kenesaw Blue Devils continue on to the D-1 Quarterfinals with a trip to another perennial 8-Man powerhouse, Humphrey St. Francis this coming Friday. Kickoff is at 6:00 @ the scenic Humphrey football facility.

*Carter Seim-Cross County - Senior All-State, three-time 1000 yarder ran wild in the Cougars 67-36 win over unbeaten Weeping Water. Seim jetted for 312 yards and SEVEN touchdowns on 21 carries, which now puts him at 1,320 after just 7 games. The 210 pound speedster has amassed 4,66o yards in his career which has seen Seim miss a total of EIGHT games with broken knee cap and broken wrist. Despite these missed opportunities to add to those yards, Carter is still only 340 yards short of the coveted 5,000 yard career rushing mark. Teammate HAYDEN HILD is also over the thousand yard rushing mark with his 1,052 yards.

Cross County will return home to host a tough Nebraska City Lourdes this Friday at 7:00.

*Kytan Fyfe, Cole Thorne, Brandon Fox-Grand Island Senior High - All-State QB/LB candidate Kytan Fyfe completed 23 of 37 passes for 310 yards and hooked up with Cole Thorne for scoring tosses of 31, 15 yards and Brandon Fox (41 yards) in the Islanders 30-28 win over Creighton Prep. Fyfe, who also scored on a 3 yard run, kept the Islander offense on the field for 83 plays compared to Prep’s 55.

Despite being held to just 7 yards rushing as a team, Grand Island turned to Fyfe, who hooked up with 8 different receivers and even caught a pair of passes himself (from backup QB Cohen Evans).

Thorne led all GI receivers with 93 yards on 6 catches. Brandon Fox caught 4 balls for 89 yards, junior Cole Bauer had 7 receptions for 70 yards, 6-6 senior Dylan Sextro caught 4 for 49, backup QB Evans caught a 32 yarder from Fyfe, junior Ayden McDermott caught a pair for 12 yards, Ariel had on receptions for 7 yards and defensive terror Justyce Hostetler snagged one for 4 yards.

Kytan Fyfe, who is one of Class A finest Dual-Threat quarterbacks, has thrown for 1,469 yards and 17 TDs in addition to his 722 yards on the ground with 8 more scores. And lest we forget, Fyfe has 6 pass receptions for 103 yards and 2 TDs and has amassed 52 tackles for his linebacker position with an interception in there. Oh, and Kytan is also the Islander’s punter, averaging 37.4 yards a boot on 32 punts.

The Islanders will continue on in the Class A playoffs with another trip to the Omaha Metro area to face #3 seed Bellevue West Friday with a 7 PM kickoff.

*Zane Flores, Mick Huber, Brayden Chaney-Gretna - These three Dragons came up big in Gretna’s 59-42 win over Lincoln East in the First Round of the Class A playoffs. Junior QB Zane Flores hit 21-29 passes for 246 yards and scoring tosses to 50 yards to Chaney and 12 to RB Huber. Flores also ran for 2 scores (2, 1 runs) while rushing for 58 yards on 11 carries. It was Huber, however, that came up HUGE. The 6-0, 190 senior exploded for 172 yards on 28 carries with TD runs of 5 and 20 yards, in addition to that TD pass from Flores.

Huber’s 172 yards rushing are significantly more than he has gained in any one outing, considering he had rushed for 67 yards a game with a PR of 115 yards in the Dragons opening 21-13 win over Lincoln SW. Huber also led the defense with 13 big tackles.

Besides the TD reception, Brayden Chaney also provided a needed spark for his team by returning a Lincoln East kickoff a state record 99 yards for a touchdown after East had built a 14-0 lead. Like Huber, Chaney is also a force on defense, and in this one he had 7 stops.

Gretna also forced 3 Lincoln East turnovers in the win, with Chaney picking off a Noah Walters aerial and sophomore Joey Vieth and Connor Edwards recovering fumbles. Connor’s fumble recovery was a timely 26 yard scoop and score.

That sets up a monster Class A Quarterfinal battle between Gretna and Elkhorn South at Elkhorn High this Friday. Kickoff is slated for 8:00 PM, being the nightcap of a playoff DH.

*Will Skradis, Cole Ballard, Chase Anderson-Elkhorn South - As he HAS all season long, Storm signal caller Will Skradis played the role of Dual-Threat QB in Elkhorn South’s 35-20 win over Kearney. Skradis threw for 133 yards with TD passes to Anderson (45 yards) and Carson Crouch (32 yds), and also rushed for 129 yards, which included a 49 yard scoring scamper to ice the game with 4:56 left in the 4th quarter.

