Can a Passing team win an NSAA Football Championship?

The burning question. Can a Nebraska high school football team have more passing yards than rushing yards during a single season and still win a State Championship?

My research on this subject took us back to 1975, the first year the Nebraska Schools Activities Association started sponsoring state football championships.

That’s 45 years of state football championships and 270 state champions.

If you look at the past two seasons, it may appear that passing your way to a state title may not be all that rare of an occurrence. THREE of six teams who won state championships two years ago in 2018, actually compiled more passing yardage than rushing yards.

Aurora in Class C-1, Centennial in C-2, and 8-man Johnson-Brock in Class D-2 each earned their state championship trophies by compiling more than 50% of their total yardage via the air route.

The Huskies led the way in 2018 with Baylor Scheierman accounting for 70.9% of the Huskies total yardage. His 3,924 passing yards and 59 touchdowns were both 11-Man records

Centennial in Class C-2 (51.1% pass to 48.9% run) and Johnson-Brock in D-2 (59.7% to 40.3) were the other two teams in 2018 who gained more yards through the air than on the ground.

With the previous information, have we answered the burning question with a YES?

You just have to check back just one year to find another team that turned the “more passing yards than rushing yards” trick in a season. East Butler won the Class D-1, Eight-Man title in 2017 by passing for 2,273 yards compared to 2,220 rushing yards.

So, are we ready to answer YES and forget about it? In the words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friends!”

Comb the history books in reverse from 2017 back to 1975 and you will find just THREE other schools that won a state championship through the air.

Giltner set the standard back in 2012 when Hornet QB Jake Findley threw for 3,904 yards and 66 TDs with NO interceptions. Giltner compiled 4,358 passing yards (70.5%) compared to 1,819 rushing yards (29.5%).

Lewiston did it in 2001 when quarterback Dion Parks and the Tigers approached Aurora and Giltner’s numbers by passing 69% of the time.

Lewiston averaged 223.5 passing yards a game compared to 143.7 on the ground.

You have to go back 22 years to find the SEVENTH team in the past 45 years to accomplish this feat. Lincoln East did it in 1979 when the amazing Todd Zart guided the Spartans to a Class A state championship. Along the way, Coach Lee Zentic’s offense compiled 2,180 yards through the air compared to 1,868 on the ground.

Another interesting statistic that intrigues me is this. Did any of the teams that won a state title via the airwaves have a 1000 yard rusher as well?

Here is your answer:

2018 Aurora - NO

2018 Centennial - NO (Ehlers had 931)

2018 Johnson-Brock - NO

2017 East Butler - YES, (Dalton Bohac rushed for 1,109 yards (2,187 pass)

2012 Giltner - NO

2001 Lewiston - NO

1979 LIncoln East - NO

So here’s the scoop. In the past 45 seasons, during which 270 teams earned state championships in their respective classes ON the football field, only SEVEN teams had more passing yards than rushing. That figures out to be just 2.6% of the 270 teams.

So NOW is our answer to the almighty question a resounding NO? If you go by a compilation of all years 1975-2019, that assumption would be correct, but the game of football has changed in recent years with these SPREAD formation offenses, so the trend is leaning toward the emergence of a passing team grabbing a state title, but when all is said and done in this state, you still have to RUN the football a bunch to win it all at the high school level in most cases.

Here is a cross section of statistical information gathered through the years that will give you a better look at why you had to RUN the football to win a state championship from 1975 to 2012.

2019

Statistics key: (Running Yds/game/Passing Yds/game, % Run, % Pass)

A…..BELLEVUE WEST - 3,152 rushing to 3,001 passing, 51.2% to 48.8%

(*Prior to state final game) - 2,856 to 2,891, 49.7% to 50.3%

B…..Omaha Skutt - 3,385 to 1,842, 64.5% to 35.5%

C-1 - Wahoo - 3,755 to 1,057, 78% to 22%

C-2 - Oakland-Craig - 4,309 to 1,418. 75% to 25%

D-1 - Osceola/High Plains - 4,769 to 309, 94.1% to 5.9%

D-2 - Humphrey St. Francis - 3,569 to 966, 77.% to 22.8%

(*Prior to the state title game, BW passed 50.3% of the time. BW rushed for 296 in the state snow final and threw for 110, which switched it over to favoring the rush.)

