Week One Friday Night Lights football Heroes - Part 3

Hay Springs RB Trent Reed. Hs 437 yards vs. Sioux County led the entire Nation in rushing after one game. *(photo courtesy of Hay Springs high school)

*Trent Reed - Hay Springs (RB) - This youngster is a special football player friends. In Hay Springs opener last week, Trent Reed toted the ball 24 times for 437 yards and 7 touchdowns in the Hawks 80-56 win over Sioux County. 437 yards. Reed also made 5 tackles in the game, picked off 3 Sioux County passes and booted 3 PATs. And Hay Springs actually trailed 30-21 after the first quarter.

Yes, it’s 6-Man football, but averaging 18.6 yards a carry against a team that made the playoffs a year ago is mind-boggling. Trent Reed’s performance was so significant, it stamped him as the Nation’s Leading Rusher after one game, regardless of class. 6-Man, 8-Man, 9-Man and 11-Man football, it didn’t matter, Reed had more rushing yards than anybody in the U.S. after one game.

Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 180 pounds, Trent Reed possesses tremendous football skills in most every phase of the game. Great instincts as a runner, fine blocker, top notch open field tackler, which is so critical in the 6-Man game, and just so fundamentally sound in every situation.

Last season as a sophomore, Reed played 8 games, rushed for 1,816 yards and scored 34 TDs. Only one team held him under 200 rushing yards, that being State Runner-Up Cody-Kilgore.

So, in Trent Reed’s career, he has played 9 games, rushed for 2,253 yards, scored 41 touchdowns, thrown a TD pass, caught 20 passes for 333 yards and 4 scores, made 59 tackles, intercepted 5 passes, recovered a fumble, returned a kickoff for a TD, kicked 3 PATs, rushed for 10 PATS, and compiled 2,720 All-Purpose yards. That’s an average of 302 of those all-purpose yards a game. Such is 6-Man football, if you have extreme talent.

You’d better be in top physical condition to play 6-Man football and Trent Reed is certainly that. And with 18 players on their squad this go-around, Hay Springs may have a shot at not only making the playoffs, but making a deep run with that kind of depth.

*Lucas Thatcher - Columbus Lakeview (RB) - 5-9, 150 pound junior exploded for a school record 310 yards rushing in Lakeview’s opening season 35-7 road win over Milford. Thatcher scored 3 TDs in the Vikings win and was virtually impossible to stop last Friday night.

Considering the fact Lakeview lost 16 starters from last seasons 6-4 playoff squad, a school rushing record on opening night is amazing. Thatcher ran past some very impressive running backs who etched their names in that Lakeview record book. Kaleb Christensen, David Chochon, Preston Luedtke and Mark Jarecki were all All-State backs who were known state-wide. Christensen gained over 1,500 yards in two different seasons for Vikings super coach Kurt Frenzen.

Better jot that name down, Lucas Thatcher, and keep an eye out with that Lakeview line off and running in 2017.

*Tige Calleroz - Arcadia/Loup City (RB) - How good is a back that plays against a storied program like North Platte St. Pats twice and rushes for 397 yards and 5 TDs? I can answer that one for you. One of the best in Class C-2.

Calleroz, the 5-11, 205 pound senior, carried the ball 24 times for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns in Arcadia/Loup City’s 43-29 win over St. Pats last Friday. The tough as nails Calleroz also logged 6 tackles and sacked the Irish QB for an 8 yard loss. A year ago, Tige burned St. Pats for 143 yards and 2 scores, but the Red Raiders still dropped a 17-14 heartbreaker in North Platte.

Tige Calleroz runs about as tough as I’ve seen in C-2. Last season, he exploded for 292 yards in the season finale versus Fillmore County. That vaulted Tige over the 1000 yard mark as he ended the year with 1,073 yards and 15 touchdowns against a brutal schedule that saw Arcadia/Loup City finish 3-6 and miss the playoffs. And lest we forget, Calleroz is one of the most feared Return men in Class C-2.

The Red Raiders returned 15 starters for 2017 and with Tige Calleroz doing his thing once again, things could get pretty interesting for this bunch before this season comes to a close.

We will jet over from Sumner this Friday to watch Calleroz play against Valentine as the Badgers, with 1000 yard rusher Wyatt Hitchcock, come to town for a great Class C-2 matchup.

*Juan Vergara - Wayne (RB) - I wonder if Scotus saw this kid coming? The speedy junior ripped the Shamrocks for 218 yards on 21 carries and two long TD runs covering 77 and 80 yards in the Blue Devils 43-33 upset of pre-season #8 Columbus Scotus.

The 80 yard dash by Vergara was especially nifty because of the sweet ball fake to the motion back by Wayne QB Beau Bowers. Vergara just took the ball, slipped off tackle, and outran the Rocks defense.

