Week 10 Friday Night Lights Football Playoff Heroes - Part 1

Gothenburg RB Trenton Harbur (R) just eclipsed the 1000 yard rushing mark one season after playing 6-Man junior varsity football at Stapleton. *(photo by Bobby Mills)

1000 Yard Rusher Alert - 2nd Time Around**

*Trenton Harbur - Gothenburg - Do you think a high school football player can go from playing 8-Man football his freshman and sophomore seasons, to playing a limited 6-Man JV schedule his junior year, then jump to Class C-1 and run for a 1000 yards in 10 games? The answer is Yes, because this amazing young man did just that, and it’s a first in all my years of following prep football in this state.

Trenton Harbur, now 6 foot two and 205 pounds, ran for 150 yards on just 13 carries in the Swedes 23-7 1st Round Class C-1 playoff win over a fine West Point-Beemer team. Harbur rushed for 1,404 yards his sophomore season for Stapleton, with very little blocking assistance. Stapleton ended up with too few players to compete in 8-Man football for the 2017 season and for some reason, did not declare early enough to play in 6-Man football.

All they could do is hastily put together a makeshift 6-Man junior varsity schedule just to keep Trenton and his few teammates playing football.

Stapleton’s 2017 record didn’t count, nor did Harbur’s yards, but the state 100 meter dash medal man/1000 yard rusher, ended up transferring to Gothenburg the second semester of his junior season, and the rest is history. So in essence, Trenton Harbur had to make the jump from playing JV 6-Man football to competing in 11-Man football for one of the states traditionally top rated Class C-1 football programs.

The above photo was taken one night when I was doing the PA for a GICC/Gothenburg basketball game and found out Trenton was going to play for the Swedes his senior season. I told him right then and there he would rush for a 1000 yards.

And so it is. 1,059 yards worth.

Gothenburg will travel to Aurora this Friday to face the #1 seeded, Mighty Huskies . I’ll leave you with one thought. The Swedes give up an average of 59 rushing yards and 86 passing yards a game. As Huskerland Prep’s Bob Jensen always sez……”just sayin.”

*1000 Yard Rusher Alert*

*Brett Tinker, Dalton Freeman - Pierce - Junior fullback unofficially ran for 159 yards on 15 carries and scoring runs of 14, 1, and 64 yards in the Bluejays 45-12 1st Round C-1 playoff win over Chadron. Those 159 yards would put Brett Tinker at 1,005 yards rushing for the season and give Pierce three 1000 Yard Rushers. Only one other other 11-Man football school in Nebraska prep football history has ever pulled off the feat, and that was Fred Petitio’s legendary Three Horsemen Millard North backfield of QB Jeff Tarpinian (2,072 yds), RB Corey Young (1,628), and FB Paul Homer (1,200) in 2005. Incidentally, that 2005 Millard North team led the entire nation in rushing that year.

QB Dalton Freeman, another junior, ran for 51 yards on 4 carries, 2 of which were TD scoots of 16 and 8 yards. Those gains also lifted Dalton over the thousand yard plateau (1,049). Speedy Carson Oestreich, who rushed for 117 yards on 15 totes and a 1 yard TD run, was already over the coveted 1000 yard mark, and now unofficially stands at 1,139 yards.

Pierce takes their record setting 1000 yard rushing machine to Wahoo Friday where they will meet an 8-2 Bishop Neumann team at 6:00 pm.

*Dylan Kautz - Norfolk Catholic - Phenomenal, once-in-a-lifetime runner, jetted for 357 yards on 27 carries and 6 touchdowns in Catholic’s 77-32 win over Fremont Bergan. The blazing Kautz shook loose for TD jaunts of 3, 22, 52, 37, 77 and 42 yards in the Knights opening Class C-2 playoff victory. That gives Dylan an unofficial season rushing total of 2,122 yards with 36 touchdowns. Here are his dizzying career rushing numbers….6,959 yards with 82 TDs. That now places the Norfolk Catholic sensation 4TH on the All-Time Career Rushing list.

