Week 5 Friday Night Lights football Heroes - Part 3

Week 5 Friday Night Lights football Heroes - Part 3

By Bobby Mills (1000 Yard Guy)

*Dylan Kautz - Norfolk Catholic - Despite going down with an ankle injury with 7:21 left in the 2nd quarter against Pierce last Friday, the 1000 yard rusher/State Class B sprint king still rushed for 144 yards on 12 carries and 3 touchdowns.

Playing in a little over a quarter, the speedy, elusive sophomore had TD runs of 80, 1 and 20 yards. Kautz suffered the injury following the 20 yard TD scamper and never returned. But RB Jake Molacek came in and did a tremendous job in Kautz's absence, rushing for 66 yards on 9 carries.

Molacek's 21 yard TD run elevated the Knights lead to 28-7 before halftime. He would hit the end zone again in the 3rd quarter from 4 yards out, giving Catholic a comfortable 35-7 lead over old rival Pierce.

The Knights went on to win the game 41-14.

Kautz said the ankle still is sore but he should be able to return for the big matchup with undefeated O'Neill Friday night in Norfolk. Thus far in 2016, the amazing Kautz, who seems to have hit full stride, has run for 718 yards.

Stay healthy my friend, high school football needs your magic.

*Heath Koehler, Riley Berner and Hunter Spier-Norfolk Lutheran High NE - Norfolk's Class C-2 team didn't have such an easy go with unbeaten Stanton, pulling out some magic to gain a hard fought 26-25 win over the undefeated Mustangs.

Trailing Stanton 25-20 with a bit less than four minutes remaining in the game and facing 4th and 11 on their own 29, Coach Darin Suckstorf decided to push the Go button and here is the result:

QB Heath Koehler floats a 5 yard hitch pass to Riley Berner, who then pitched that baby to speed burner Hunter Spier, who then high tails it downfield for a 60 yard gain.

The play covers 65 yards, ends up at the Stanton 6, Spier gets credit for 60 yards and NO reception (yeah, I'll explain it later, it's in the rule book) and the Eagles are ready to roll.

Hunter Spier scores on the next play and the rest is history....Lutheran High NE ends up beating Stanton 26-25.

Koehler ended the game with 9 of 13 passing, good for 199 yards and a touchdown. Spier grabbed 4 of Heath's tosses for a nifty 132 yards (33/catch). Berner carried the ball 8 times for 62 yards in the win.

More importantly is the fact Max Kant's defense held unbeaten Stanton's vaunted rushing game (220+ per outing) to a meager 24 yards on 17 attempts. And here's how balanced that defense was in the Stanton game.

Connor Wilcox and Jaxon Kant each logged 6 tackles while Jon Brown, Riley Berner, Tyler Brand and Luke Weidner each added 5. Balance, baby.

By the way, the fleet-footed Hunter Spier is up to 948 yards rushing after 5 games (12 TDs).

*Moses Bryant-Elkhorn South - There are games here and there that Coach Guy Rosenberg calls on Moses to carry a little more load than usual. In the Storm's 40-7 win over Blair, the 2-time 1000 yard rusher did just that.

Bryant toted the ball 16 times for 181 yards and 3 TDs in the win. The junior now has 640 yards (12 TDs) for the season and just surpassed the 3,000 yard career rushing plateau in just 26 games. Moses sits at 3,007 for his career.

*Tayen Meyer-Norfolk - 6-0, 170 pound senior QB did his part in the Panthers 55-28 loss to powerhouse Bellevue West.

Meyer hit 16 of his 33 passes for 363 yards and 4 TDs in the loss. Four different receivers caught scoring passes from Tayen in the contest. Travis Larson (27 yards), Logan Strom (16 yards), Lane McCallum, and Jake Long (39 yards) hauled in those scoring tosses.

Meyer also rushed for 29 yards in the game for the Panthers.

*Dawson Graham-Gothenburg - All-State basketball star was a royal pain to Chadron on the gridiron this past Friday. Graham, who was 5-10 for 146 yards passing, found Bennett Folkers for TD passes of 57 and 25 yards in the Swedes 35-20 conquest of the Cardinals.

Graham also had a Pick-6 in the game, as Gothenburg improved to 3-2. The Swedes were able to win the game by 3 TDs despite running only 44 plays compared to Chadron's 57. It's called game management folks, and Craig Haake is a master of that skill for Gothenburg.

