*Connor Pohlmeier-Plattsmouth - At least one time in each of the past three years, this young man graces the top of my Friday Night Lights list. When you’re 5-9, 140 pounds and run for 928 yards as a sophomore, 1,253 your junior season and your team wins only three times each of those years……..you must be something special...

*Justis Bader, Quinston Larson - Grand Island Heartland Lutheran - This lethal 6-Man football pass/catch combination has the Red Hornets off to a 2-0 start and the school’s first ever ratings appearance in the Omaha World-Herald football ratings (#10)...

Very special week packed with special performances by special players. There are those who may think I’m hung up on The Three Horsemen of Pierce, but I’ll guarantee they earned their stripes Friday night on the road against a rugged Ord team...

ORD, NE. I’ll admit that I’ve had fears about Pierce losing one of the Three Horsemen. The Bluejays became only the second team in 11-Man football history to have three backs rush for over a thousand yards in one season. Quarterback Dalton Freeman, utility back Carson Oestreich and rugged fullback Brett Tinker all were part of that history a year ago, cracking the 1000 yard plateau as juniors...

*Isaac Noyd-Cross County - To say that 5-8, 145 Cross County junior Isaac Noyd (#7) had a “career night” against Palmer last Friday, might be an understatement. In the Cougars 78-28 win over Palmer, Isaac escaped for 359 yards on 20 carries and 8 TDs. That’s Eight touchdowns...

*Jase Williams-Burwell - Two-Time 1000 yard rusher punished Atkinson West Holt with his 236 yards on 29 carries and 4 touchdowns last week. The 6-0, 220 pound Williams was one of two 100 yard backs in the Longhorns 48-21 win over the Huskies...

*Sebastian Harsh-Scottsbluff - Stat lines don’t get much better than the one the 6-3, 225 pound Scottsbluff quarterback put together during the Bearcats 47-12 win over a good Hastings team. Harsh, who was an All-State Defensive End a year ago, carried the ball just 14 times against Hastings, but ripped off 189 yards and TD runs of 77, 19 and 7 yards. ...

HASTINGS, NE. The Scottsbluff juggernaut, with senior quarterback Sebastian Harsh at the controls, spoiled the Hastings Tigers chance to bring down two Class B giants in successive weeks. After trekking west and dominating mighty McCook 30-7 a week ago, the Tigers had their sights set on sending the 2018 Class B runner-up Scottsbluff Bearcats on a long, silent bus ride home. And 18 seconds into the game it looked like Charlie Shoemaker’s quick-as-wink Hastings Tigers just might do that...

*Will Gatzemeyer, Dylan Buetler-BRLD - All-State QB Will Gatzemeyer completed 11 of 19 passes for 309 yards and 4 touchdown strikes to Dylan Buetler in BRLD’s hard fought 38-20 win over Hartington Cedar Cahtolic. The lethal Gatzemeyer to Buetler pitch/catch duo had touchdown connections of 80 and 9 yards in the opening quarter, another 80 yarder with 3:34 left before halftime, and killer 16 yarder in the money quarter that put the game out of reach at 38-14 with 7:45 to go in the contest. ...

There were numerous outstanding performances last week, but one of the most satisfying, yet frustrating in the end, had to be our lead man, Bennington’s Nick Bohn. *Nick Bohn-Bennington - You know, when all is said and done, what Badger QB Nick Bohn pulled off in the Omaha Skutt game last Friday will go down as remarkable, although I’m sure Skutt coach Matt Turman wasn’t overly thrilled with it....

I’ve been waiting 9 and a half months to get back into my Friday Night Heroes. A ton of research is involved, some subscriptions to some papers around the state, but it is so worth it to honor the players who make this game of high school football so great...

Hastings NE...

Wolbach, NE Central Valley spotted Riverside a 20-12 first quarter lead before reeling off 44 unanswered points, enroute to a big season-opening 56-20 win over Riverside Thursday evening. Although the teams had previously met only one time on the gridiron (last season), the game had the feel of a age old rivalry, which really does go back a few years considering Greeley, Wolbach and Cedar Rapids were together at one time and now Cedar Rapids and Spalding High make up the current Riverside high school.. ...

CLASS C-2 **Seniors*Will Gatzemeyer-BRLD, 5-11, 185, Senior (80 Tackles, 6 TFL, 2 INTs) *Lynn Evans-Wilber-Clatonia - 5-10, 165, Senior (42 Tackles) *Dylan Mettler-Battle Creek - 5-9, 175, Senior (72 Tackles, 1 Sack, 2 INTs)...

Having your defensive backs make a ton of tackles is sort of double edged sword for a coaching staff. The bad news is that an opposing running back has made it though the first two waves of your defense, the D-Line and the linebackers. It can also indicate that the opposing quarterback is completing far too many passes and your deep backs are the ones making the tackles...

CLASS A **Seniors*Xavier Watts-Omaha Burke 6-1, 190, Senior (58 Tackles, 4 TFL, 5 INTs) (All-State) *Isaac Gifford-Lincoln SE - 6-1, 190, Senior (77 Tackles) (All-State)...

Pretty exclusive list here with some potential to expand as the year rolls along. There are some already established linebackers, plus some first year players in both classes at this linebacker position who will mature quickly and post some nice numbers. Guys like Omaha Skutt’s Grant Diesing, Jasiya DeOllos of Scottsbluff and McCook's Drew Daum are a trio of players I can think of right off the top of my head that will probably increase their tackle numbers in a big way...

Brace yourself for quite a list here. Both Classes C-1 and C-2 are talent-rich at the linebacker position for 2019. CLASS C-1 Premier Linebackers **Seniors*Brett Tinker-Pierce, 5-8, 180, Senior (All-State) (111 Tackles-10 TFL-2 Sacks)...

Class D-1 Eight Man Premier Linebackers - 2019 **Seniors*Max Zeleny-Exeter-Milligan/Friend, 6-0, 200, Senior (118 Tackles-6 INTs) *Caden Kusak-Arcadia/Loup City, 6-1, 200, Senior (100 Tackles-5 TFL)...

It has been a ton of Fridays since I’ve seen talent in the trenches like the 2019 crop of Class D-2 Eight Man football presents in 2019. Good lord! I can safely say in many cases it’s never been a better time to be a running back then the present in this class...