Only Omaha North’s Calvin Strong (2011-2014) (7,476), Steven Dent of Mullen (2001-2004) (7,903) and Cory Eikmeier of Dodge (1993-1996) (8,330) are in front of Dylan Kautz. Strong of course, is an 11-Man runner, while Dent and Eikmeier both played the 8-Man game.

Now….Kautz could have a possible trio of games left in his career, should Norfolk Catholic advance to the Class C-2 Finals. That would mean, Dylan would need 518 yards (172.7 per game) to pass Strong, 945 yards (315/per) to go by Steven Dent and a whopping 1,372 big ones (457/per game) to surpass Cory Eikmeier. Stay tuned.

*Cole Evans, Broc Douglass, Jack Wemhoff, Sam Sims, John Reilly - Grand Island

This Islander quintet, plus scores of others, posted the biggest comeback in Class A playoff history (according to Stu Pospisil), when they spotted defending champion Omaha North a 24-0 lead, reeled of 38 unanswered points, and grabbed a 38-24 victory in the 1st Round playoff clash.

Cole Evans hit 12 of 24 passes for 167 yards and 3 touchdowns. Broc Douglass caught 6 aerials for 99 yards, which included a 40 yard TD grab. Douglass also returned 4 kickoffs for 88 yards and brought 2 punts back for 66 yards, all giving GI terrific field position, especially in the 2nd half.

Jack Wemhoff led the Islander defense with 14 tackles (4 for losses) and recovered a fumble the very first play of the 2nd half on the Omaha North 32, buoying the Islander 2nd half avalanche. Sam Sims added 13 tackles (2 for losses), Jordan Hoefeldt chipped in 10 stops, and defensive lineman Alex Rodriquez and Blake Roudebush contributed 8 and 6 tackles respectively.

Don’t leave out John Reilly, who ran for 53 yards on 18 tries, scored on a 3 yard run and caught a 7 yard scoring pass, or Caleb Francl’s big 11 yard TD run that gave Grand Island their first lead. Francl also had 33 yards on just 5 totes, four of which came on his TD drive. May a well include All-State candidate Kojo Atikpohou’s 45 yard Pick-6 that iced the game, and of course, Keyin Wentling, who booted a 33 yard field goal, converted 5 of 5 PATs and made 7 tackles on defense.

Grand Island travels to Millard South Friday to meet the Patriots in a Quarterfinal Class A matchup.

***3,000 Yard Passing Alert***

*Joseph Krause - Seward - Opened up the 2018 Class B playoffs with a 21 of 27 for 261 yards, 2 touchdown passing performance in the Bluejays 42-7 win over Norris. That gives the Class B’s passing leader 3,124 yards, 36 TDs and only ONE interception in 10 outings for 2018. Joseph Krause is one lonely yard shy of the lofty 7,000 yard career passing yards mark.

We’ll see you in York Friday, Mr. Krause.

*Bryce Zimmerer, Brayden Zimmerer - Creighton - Three time thousand yard rusher Bryce Zimmerer bolted for 209 yards on 15 carries and 6 touchdowns in the Bulldogs 82-28 win over Southern in the opening round of the Class D-1 playoffs. The Creighton All-Stater had TD runs of 7, 32, 48, 37 and 12 yards, plus a 58 yard scoring reception in the game. Junior QB Brayden Zimmerer completed 8 of 16 passes for 162 yards and 2 TDs and also rushed for scores covering 1 and 53 yards.

Bryce Zimmerer is one prolific RB, having rushed for 1,906 yards and 36 touchdowns in 9 games this year. The 6-0, 175 pound senior ran for 1,136 yards and 21 TDs a year ago, despite playing in only 6 and a quarter games. A 1,641 yard, 25 TD sophomore campaign and 98 freshman rushing yards, gives Bryce Zimmerer 4,781 career rushing yards and 83 touchdowns. Throw in 713 receiving yards (13 TDs) the last 3 years, and 107 tackles (31 for losses) in just the last year and a half, and you have one of the finest 8-Man football players around, bar none.