2018

Statistics key: (Running Yds/game/Passing Yds/game, % Run, % Pass)

A…..Omaha Burke - 3,408 rushing to 2.310 passing, 59.6% to 40.4%

B…..Omaha Skutt - 3,771 rushing to 1,163 passing, 76.4% to 23.6%

C-1 - AURORA - 1,711 rushing to 4,170 passing, 29.1% to 70.9%

C-2 - CENTENNIAL - 2,408 rushing to 809 passing, 86.7% to 13.3%

D-1 - Creighton - 5,278 rushing to 4,170 passing, 29.1% to 70.9%

D-2 - JOHNSON-BROCK - 2,069 rushing to 3,070 passing, 40.3% to 59.7%

2017

Statistics key: (Running Yds/game/Passing Yds/game, % Run, % Pass)

A…...Omaha North - 4,261 rushing to 1,087 passing, 79.7% to 20.3%

B…...York - 3,771 rushing to 1,842 passing, 68.1% to 31.9%

C-1 - Norfolk Catholic - 4,068 rushing to 912 passing, 81.7% to 18.3%

C-2 - Yutan - 2,785 rushing to 1,230 passing, 69.4% to 30.6%

D-1 - EAST BUTLER - 2,220 rushing to 2,273 passing, 49.4% to 50.6%

D-2 - BDS - 3,165 rushing to 1,463 passing, 68.4% to 31.6%

2016

Statistics key: (Running Yds/game/Passing Yds/game, % Run, % Pass)

A…...Bellevue West - 3,656 rush to 3,384 pass, 52.2% to 47.7%

B…...Elkhorn South - 3,590 rush to 2,072 pass, 63.4% to 36.6%

C-1 - O’Neill - 2,525 rush to 2,229 pass, 53.1% to 46.9%

C-2 - Wilber-Clatonia - 3,319 rush to 945 pass, 77.8% to 22.1%

D-1 - Burwell - 3,771 rush to 1,416 pass, 72.7% to 27.3%

D-2 - Falls City Sacred Heart - 3,187 rush to 1,548 pass, 67.4% to 32.6%

2006

A…...Kearney - 61% Rushing - 39% Passing (Joey Rousseau 1,558 passing)

B…...Crete - 70% Rush - 30% Pass

C-1 - Auburn - 69% Rush - 31% Pass

C-2 - Wakefield - 86% Rush - 14% Pass

D-1 - Overton - 86% Rush - 14% Pass

D-2 - Dodge - 86% Rush - 14% Pass

1998

A…...Lincoln SE - 252.8 Rush/game-82.7 pass/game - 75% to 25%

B…...Lincoln Pius X - 277.1 rush-99.3 pass, 73% to 27%

C-1 - Norfolk Catholic - 236.1 rush-158.4 pass, 60% to 40%

C-2 - Cambridge - 322 rush-75 pass, 81% to 19%

D-1 - Mullen - 349 rush-66.4 pass, 84% to 16%

D-2 - Butte - 242.0 rush-47.2 pass, 84% to 16%

1989 (Playoff games only)

A…..Creighton Prep - Rush-63% to 37% Pass

B…..Elkhorn - Rush 81% to 19% Pass

C-1 - Bennington - Rush 90% to 10% Pass

C-2 - Grant - Rush 77% to 23% Pass

D-1 - East Butler - Rush 85% to 15% Pass

D-2 - Falls City Sacred Heart - Rush 68% to 32% Pass

1979

A…..LINCOLN EAST-1,868 Rush-2,180 Pass, 54% Pass to 46% Rush

B…...Norris - Rush 71% to 39% Pass

C-1 - Fremont Bergan - Rush 58% to 42% Pass

C-2 - Grant - Rush 88% to 12% Pass

D-1 - Beemer - Rush 87% to 13% Pass

D-2 - Arthur - Rush 67% to 33% Pass

…..And now let’s talk about running that 21 Trap Play/Right through the B-Gap.