*Zayne Heckenlively-Falls City - Win or lose, Zayne Heckenlively always get his yards. Falls City dropped a 15-14 heartbreaker to Auburn last Friday, but Zayne still ran for 202 yards on 32 carries, scoring both Tiger touchdowns.

This may have been a strange football game in a few ways, friends. Only 4 passes were attempted in the contest, not many points were put on the board, so one would assume both teams punted a gazillion times. Nope. According to the stat sheet, Falls City punted once and Auburn twice.

Okay, then it would seem there were many turnovers. Nope, one interception. Game shortened by weather. Nope.

Oh well, some things cannot be explained, but one thing I do know is that Heckenlively's 202 yards against Auburn boosted his 5 game rushing mark to 900 yards.

***300 Yard Rusher Alert***

*Will Huffman-Maxwell - 5-11, 155 pounder did everything humanly possible to keep Maxwell in the game but alas, the Wildcats were beaten by Eustis-Farnam 66-45.

Huffman carried the pigskin 34 times for 314 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 21 point loss. Huffman also caught a 69 yard TD pass, made 7 tackles and ran alongside the bus for a few miles on the way home. It was Huffman by a nose in that race.

*Garris Karr-Arlington - 6-0, 180 senior rushed 16 times for 157 yards and 4 touchdowns in the Eagles 54-13 pasting of Louisville.

The tough running Karr increased his 5 game rushing total to 737 yards and 12 TDs for 5-0 Arlington, who is a sneaky good football team in this Class C-1 picture.

Both Jackson Borgmann (399 Yds) and Sam Plugge (303 Yds) compliment Karr's running game well, while Grant Miller remains a threat to catch a scoring pass at anytime. (8-203 yds/5 TDs).

5-9, 185 pound Defensive lineman, Brad Ernesti is a tackling machine, already recording 36 stops. The Eagles are sure tacklers as witnessed by their 7 recovered fumbles in just 5 games.

Seth McRobert (25 tackles), Miller (22), Braden Johnson (20) and Clayton Koch (19 stops) compliment Ernesti on defensive side in that tackle category.

Keep an eye on this Arlington football team. They are better than you think.

*Koby Dillon-Palmyra - QB was a key figure in the Panthers 28-20 overtime win over Omaha Brownell-Talbot. The 5-10, 150 pound sophomore hit 15 of 26 passes for 248 yards and 3 TDs.

Dillon connected with Curtis Peterson for a 37 yard TD pass, but it was Drew Bessey that was the receiving star for Palmyra. The 6-0, 175 pound junior wide out caught 5 Dillon aerials for 139 yards, including scoring receptions of 80 and 43 yards.

Koby Dillon was also the hero in overtime, scoring the winning touchdown on the Panthers 1st play.

*Kevin Rudloff-Niobrara-Verdigre - I'm thinking this chap slept well Friday night after his Cougars bested Laurel/Concord/Coleridge 32-26. Rudloff carried the football a staggering 47 times for 286 yards. Yeah, he scored all 5 of the Cougar touchdowns in the contest.

Okay, now check this out. In four games, Rudloff's rushing total has gone from 67 yards in the opener to 132 against Boyd County to 165 vs. West Holt to his 286 yards last Friday.

What will he rush for against Creighton this week....572? Eh, probably not gonna happen against that bunch, but he does go up against Plainview in a couple of weeks. Maybe then.

*Bradley Bunner-Clarkson-Leigh - The dude is a one man wrecking crew for Jim Clarkson's Patriots. In a 56-39 loss to east Butler, Bunner rushed 20 times for 161 yards, scoring on runs of 49 and 60 yards.

Bunner also caught 3 passes for 96 yards, two of them going for scores (19, 44 yards). Bradley also threw a 19 yard touchdown pass to Jacob Gall and made 12 tackles on defense (7 solos). Brad Bunner, who ran for 1,338 yards a year ago, has rushed for 698 yards and 16 TDs in 4 games this year.

*Trenton Harbur-Stapleton - It doesn't matter whether Stapleton gets whacked 80 something to 6 or not, this sophomore goes off for a bunch of rushing yards.