Keep your eye on No. 20 the rest of the season. Juan Vergara is a lot faster than a year ago and Wayne is becoming a Class C-1 threat in football after a being known as a “basketball school” for so many years.

*Wyatt Ehlers - Centennial (QB) - Junior field general for the No. 1 team in Class C-2 torched Central City by hitting 25 of 42 passes for 310 yards and 4 TDs in the Broncos 27-13 win. Ehlers, who threw for 1,876 yards and 20 scores as a sophomore, connected with Jackson Hirschfeld for two first quarter TDs covering 7 and 31 yards. The sharpshooting Ehlers then fired a 25 yard scoring pass in the 4th quarter to Heath Habeman, giving the Broncos the needed cushion to hold off Central City.

*Garrett Seagren - Oakland-Craig (WR) - How do you stop Oakland-Craig’s All-State wide receiver? You apparently do not. The 6-0, 180 pound Seagren began 2017 right where he left off a year ago by hauling in 6 receptions for 183 yards and 2 TDs in the Knights 38-0 win over Malcolm.

In just 32 career games for Oakland-Craig, Seagren has reeled in 76 passes, good for 1,559 yards and 18 TDs. That’s 20 yards a reception. Think he couldn’t play in Class B or C-1? Oh yeah.

Worth mentioning here is 145 pound junior slotback Jefferson McNeill’s incredible 65 yard touchdown run. McNeill was lined up in the left slot for the Knights. He retreated 6 yards and took the perfect pitch, but mishandled it and immediately fumbled the football. Not panicking, McNeill scooped up the fumble amidst 5 Malcolm defenders, wiggled through those boys and out sprinted the remainder of the Clippers down the sideline for the 65 yard score.

That “ain’t” gonna show up in the box score friends.

*Sterling Wright - Shelton (RB) - Better remember his name folks. Not kidding around here. The 5-9, 175 pound sophomore Scott City, Kansas transfer is a special athlete. In the Bulldogs 50-28 loss to Pleasanton, Wright bolted for 206 yards on 17 carries and hit paydirt on three long touchdown runs. And it wasn’t against the Bulldog scrubs either.

Shelton has gone through some tough times recently, but after seeing Wright on film, my head was spinning. :11.2 hundred speed, :4.5 forty time, this kid is also nearly impossible to bring down one-on-one. And yards after contact, wow. One one particular play, it took 5 Pleasanton defenders to finally bring Wright to the turf and then he still nearly got away to break a big TD run.

We’ll get a closeup view of Sterling Wright Friday afternoon when Shelton visits SEM for a sweet 3 PM kickoff time.

*Garrett Snodgrass - York (WR) - Was a shining star in York’s 48-14 loss to two-time defending Class B champion Elkhorn South.

Battling to overcome the loss of star RB Simon Otte, who left early in the game with an injury, the 6-3, 215 pound junior caught 6 passes for 107 yards and broke an electrifying 65 yard TD run, taking the direct snap out of the Duke’s wildcat formation.

One of the top junior athletes in Class B is Mr. Snodgrass.

*Quentin Moles - Bloomfield (RB) - 8-Man football’s returning leading rusher ran for 144 yards on 23 touches and scored a couple of 1st quarter touchdowns (50, 2 yard runs) as Bloomfield defeated Wynot 14-6 in an unusual 8-Man defensive battle.

*Kyle Smith - Allen (RB) - 5-11, 165 pound junior bolted for 223 yards on 23 carries and 6 touchdowns in Allens 52-32 win over O’Neill St. Marys. Smith’s scoring runs covered 19, 6, 69, 21, 33 and 26 yards. Kyle also made 13 tackles on defense for the Eagles.

Smith already has 140 career tackles for Dave Ulrich’s Allen squad, who snapped a 7 year playoff drought last season but unfortunately drew BDS in that opening round. Look for Smith to have a big year in 2017 as Allen returns 6 starters on both sides of the football.

*Lane Huebert - Henderson Heartland (RB) - 6-2, 181 pound quarterback tried to make Heartland fans get over the loss of record setting back, Austin Stuhr. In the Huskies 54-18 win over High Plains, the basketball standout exploded for 308 yards on 17 carries and 3 touchdowns. Huebert also connected on 5 of 7 passes for 83 yards and 2 more scores.

On defense, Lane made 2 solo tackles and picked off a High Plains pass. Huebert also blasted 7 kickoffs for an average of 50 yards each, putting a couple in the High Plains end zone for touchbacks.

Yeah Lane, you eased the “loss-of Stuhr” pain a lot.

*Will Huffman - Maxwell (RB) - 5-11, 165 senior was a force even though his Maxwell team lost to rival Paxton, 65-35. Huffman escaped for 218 yards on 31 carries and scored on three long distance touchdown runs covering 33, 55 and 69 yards.

Huffman also had ten solo stops on defense, 4 of which were for losses. The talented Maxwell ace ran for 814 yards and 12 scores a year ago.