9-0 Creighton moves on to Round 2 of the D-1 playoffs Wednesday with a meeting against 7-2 Wisner-Pilger, a team playing 8-Man football for the first year.

*York Dukes Offensive Line - With Garrett Snodgrass and Brady Danielson banged up, it was up to that York offensive line of Noah Stafursky, AJ Beins, Max Kohmetscher, Doug Lazo, Josh Saathoff, Bo Lucas and tight end Wyatt Cast to open the gaps for a pounding running game. A foursome of Dukes had to assum the ball carrying responsibilities in York’s 35-14 win over an improving Alliance team. And those backs were Jacob Diaz, Ben Kowalski, Maxx Troester and Ty Bartholomew.

Speedy Jacob Diaz led the quartet with 123 yards on 15 carries (46 TD run), while FB Kowalski added 74 yards on 10 touches and a 9 yard TD dash. Ty Bartholomew also reached paydirt with his 2 yard scamper.

For York, this Friday presents a rematch with 8-2 Seward in the Class B semifinals. The Dukes get the home game advantage with both York stars Garrett Snodgrass and Brady Danielson to be healthy and rarin’ to go in this baby.

**1000 Yard Rusher/1000 Yard Passer Alert**

*Jaxson Kant - Lutheran High Northeast (Norfolk) - In 9 games, the magnificent Eagles quarterback has rushed for 1,341 yards (25 TDs) and completed 75 of 124 passes for 1,401 yards, 22 TDs and just 4 picks. Kant also has 58 tackles on defense and will be set to go when his team travels to Osceola Wednesday to meet Osceola/High Plains at 6:00.

Jaxson Kant is simply one of 8-Man football’s super elite players. Save me a picture after the game, my friend.

*Eli Larson - St. Paul - Sophomore began to kick his rushing game into super high gear in week 5 with a 187 yard, 4 touchdown outburst against Wood River. 1,028 yards and 17 TDs later, the Wildcat terror is still clawing opponent defenses in that same high gear. In the Class C-2 opening round 42-7 win over Hastings St.Cecilia, Larson bolted for 209 yards on a mere 15 carries with touchdown gallops of 7, 65, 5, 22 and 36 yards. That puts Eli at 1,235 yards (21 TDs) heading into the Quarterfinal rematch with defending C-1 champion Norfolk Catholic.

The ’Cats lost a September 7th meeting with Norfolk Catholic 49-20, but were leading 14-7 at one time, and threatening to go up 21-7 when they lost a fumble. St. Paul goes up to Norfolk for the rematch Friday.

*Dylan Horejsi - Howells-Dodge - Two-time 1000 yard rusher bolted for 222 yards on 30 carries and 4 TDs in the Howells-Dodge 52-12 Class D 1st Round playoff win over Cross County. The Jag RB scored on a quartet of short TD runs covering 6, 5, 3 and 5 yards. Horejsi’s rushing total swelled to 1,398 yards (21 TDs), despite missing the Elkhorn Valley game on October 5th. Pretty lofty total for 8 games.

7-2 Howells-Dodge will face 8-1 West Point Guardian Angels Central Catholic in the D-1 quarterfinals on the road Wednesday. What a terrific 8-Man football matchup. Doesn’t get much better than this folks.

*100 Career Touchdowns Alert*

*State Rushing Leader Alert*

*Christian Timm - Eustis-Farnam - Fabulous 6-Man running back wrapped up a brilliant career for the Knights by rushing 35 times for 277 yards and 4 TDs in a 70-60 loss to Spalding Academy in the opening round of the 6-Man playoffs. Timm ended his senior season with a current state leading 2,962 yards and 61 TDs. The incredible Knights senior averaged 15.6 yards per carry and 329.1 yards a game every single time he suited up for Eustis-Farnam this season.

Christian Timm, the 5-10, 180 pound sensation, ended his 35 game career with an amazing 5,272 yards, and 100 touchdowns, plus that 6-Man Single Game Rushing Record of 512 yards.