Week One's Top High School Gridiron Performers

Beatrice gold medal sprinter Daniel Davie is off to the races against Norris. *photo courtesy of Journal-Star

Last week was the opening night for many high school football teams around the state and there were many outstanding performances. So without further hesitation, let's get to it:

*HAIL TO THE WINNERS! -- Centura breaks a 36 game losing streak with a 32-12 thumping of Cozad on the road. I just knew when Greg Hansen took the reins the Centurions would be winners in a hurry. Congratulations are also in order to Southern and Wilcox-Hildreth, who ended losing streaks of 17 and 20 respectively.

*Blake Headley-Millard South -- Husker baseball recruit was a dead eye with his arm in the big Millard South/Millard West shootout last Thursday. Headley hit 14 of 18 throws for 219 yards in the Patriots 36-17 victory over the Wildcats. Between Headley and Quentin Urban, this team will be very difficult to unseat as defending State Class A kings.

*Alex Romero-Lincoln North Star - Another All around monster game for 190 pound RB/DB as he rushed for 125-22 and had a nice night on defense which included 3 tackles for losses that totaled 28 yards. Gators beat Omaha Benson 23-8.

*Tiras "Boltin" Bolton-Omaha Westside -- Ran for 170-16 carries as the Warriors upset Lincoln SW 27-10. Westside had their offense cranked up as they averaged 6.4/rush on 50 attempts. Nice win for a squad that finished 1-8 a year ago.

*Daniel Davie-Beatrice -- Mr. Do-It-All for the Orangeman had 119 yards rushing and 2 TD's and took a short swing pass from Tandon Dorn and showed his Gold Medal track speed by taking it 65 yards to the house. Beatrice beat Norris 27-7.

*Brock "The Tank" Sherman-Crete -- Had his 2nd monster rushing performance by rambling for 196-29 carries and 2 scores as the Cardinals beat Omaha Skutt, 40-0. Sherman has already rushed for 440 yards in just 2 outings.

*Ben Muff-Crete -- Rangy WR also had a night to remember. Muff had a 78 yard TD scamper, returned an interception a 100 yards for a score and caught a 55 yard scoring pass in that Skutt romp. . Crete piled up 553 yards of total offense.

*Greg Millikan-Wahoo -- Think this guy will get a 1000 yards this season? Millikan sprinted for 198-16 carries as the Warriors opened 2010 with a 45-0 route of Auburn.

*Cody Rotert-Omaha Brownell-Talbot -- Ran for 167 yards on 23 tries and scored 3 times on runs of 1, 8 and 79 kick return. BT beat Conestoga 27-21.

*Jared Rosenquist-Centura -- How sweet is it to feature a Centura RB? The Centurions have never had a 1000 yard rusher, but Rosenquist ran for 151 yds on only 13 carries in that 32-12 win over Cozad and could be on his way.

*Austin Bochart-Loup City -- QB had a hand in all the Red Raider points. He scored on runs of 24, 21, and 17 yards and threw a 3 yard scoring strike. LC shocked Anselmo-Merna 27-24 in their 8-Man debut.

*Jase Willets and Kalan Swertzik-Fullerton -- Could these be the 1000 Yard Twins? Williets rushed for 125 yards and 3 scores while Swertzik ran for another 126 in Fullerton's 2nd straight 8-Man win of the season, 42-14 over Palmer.

*Jed Fenske-Sargent -- It would be a safe bet that this young, hard running, hard hitting back will never duplicate the average/per/carry he notched last Friday against Creek Valley. Fenske touched the ball SIX times, rushed for 304 yards and scored on FIVE of those carries. How does 50 yards a pop sound to you? The Bulldogs embarrassed the Lodgepole/Chappell co-op, 85-12.

*Taylor McTavish-Wood River -- This kid just went to the top of my "must see" list with his performance against Central City. Ran for 185 yards on a mere 15 carries and scored on runs of 6, 3, 25, 13, 35 and tossed in a 70 yard punt return for good measure. Eagles bashed CC 42-7.

*Logan Glendy-South Platte -- Rushed for 148 yards on 28 attempts as the new co-op of Arnold/ Callaway won their first ever game by downing Ansley 22-8.

*J.C. Hanna-GI Heartland Lutheran -- Converted lineman turned in a stellar effort as his Red Hornets took it on the chin 56-26 to Lawrence-Nelson. Hanna took off for 161-20 carries and scored on runs of 2 and 50 yards in that losing cause.

*Derreck Eastman-Giltner -- Did it again last Friday by running for 128 yds on 9 carries and scored on runs of 49, 5, 8, and 21 yards. The Hornets put a big time whipping' on Hampton 72-0 and held the Hawks to 38 total yards. Drew Ott had 16 tackles in that route.

*Heath Anderberry-Axtell -- Anderberry topped his 143 yard effort a couple of weeks back with a 215 yard 6 TD performance in the Wildcat's 53-6 route over Elm Creek. Heath scored on runs of 6, 1, 45, 4, 26, and 17 yards.

*John Jostes-Lutheran High NE -- Blasted for 159-21 totes as the Eagles pummeled Laurel-Concord, 48 zip.

*Jake Wirthele-Sterling -- 1500 yard rusher from a year ago opened 2010 by busting for 215 big ones and 2 scores in a 50-12 pounding of neighboring Freeman.

*Dylan Loschen-Columbus -- This magnificent all-around athlete bolted for 192 yards on 39 carries and carried his Columbus team to a 37-14 victory over visiting North Platte.

*Seth Behrens-David City -- Class C-1's top RB opened the season by gaining 164-30 attempts as the Scouts beat Madison 14-0 on the road.

*Riley Gross-Fremont Bergan -- Two year All-State QB/DB completed 13 of 19 for 253 yards and 4 scores as the Knights shut out Arlington 35-0.

*Jared Cooper-Lincoln SE -- John Larson may just have found himself a workhorse back as Cooper rushed for 153 yds on 25 carries in the Knights 7-0 win over Papio South. Cooper also carried the ball 10 straight times for 61 yards as LSE ran out the clock to preserve the "W". Papillion LaVista South QB Tim Holtmeyer ran for 132-14 in the contest.

*Brad Ward-Brady -- 2009 thousand yard man lit up rival Maxwell by running for 304 yards on 33 attempts. Ward scored on runs of 32, 41, 6, 32, 23 and 12 yards in the 44-12 win. Think maybe Ward likes the long runs?

*Wayne Bruegman-Bloomfield -- This big guy ran for over 1700 yards in '09 for the Bees and brought in 2010 with a 181 yard rushing night. The QB/HB scored on runs of 42, 24, and 20 yards, scored on a 45 yd. Fumble return threw scoring passes of 25 and 18 yards to Brett Hopkins. Not certain whether he drove the bus home or not to top things off. Bees stung Niobrara-Verdigre 60-0 in that opener. Next 2 games with Creighton and Howells will tell a whole bunch.