Week One Friday Night Lights Prep Football Heroes

*Booker Scheierman-Aurora - Junior quarterback sizzled in his first start for the Huskies, having a hand in every touchdown in the 50-30 win over GI Northwest. Scheierman, younger brother of Creighton basketball star Baylor Scheierman, completed 17 of 23 passes for 298 yards and 4 touchdowns. The 6-4, 200 sharpshooter also ran for 48 yards on 10 carries with scoring runs of 1, 3 and 5 yards away. One of young Scheierman’s TD passes was an electrifying State Record tying 99 yard strike to classmate Julian Hernandez.

*Caleb Benning, Jahmez Ross-Omaha Westside - You knew this was coming. Benning, the two-time All-State selection, was off and running in Westside’s 57-7 win over Creighton Prep. The amazing Warrior caught a 27 yard TD pass, took an 89 yard kickoff return to the house, picked off a pass and made a trio of stops on defense. Benning racked up 190 Total Yards while RB Jahmez Ross ran 17 times for 128 yards and three scores in the defending Class A Champions season opener.

*Maddex Egger-Aurora - 5-9, 160 pound senior jetted for 183 yards on 25 carries in the Huskies win over Northwest. Egger, who ran for 753 yards a year ago in a backup role to Carlos Collazo, displayed blazing speed, quick cuts and the ability to burst out of a pile. Egger has “1000 yards rushing” written all over him. First class football talent.

*Khalil (Champ) Davis-Omaha North - Sophomore wide receiver was one of the stars of the show in Omaha North’s 25-7 win over Bellevue West. Davis caught three long distance scoring passes from D-1 quarterback prospect Sebastian Circo, covering 35, 72 and 36 yards.

*Carter Nelson-Ainsworth - I knew you’d want to know, so here is the week one report for Carter. He completed 4 of 9 passes for 89 yards/2 TDs, rushed 9 times for 118 yards/2 TDs (13 yds/rush), caught 3 passes for 156 yards (52 yds/catch)/2 more touchdowns, made 3 tackles and recovered a fumble in Ainsworth’s 68-12 win over North Central.

*Derek Jones-Papillion LaVista South- Fabulous sophomore running back posted his second consecutive 150+ rushing yards game in the Titans 43-7 rout of Fremont. The flashy runner scooted for 164 yards on just 12 carries (13.7/carry) and three TDs in that win, giving him 362 yards and 7 touchdowns after two outings. Looks like the two best running backs in Class A may be from Papillion.

*Maddox Meyer-Malcolm - How do you replace a quarterback like Hayden Frank? You simply have Maddox Meyer step into the starting role and calmly throw for 368 yards and FIVE touchdowns in the Clippers 34-28 victory over powerful Yutan. Nothing to it, right Coach Amen?

*Coryion Perry, Jeremiah Gorham-Omaha Bryan - Perry, Bryan’s 5-11, 180 pound senior quarterback, completed 17-24 passes for 353 yards and three TDs in the Bears 47-7 trouncing of Omaha South. Perry also caught a 62 yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Jeremiah Gorham, who had a top notch game himself, hauling in 7 receptions for 129 yards and score.

*Parker Borer, James Fogleman (QB), Hank Hudson-Boone Central - It appears the Cardinals had some fun in their season opening 48-0 win over Broken Bow. All-Stater Parker Borer (1,245 rushing yds/2022) bolted for 190 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the win. New starting QB James Fogleman, a converted wide receiver, had a great debut, completing 9 of 14 passes for 173 yards and a scoring toss to Caden Stoakes. All-State lineman Hank Hudson was a two-way stud, leading the Boone Central O-Line and pacing the defense with 16 tackles. Not far off his pace was Caden Stoakes, who had 13.

Are we ready for next week's huge Class C-1 matchup between #1 Aurora and #2 Boone Central in Albion? Aurora coach Kyle Peterson and I were talking before the Northwest game last Friday and were surprised Boone Central was not ranked pre-season #1.

Ratings will not matter when these two kingpins clash this Friday and it certainly would not surprise anyone if this was meeting #1 of 2 between these two teams in ‘23.

*Jaxon Mettler (QB), Trent Uhlir-Battle Creek - Junior quarterback exploded for 176 yards on just 12 carries and three TDs in the Braves 51-7 win over Fremont Bergan. Mettler, who ran for 260 yards the entire season a year ago, was aided in ground attack by All-Stater Trent Uhlir, who bolted for 135 yards on 11 totes and 2 TDs and recovered a fumble on defense.

*Trent McClain, Dylan Hurlburt-Ord - Running back Trent McClain ran 16 times for 170 yards and four touchdowns and made a monster 13 solo stops with a sack on defense in the Chants 49-21 victory over Central City. Quarterback Dylan Hurlburt threw for 134 yards with a pair of touchdown tosses and picked up an additional 51 yards rushing in the win.

*Breckan Schluter and Mikey Bartu-Exeter/Milligan-Friend - The extraordinary Schluter escaped for 222 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns in the season-opening 58-38 upset win over defending Class D1 champion, Clarkson-Leigh. The hard running senior, who piled up 1,930 yards rushing a year ago, just would not be stopped Friday night. He also caught a 55 yard scoring pass and made half a dozen tackles. Bartu, the junior Fullback, added 165 yards on 17 tries and three TDs, caught 2 passes for 26 yards and a touchdown and also made 6 stops on defense. Did the Bobcats QB throw a pass in the game? Oh yeah, senior Tyler Due 4 of 6 tosses for 101 yards and a pair of touchdown passes.

