Week Three Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - Part 1

The Three Horsemen of Pierce were force to operate with just two in the Bluejays 28-14 win over a good Ord team last Friday.

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.

The fact that Pierce had to play the entire game (almost) without All-Stater Dalton Freeman, their ace QB who went down after just two carries.

No way to begin this weeks of Friday Nights Football Series without those guys leading things off.

*Carson Oestreich, Brett Tinker, Jeremiah Kruntorad, Pierce O-Line, and Bluejay Defense - Two plays and 34 yards into the contest, starting quarterback Dalton Freeman left the game for the duration with a shoulder injury.

Carson Oestreich, the Bluejays Renaissance Man, stepped in for Freeman, ran the show, and rushed for 43 yards in the first half. The 185 pound tough guy then got the feel of game, reeled off 117 second half yards and ended the night with a 160 yards on 21 carries with TD runs of 1 and 55 yards. Pierce pulled out a 28-14 win over after holding a narrow 6-0 halftime over the sixth rated Chanticleers.

Speedy, powerful running fullback Brett Tinker was a force from the opening kickoff rambling for an unofficial 225 yards on 25 carries, which included a 42 yard scoring run. The All-State linebacker also ripped off runs of 10, 13, 14, 14 and 49 yards to keep Pierce drives alive during the contest.

And let’s not forget swift senior Jeremiah Kruntorad, who entered the game and exploded for a 66 yard run when the Bluejays needed a lift. The one hundred fifty pound flyer ended up with 83 yards on just four totes.

The key to this Bluejay win was the play of both offensive and defensive lines. Defensive linemen like Seth Valverde, Colby Reichart, Dylan Svoboda and Carter Rohrich stuffed many Ord running plays at the line of scrimmage. There were others, and forgive me if I omitted a name, but to hold a vaunted Chanticleer running attack with junior standouts RB Tommy Stevens and QB Zach Smith to just 83 yads on 30 rushes, is just superb.

Last, but not least, those Pierce offensive lines, and many know that super coach Mark Brahmer will send in an entirely fresh offensive line in on numerous occasions during the course of a football game. So, hats off to all those Bluejay O-Linemen who were responsible for creating openings that resulted in 490 yards rushing against that fine Ord squad.

*Jakson Keaschall-Pleasanton - 5-11, 185 senior quarterback is a huge reason why Pleasanton is off to its first 3-0 start since the undefeated regular season team of 2011.

In the Bulldog’s big 56-42 win over traditional 8-Man power Kenesaw, Keaschall was bullseye on 12 of 17 pass attempts, good for a massive 424 yards and 4 TDs. Jakson connected with freshman Trevin Wendt (5 catches/150 yds/1 TD) , senior Brady Klein 2/23/1 TD), and junior Tyce Westland (7 catches/213 yards/2 TDs) for scoring strikes.

This isn’t Jakson Keashall first outstanding aerial display for Ricci Westland’s Bulldogs. The sharpshooter QB completed 21 of 33 passes for 249 yards and 5 TDs in the opening night win over Anselmo-Merna (45-28), then followed it up by hitting 29 of 37 passes for 310 yards and three scores in the ‘Dogs 33-8 win over Axtell.

Jakson Keaschall’s 3-0 passing stat line; 71 of 97 (73%) for 983 yards, 2 TDs with only one INT. Add in 104 rushing yards (3 TDs), 34 tackles and you have a pretty salty eight man quarterback.

You also have to realize that Coach Westland took this current group to a big 7 on 7 camp this summer and competed against teams like York, Creighton Prep and and other Metro Class A schools and fared very well. Keep and eye of these 7th rated (Class D-2) Bulldogs.

*Mason Nieman, Zane Schawang, Evan Canoyer, Noah Stoddard-Waverly - Quartet combined to rush for an incredible 621 yards in a 48-33 win over Omaha Roncalli. Senior quarterback Mason Nieman blistered the Crimson Pride defense for 221 yards on 17 carries and TD runs of 21, 63 yards. Junior RB Zane Schawang was only 5 yards behind with 216 yards on 21 totes (62, 35 TD runs), Evan Canoyer added 106 yards on 12 carries (35, 2 TD runs), and Noah Stoddard came in for 3 carries, gained 78 yards and escaped for a 70 yard scoring dash.

The Waverly ground attack was so potent that Nieman attempted only 5 passes all night, completing 4 for 38 yards against the 4th rated (Class B) Roncalli squad.

The 6-3, 195 pound Nieman has 445 yards (50 touches) for 445 yards (5 TDs) thus far in three games for the Vikings. Schawang, the 5-10, 170 junior, has 373 yards on 45 carries and 3 scores, while Canoyer, the 5-9, 180 pound junior, has 289 yards on 45 carries and 7 touchdowns for the season.

