A History of Nebraska 8-Man Football - 1967 All-State Teams/Final Rankings.

*102 Teams played 8-Man football in 1967, down thirty eight schools from1966. This was the largest reduction of high school football teams in Nebraska playing the 8-Man version of the gridiron game since 1960 when 167 schools jumped on the bandwagon.

So, what accounted for Nebraska high school football losing thirty eight 8-Man schools when 11-Man showed a gain of just 13 and 6-Man had vanished altogether?

It was probably a combination of some schools consolidating and some, sadly enough, closing their doors.

*Final 8-Man Top 10 (1967)*

1. Madrid Wheatland (9-0) (Madrid and Elsie combined)

2. Shelby (10-0)

3. Sutherland (9-0)

4. Talmage (10-0)

5. Elgin High (7-0)

6. Cedar Bluffs (9-0)

7. Ashton (6-1)

8. Milligan (8-0)

9. Republican City 7-0)

10. Melbeta (6-1)

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*Here is the 1967 Eight-Man Football Final Top 10 showing each team’s game by game scores.

1. Madrid Wheatland (9-0)

39 Big Springs…21 - 33 Holbrook….6

56 Brule…………..7 ---2 Lewellen…...0 (Forfeit)

45 Arthur…………6 - 33 Maywood….6

63 Wallace……….0 - 54 Venango…..21

33 Paxton………...7

Coach-Fred Bessler

2. Shelby (10-0)

35 Mead……………......0 - 51 Hordville…………...6

38 Hampton…………...0 - 49 Gresham…………..21

77 McCool Junction…0 - 54 Bradshaw………....12

35 Rising City………...19 - 53 Marquette………....0

40 Monroe……………...7 - 60 Humphrey High…14

Coach-John O’Brien

3. Sutherland (9-0)

19 Hershey……….....18 - 27 Hayes Center…7

56 Hyannis……….......6 - 25 Big Springs…..20

45 West Kearney…....0 - 60 Lodgepole…….13

37 Paxton………….......6 - 47 Trenton………..13

38 Halsey-Dunning...7

Coach-Daryl Broberg

4. Talmage (7-0)

27 Cook……….6 - 56 Table Rock……......14

26 Palmyra…..6 - 40 Elmwood…………..12

37 Brock……...19 - 50 Dawson-Verdon…6

43 Elk Creek…19

Coach-Ronn Miller

05. Elgin High (10-0)

19 Platte Center...0 - 47 Cedar Rapids…6

19 Bartlett………...6 - 40 Ewing…………...13

33 Clearwater…..19 - 40 Stuart…………...20

62 Chambers…...18 - 36 Bartlett………....20

38 Petersburg…....6

Coach-Jerry Mundorf

6. Cedar Bluffs .(9-0)

38 Snyder………...6 - 33 Waterloo…12

25 Elmwood……..12 - 67 Mead……...0

19 Yutan…………...6 - 37 Prague……..7

27 Platte Center….7 - 28 Waterloo…7

34 Ft.Calhoun…….0

Coach-David Scheffler

7. Ashton (6-1)

61 Cedar Rapids...0 - 40 West Kearney………..0

51 Petersburg…....13 - 65 Monroe………………...0

62 Oconto……….. ..0 ---0 Loup City Catholic…13

44 Elba……………....0

x(11-Man game)

Coach-Dennis Lindquist

8. Milligan (8-0)

44 Byron…….0 - 46 Dorchester………...26

26 Bladen…..18 - 20 Tobias Meridian…12

25 Hardy….. .6 - 28 Ruskin…………….....6

39 Western….0 - 41 Shickley….………....0

Coach-Dan Tesar

9. Republican City (7-0)

33 Hardy………..0 - 44 Stamford…23

13 Ruskin……...12 - 38 Orleans…..33

26 Wilsonville…7 - 68 Holstein…..15

49 Byron…….....19

Coach-Wayne Lutjcharms

10. Melbeta (7-1)

46 Gurley……………….....0 - 26 Chadron Assumption…0

45 Minatare Reserves…0 - 53 Mitchell Sunflower…...12

41 Cody……………….......25 ---6 Madrid Wheatland…..33

54 Lewellen……………....12 - 25 Harrison…………….......2

Coach-Jim Hanson

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1967 marked the first year we saw a monster lineman on an 8-Man All-State squad. I graduated in ‘67, started in the backfield for 3 years at GICC and we rarely saw dudes the size of Venango's 6-4, 240 pound Gerald Strand.

Two hundred plus linemen were not all the plentiful back in the late 1960s. The other Guard on this mythical ‘67 team (Kuester-Elgin) and Center (Knox-Maywood) checked in at 190 and 185 respectively, making this interior line trio the bulkiest in the history of 8-Man football here in the Cornhusker state.

The backfield was paced by a sensational quarterback from Nebraska Deaf named Ken Eurek.

Eurek, an Arcadia, Nebraska native, was named to a Junior National Deaf All-American team in 1966, quarterbacked Nebraska School for the Deaf to an 8-0 record in 1967, one of the most noteworthy feats in the history of that institution.

Although listed as a junior on this All-State team, 1967was the 18 year old Eureks last season of eligibility.

The NSD ace signal caller scored nearly half of his team's points, logging 150 of Deaf’s 305 total for ‘67. He ran for 24 touchdowns, passed for another 13, went on a seven touchdown spree against Ft. Calhoun, threw for 4 TDs versus Malcom and ran for four and passed for another Omaha Brownell-Talbot.

Dave Bohlken from Talmage, the Class D 220 yard dash champion at the 1967 State Track Meet, rushed for 844 yards and 25 touchdowns on 113 carries in just seven games.

The Star of the Show of this All-State backfield was the great Chris Krause of 8-Man Champion Madrid Wheatland.

Krause was the most spectacular Dual-Threat Quarterback of his day, rushing for a monster 1,710 yards and passing for an additional 1,271 yards coming on a 9 of 157 completion rate. He also averaged 11 stops a game from his linebacker slot.

Lewiston’s Tegtmeier also had a banner campaign accumulating 737 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns.

And now, let’s meet our 1967 Eight-Man All-State Football team;

*1967 8-Man All-State Football Team*

End---Jack Brestal-Big Springs, 6-3, 180, Senior

End---Ron Tegtmeier-Lewiston, 5-10, 150 Senior

Guard-Gerald Strand-Venango, 6-4, 240, Senior

Guard-Bill Kuester-Elgin High, 5-11, 190, Senior

Center-Joe Knox-Maywood, 5-11, 185, Senior

Back--Chris Krause-Madrid Wheatland, 5-9, 160, Senior

Back--Dave Bohlken-Talmage, 5-11, 168, Senior

Back--Ken Eurek-Nebraska Deaf, 6-0, 170, Senior