Cole Ballard, who sat out last week’s regular season finale against Lincoln SE, scored on a couple of short bursts (1, 2 yards), while rushing for 58 yards on 18 totes. Kearney was apparently ready for Ballard, who had burned the Bearcats for 172 rushing yards just two weeks before. Chase Anderson led all Strom receivers with his 81 yards on 4 catches and that 45 yard TD catch.

Skradis has a real shot at pulling off a 1000 yard passing/1000 yard rushing season in 2021. The 6-4, 205 pound QB has already thrown for 1,107 yards and is currently at the 835 yard mark in the rushing department.

Supercoach Guy Rosenberg and his Elkhorn South squad will host District 5 foe Gretna this Friday at Elkhorn High (8 PM). The two teams last met on October 7th when Storm RB Cole Ballard scored on TD runs of 2 and 37 yards in the final 2:57 of the game to steal a 28-20 win over Gretna.

*Jack Wemhoff-Elgin Public/Pope John - Junior sensation exploded in the 2nd and 4th quarters, leading the Wolfpack to a 70-44 win over Bloomfield in the 2nd Round of the Class D-2 playoffs. When all the smoke cleared, Wemhoff escaped for 256 yards and SEVEN touchdowns on 34 carries. The 175 pound tackle shedding junior bolted for scoring runs of 36, 4 and 18 yards in the 2nd quarter, a 4 yard touchdown run in the 3rd, then went in from 14, 55 and 5 yards out in the Wolfpack’s 24 point money quarter. Wemhoff, who rushed for 1,030 yards and 14 TDs as a sophomore, has already amassed 1,716 yards on a grueling 309 carries and 23 TDs so far this Fall. He has also caught 9 passes for 206 yards and 3 TDs and made 95 bone-jarring tackles on defense.

So, after knocking off D-2 heavies O’Neill St. Marys and Bloomfield on the road thus far in the post-season, it’s back on the bus for Elgin P/PJ in the D-2 Quarterfinals as they make the 200 mile trip to face 8-2 Johnson-Brock this Friday. Kickoff will be at 4:00 PM.

*Lj Richardson, Luke Johannsen, Kaden Helms, Kyrell Jordan, Will Kieser-Bellevue West - The lighnting quick Richardson ran 21 times for 278 yards and two touchdowns (18, 38 yds) and even threw a 5 yard TD pass to Kaden Helms in the Thunderbirds 63-26 win over Papillion LV. Quarterback Luke Johanssen had another big night passing, completing 16 of 22 aerials for 210 yards and 3 TDs. Luke also rushed for 35 yards which included an 11 yard scoring scamper. Helms, the Oklahoma Sooner commit, had 3 catches for 47 yards with a pair of scores.

Junior Kyrell Jordan led all Thunderbird receivers with 4 receptions for 103 yards and a 50 yard TD grab. On defense, senior Will Kieser picked off a pair of Nick Chanez passes.

Bellevue West will host upset winner Grand Island this Friday at 7 o’clock in one of the Class A Quarterfinal matchups

*Koa McIntyre-Fremont Bergan - The outstanding All-State Wyoming commit accounted for 349 yards of the Knights 426 yards of total offense in their 45-20 win over a good Oakland-Craig team. The smooth as silk Bergan QB attempted just 8 passes in the game but completed 5 big ones for 155 yards and 71 yard touchdown toss to…...you guessed it, younger bro, Kade McIntyre. Koa also ran for a monster 194 yards on just 13 touches which included four touchdowns. His scoring runs came from 1, 2, 3 and 96 yards out.

Only the jet-propelled Koa McIntyre could pull off a 96 yard touchdown run. Oh, and you say, “that 96 yard TD run is a once in a career deal, man” Not so fast my friend. Koa topped that last season when Lincoln Lutheran packed the line of scrimmage at the Bergan THREE YARD LINE…..and you know the rest of that story. 97 yards later Koa McIntyre had himself a highlight reel house call in the books.

For the year, the remarkable senior has 1,238 yards rushing (16 TDs), but it’s the passing game where Koa excels. Thus far in 2021, he has made the most of his rushing and pass attempts. Passing: 88 of 148 for 1,614 yards with 24 TDs and just 3 picks. Rushing: 97 rushes for 1,070 yards (15 TDs).

Coupled with 2020’s stats when Koa completed 151 of 247 passes for 2,205 yards and 31 TDs, PLUS 170 carries for 1,238 yards (16 TDs) makes his career stats to date look pretty impressive…...And they are; 3,342 Passing (55 TDs), 2,701 Rushing (37 TDs), 208 Receiving (3 TDs), NO lost fumbles (43 games) and 6,751 total yards. On defense, 133 tackles, 1 fumble return TD and 3 Pick Sixes.

No wonder Wyoming wants this lad. Archbishop Bergan continues their march to Lincoln when they host Aquinas this Friday with a 7 PM kickoff.