Waverly’s rushing machine already has 1,256 yards and 16 touchdowns in three games. If they wouldn’t run me off their football facility for posting a wrong bench press stat and wearing the wrong color shirt a few years back, I would definitely make it a point to see this amazing team play in person. Those guys play my kind of football.

*Jay Ducker, Zavier Betts, Nate Glantz-Bellevue West - The Thunderbird juggernaut keeps rolling and gaining momentum. In Bell West’s 51-3 win over Papillion LV South, Jay Ducker, the state’s finest running back, exploded for 289 yards on 10 carries with touchdown runs of 65, 23, 79 and 83 yards. The incredible senior also caught a 23 yard scoring pass from Nate Glantz.

Speaking of Nate Glantz, the skillful field general was money in the Papio South game as well. Glantz was good on 12 of 17 throws for 280 yards and three touchdowns….all to the number one receiver in the state, Zavier Betts.

All Mr. Betts did was haul in 4 Glantz aerials for 200 yards and TD receptions of 70 and 98 yards.

In three games; Jay Ducker- 509 yards on 27 carries, 9 TDs. Are you kidding me? Ducker has toted the pigskin only 27 times, averaged 18.9 yards a pop and is already over half way to a 1000 yards? No words.

Nate Glantz- 40-61 passes for 888 yards, 10 TDs, No INTs. Zavier Betts- 11 receptions for 386 yards (35.1 yards.catch), 5 TDs.

Anyone anticipating the Bellevue West/Elkhorn South this Friday? This guy may just make the trip for that baby!

*Tyson Gordon-Omaha Skutt Catholic - The question remains; what doesn’t Tyson Gordon do on the gridiron? In Skutt’s 35-13 win over Blair, Tyson completed 6 passes for 161 yards which included a 54 yard TD toss to Max Brinker, carried 3 times for 65 yards and a 56 yard scoring dash, and hold on……...also caught a 66 yard touchdown pass from Nick Chambers.

Oh, Tyson also booted five PATs in the win. Gunnar Ott also had a touchdown in the game, an 11 yarder, and Jacob Leu hit paydirt from 3 yards away.

Omaha Skutt is still Class B’s number one rated football team.

*Elliott Brown-Elkhorn South - Came close to passing perfection in the Storm’s 58-13 thrashing of Lincoln North Star. The 6-0, 185 senior QB hit 10 of 11 passes for 238 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 45 point win. Brown also scored on an 18 yard run.

Elliott’s TD tosses were caught by Makhi Nelson-Douglas (28 yards), Trevor Winterstein (35 yards) and the talented Eli Hustad (66 yds). Nelson-Douglass also reached the end zone on a 23 yard run.

The Storm defense held North Star to 42 yards rushing in the contest.

*Nick Halleen-Lincoln Southeast - The tough, punishing running of Nick Halleen continues to be the talk of Class A football. In the Knights big 22-17 win over Omaha Westside Friday afternoon, the 5-10, 195 pound senior rushed 28 times for 204 yards and TD gallops of 4 and 38 yards.

Halleen’s 38 yard touchdown was the clincher, coming with just 1:04 left in the game. Nick has 545 yards and six touchdowns after three games.

*Evan Tessendorf-Columbus Lakeview - Hard working Lakeview QB ran for 208 yards on 32 carries and TD sprints of 11, 2 and 30 yards in the Vikings 28-6 win over Boone Central/NG. Kurt Frenzen’s Vikings are now 3-0, rated #9 in Class C-1 and given up only 12 points in those three outings.

*Trevor Marshall-Gretna - Junior RB rushed 29 times for 189 yards and 3 touchdowns, helping the Dragons to their win of 2019, a 28-14 conquest of Lincoln Pius X. Freshman quarterback Zane Flores completed 11 of 14 passes for 180 yards and a 68 yard scoring pass to junior Jackson Alexander, who had 3 grabs for 113 yards. Senior Jack Larchick had six tackles in the game for Gretna.

*Jace Williams-Burwell - 220 pound senior appears to be basically unstoppable after rambling for 289 yards on 20 carries in the Longhorns 48-24 win at Hemingford. Williams has a massive 626 yards in 3 games for the 2nd rated ‘Horns (Class D-1). That blends in well with his pair of 1000 yard rushing seasons already under his belt.

*Caden Egr-Yutan - 5-10, 180 junior exploded for 338 yards on 38 carries and scoring runs covering 9, 6 and 60 yards in the Chieftains 36-0 whitewashing of Malcolm. Egr’s three game total of 795 yards rushing puts him right smack dab at the top of the 11-Man Running Back rushing yardage list..

*Sam Heapy-Medicine Valley - Had 204 yards on 18 carries and touchdown runs of 42, 24 yards, plus a 66 yard kick return for a score in 24-22 win over Wauneta-Palisade.

-------------------------------------------------------------

….up next, Week 3 Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - Part 2