In an 82-27 loss to Anselmo-Merna, the 6-3, 205 pound dude ran for 165 yards on 22 carries and scored 3 out of 4 Bronco touchdowns. The Quick, elusive Harbur has rushed for 812 yards on only 101 carries despite his team being outscored 265-126.

Harbur also held Stapleton's bus up in the air after the loss while his teammates changed a flat tire.

*Cameron Downey-Anselmo-Merna - Junior RB went off for another huge game for Matt McGinn's Coyotes in that win over Stapleton.

Downey, who ran for ran for 183 yards a week ago against Central Valley, broke loose for 258 big ones and on only 14 carries against Stapleton and Trenton Harbour. Cameron averaged a sweet 18.4 yards a pop while scoring 3 TDs in that ball game.

The hard nosed 145 pound football player has now run for 741 yards for A/M, caught 9 passes for 114 yards and 4 more scores and made 24 tackles on defense.

*Eric Schiermeier-Superior - 6-2, 160 pound senior quarterback had a big game in Superior's 48-12 win over Franklin. Schiermeier completed 8 of 15 passes for 183 yards and 4 TDs, suffering only one INT.

Cale Frahm fueled the ground game with 180 yards on only 13 touches. Frahm scored TDs on runs of 65 and 53 yards in the big win for the Wildcats. Schiermeier's touchdown passes went to John Sullivan (53, 27 yards), Tight End, Tyler Blackstone (22 Yds) and a 33 yarder to Chase Morris.

Frahm was a Renaissance Man of sorts in the game, compiling 122 return yards to go along with his 180 rushing. The senior also made 9 tackles on defense, batted down a pass and ran in a 2 point conversion. He also put out a grass fire on the way back to the school.

Superior, new to the 8-Man game this year, is now at 3-1 for year. And to think when I played against these Wildcats in 1966, they were Class B.

*Lane Edis-Mullen - Wade's boy was at it again in the Bronco's 58-6 spanking of a pretty good Garden County football team. The sophomore sensation needed only 11 carries to roll for 183 yards and 2 TDs.

Lane's scoring runs covered 78 and 35 yards, but the kid also hauled in a 72 yard reception for another score in the contest. His 4 game rushing total now stands at 719 yards (11 TDs).

This Mullen team is now a perfect 4-0. Nobody has come within 24 points of the Broncos, who have remaining games with Crawford (2-2), winless Creek Valley, Paxton (3-1) and 2-2 Leyton.

Looks like Coach Mitch Pfeiffer's bunch is a pretty good bet to go undefeated and be a big player in the Class D-2 playoff picture come November.

*Aaron Clouse-Elwood - 5-6, 140 pound junior ripped Maywood/Hayes Center for 191 yards on 27 carries and 5 touchdowns in the 46-14 win last Friday.

So good to see this team just fielding a team this season after basically losing their entire 8-Man slate a year ago due to a lack of bodies to play the games.

*Quick Hits - Rushing:*

*Cody Liske-Bennington - 144 yards-15 carries and a TD in 34-15 win over Plattsmouth.

*Mark Zeckser-Doniphan-Trumbull - 8 carries-113 yards and a TD in 66-0 win over Sandy Creek. A 1000 yard rusher a year ago at Adams Central, Zeckser already has 766 in 2016.

*Hoss Smith-Oakland-Craig - Giddy-upped for 144 yards on 24 totes in a 28-13 win over Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur. Hoss has galloped for 662 yards thus far in 2016.

*Alex Horky-Twin Loup - 27 carries, 200 yards, 5 TDs in the Wolves 48-12 blasting of SEM. Horky's rushing total in now at 927 with 18 TDS. These Twin Loup dudes beat up on everybody. 5-0 says a lot right now.

*Quentin Moles-Bloomfield - 9 touches, 171 yards and 3 scores in the Bees 102-21 win over outmanned Elkhorn Valley. Moles 4 game total - 915 yards/13 TDs.

.....and last, but not least....

***1000 Yard Rusher Alert***

*Trent Reed-Hay Springs - Sophomore exploded for 262 yards on 16 carries (5 TDs) in the win over Banner County. Reed has hit the coveted mark and now stands at 1,035 yards after 5 games. Reed is also listed by MaxPreps as the leading 6-Man rusher in the Nation with his 1,035 yards after 5 outings.