This team of Co-Coaches Jim Pfeiffer and Kory Kahlandt seems pretty scary right out of the chute.

*Isaac Beierman-Nebraska (Waco) Lutheran - 6-0, 165 pound senior quarterback had a career game in the Knights 42-24 win over an East Butler. Beierman, also a skilled basketball player, completed 15-24 passes for 206 yards and 3 touchdowns while adding 152 yards rushing on a grueling 28 carries and two more scores. Four hundred eleven Total Yards in your season opener “ain’t” bad, Mr. Beierman.

*Wiley Ziegler-Bloomfield - The Bees impressive senior is off to his usual running start, running for 212 yards on 12 carries and five touchdowns in Bloomfield’s frolicking 72-20 win over Winside. The amazing senior, who has amassed 4,783 Total Yards and 68 touchdowns thus far in his career, is one of 8-Man football’s most electrifying players. Just an amazing talent at 5-8, 155 pounds!

*Braylon Anderson, Jaxen Jorgensen-Oakland-Craig - As usual, all-everything JT Brands provided the run and pass blocking on offense to set up both Anderson and Jorgensen, and made 12 tackles on defense in the Knights season opening loss to Norfolk Catholic (42-27). What an extraordinary talent.

Speaking of Anderson, the junior gunslinger was 19 of 36 passing for 267 yards and a touchdown in the game. Just a junior, Anderson knows how to fling it, amassing 2,076 yards (16 TDs) a year ago as a sophomore. Running back Jaxen Jorgensen was also a standout in the loss, rambling for 137 yards on 19 touches with a pair of touchdowns. This is a very good Oakland-Craig football squad, by the way.

*Jaden Williams-Doniphan-Trumbull - Senior quarterback amassed 311 total yards in the Cardinals opening season 22-13 loss to an improved Kearney Catholic team. The good news; Williams threw for 215 yards with two TDs and rushed 18 times for 96 yards. The “room-for-improvement news; Jaden completed just 11 of 28 passes and threw a pair of picks. NOW, the even better news; Jaden Williams completed 58% of his passes a year ago for some 1,780 yards and 14 touchdowns. As a sophomore, he completed 50% of his throws for 1,171 yards and 6 TDs, giving him a career completion percentage of 56%.

The interceptions? Probably get better as the season goes along and remember, he has the incredible All-State basketball phenom Jack Poppe to target with his passes. All Poppe did against the Stars last Friday was catch 4 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown. That’s 33.6 yards a grab.

This D-T football team will be a dangerous opponent for anyone in 2023.

*Conor Booth, Cavalier Defense-Wahoo Neumann - 6-2, 215 pound junior riddled Milford’s defense with 130 yards on just 12 carries and 4 touchdowns. Booth also caught a 9 yard scoring pass to help the Cavaliers to a 55-0 victory over the Eagles. The Cavalier defense was unrelenting all evening, giving up just 28 yards passing and 4 yards rushing.

*Sam Sauerdyke-Thayer Central - The 6-3, 185 pound junior was involved in all four Thayer Central touchdowns in the Titans 28-14 victory over McCool Junction. Sam the Man ran for 148 yards on 16 touches and 3 TDs and caught a pair of passes for 37 yards, one going for a score. Sauerdyke also made 9 stops on defense and kicked off to McCool five times with FOUR ending up being touchbacks. This young man is one of my favorite high school football players.

*Lathan Janosek-Seward - Junior was a one-man wrecking show in the Bluejays 14-7 win over highly touted Norris. All Janosek did was pick off THREE passes for 72 yards in returns. Even more impressive is that Lathan Janosek was not even listed in Seward’s pre-season preview in Huskerland Prep Report. First year player?

*Taesian Soto, Dierks Nekoliczek-Central Valley - Soto had a pretty good opening night at Fullerton, hauling in 4 passes for 116 yards, three of them going for SIX. Taesian also had a monster night defensively, making 15 tackles with 2 for losses. Scrappy quarterback Dierks Nekoliczek was deadly accurate, hitting 10 of 15 passes for 210 yards and 4 TDs. His other scoring pass ended up in the hands of Zaden Wolf. Freshman Lane Foltz stamped himself as a top-notch punter, booting 2 for a 40-yard average, sticking one inside the Fullerton 20.

*Ashton Simmons-Shelton - All-State basketball star caught 6 passes for 102 yards with FOUR resulting in touchdowns. The 6-4, 170 pound Shelton standout also made 8 tackles on defense and picked off a pass in the Bulldogs exciting 56-50 victory over a 1-0 Stuart team.

*Brockson Teply-Lincoln Southwest - 6-3, 175 pound FRESHMAN quarterback was a deadeye in the Silverhawks 35-0 win over Lincoln High, hitting 6 of 7 pass attempts for 96 yards and a pair of touchdown tosses with NO interceptions. Keep an eye on this youngster.

*Parker Aughenbaugh-Plattsmouth - 6-4, 215-pound senior kicked three field goals, 3 PATs and made 8 tackles in the Blue Devils Week One 30-27 victory over Blair. Aughenbaugh’s longest field goal was from 41 yards out.

*Jett Thomalla, Noah Feller, JR Lecuona-Millard South - Thomalla, another fearless young Class quarterback (sophomore), completed 16 of 26 passes for 250 yards and two TDs in an opening season, nail biting 28-27 win over Millard West. One of those scoring passes was caught by senior Noah Feller, who not only had 4 catches for 88 yards, but also toted the ball 25 times for 130 big ones and two more touchdowns. Big 6-3, 235-pound MAN, JR Lecuona led the Patriots defense with 9 stops after logging 77 a year ago.

This Millard South team is really solid.