Week 6 Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - Part 1

*Koa McIntyre, Knights Defense-Fremont Bergan - Junior quarterback Koa McIntyre completed 13 of 27 passes for 171 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Knights impressive victory over perennial power David City Aquinas. McIntyre also had a rushing touchdown in the win (3 yards)

Koa’s scoring tosses were handled by Shea Gossett (17 yards) and younger brother, Kade McIntyre (13 yards). Gossett led the receiving corps, hauling in a trio of Koa McIntyre passes for 53 yards.

Freshman kicker Alex Langenfeld also booted a school record 44 yard field goal right before halftime and was a perfect 4 of 4 on PATs. Shifty Chris Pinales, a 5-9, 165 pound junior scatback, led all rushers with 95 yards on 17 carries and a TD.

The Archbishop Bergan defense was about as good as it gets, limiting the potent Aquinas ground attack to less than 175 yards for the game. Junior Jarret Boggs (#3) was all over the field, registering 15 tackles (7 solos). Junior classmate Lucas Pruss added 12 stops, which included 4 solos, a QB sack and a recovered fumble. Cal Janke, yet another junior, chipped in 10 tackles.

For the season, Koa McIntyre has completed 56% of his 119 passes for 913 yards, with 16 touchdowns and only 3 INTs. The swift junior QB also has 719 yards rushing on just 68 totes (10.6/per) with an additional 11 TDs. From his defensive safety, McIntyre has 18 tackles, with 9 solos, 3 tackles for losses and 3 interceptions, one of which is a Pick-6.

***1000 Yard Rusher Alert - Third Time Around***

*Eli Larson-St. Paul - Another blowout victory for the Wildcats meant another light workload for Eli Larson. Despite carrying the ball only 8 times in St. Pauls 58-13 win over Wood River/Shelton, the senior sensation still rushed for 213 yards with touchdowns covering 63, 43 and 53 yards. That vaulted Eli over the 1000 yard rushing mark (1,086 yards) for the THIRD consecutive season and inches him closer to the coveted 5,000 yard career rushing mark.

In just 38 career games, Eli Larson has rushed 513 times for 4,702 yards and 69 touchdowns, an average of 9.2 yards gained every single time he touches the football. He also has 25 career pass receptions for 538 yards (5 TDs), 723 kick return yards, 116 yards on punt returns and 50 more on INT returns for 6,130 All-Purpose Yards.

An All-State running back last season, Larson could easily have been chosen on defense for his linebacking skills. Over 38 games, Larson has made 200 tackles with 120 solo stops, 33.5 tackles for losses, 6.5 sacks, 3 interceptions and a pair of recovered fumbles.

The dude has literally scored in every conceivable way on a football field thus far in his illustrious career.

Larson has 69 rushing TDs and 5 receiving scores. Eli has also returned a punt for TD, brought back three kick returns for scores, returned a fumble for a TD and registered a Pick-6, for a total of 80 touchdowns in 38 games. And the kid doesn’t have a D1 offer.

Eli Larson is 6-0, 210 pounds. Is the 6 foot tall holding him back? Are the D1 schools going by the old saying “the difference between Division I and Division II is TWO INCHES?

All I know at this point is that Eli Larson is just 298 yards away from 5000 career rushing yards and that folks, is rare air.

*Matthew Schuster-Ashland-Greenwood - Brian Schuster’s boy is getting stronger every week. In the Bluejays 51-14 win over Malcolm, Matthew exploded for a career best 227 yards on just 14 touches and five touchdowns. Schuster’s scoring runs came from 61, 1, 5, 46, and 48 yards away.

Matthew Schuster now has 862 yards (13 TDs) in 6 games for the 6-0 and Class C -1 and second ranked Bluejays.

**1000 Yard Rusher Alert - Second Time Around**

*Eli Belina-Howells-Dodge - The Howells-Dodge junior ran for 314 yards on a grueling 37 carries with 5 touchdowns, and that was in a losing cause, as Stanton topped the Jaguars 42-36. Belina;s TD runs came from 42, 65, 1, 59 and 24 yards away. Levi’s big night elevated his 2020 rushing total to 1,104 yards (17 TDs).

Future Hall of Fame Coach Mike Spiers and his young Howells-Dodge team still sport a 4-2 record on the season and are rated #10 in Eight-Man One this week.

*Kale Jensen-Central City - Junior fire bomber completed an 11-Man State Single Game record 42 passes (68 attempts) for 348 yards…….but NO touchdowns in Central City’s 21-8 loss to C-1, 3rd rated Adams Central.

Thus far in 2020, the amazing Jensen (6-1, 185) has completed 196 of his 287 passes (68.3%) for 2,189 yards with 21 TDs (5 INTs).

The Bison are currently 3-2, but are probably the scariest team in Class C-1 to face on any given Friday night. With Kale Jensen, his empty backfield and highly talented receiving corps, the Bison are always a threat to win the game or come from behind with their quick strike offense.

Also keep in mind Jensen has rushed for more than 350 yards and 7 TDs this fall.

*Hyatt Collins, Kam Foster, Slade Smith-Adams Central - Sophomore Hyatt Collins blitzed Central City with 190 yards rushing on 33 carries and a 12 yard touchdown run, while QB Kam Foster was busy throwing a pair of TD passes to Collins (11 yards) and Tyler Slechta (13 yards) in the Patriots 21-8 win over Central City.

Tough as nails Slade Smith had 16 tackles on defense, brother Oaklyn Smith added 11 (5 solos, Blaine Pleak added 14 assists and Drew Bonifas also made 11 tackles, which included 5 solo stops.

*Nasser Nabulski, Nathan Pederson-Millard West - Soccer star Nasser Nabulski booted four field goals (28, 21, 23 and 38 yards) and Perteson erupted for 306 yards on 31 carries and a pair of long distance touchdowns, but the Wildcats still fell victim to a late Austin Schneider touchdown, giving Lincoln East a 29-26 win over Millard West.

A year ago, Nabulski received an offer to play for Manchester United’s 17U Soccer Club in the UK, but instead chose to stay in Omaha and finish his high school career at Millard West. Pederson, who rushed for only 127 yards a year ago, ripped off a 50 yard run on the Wildcats first scrimmage play, then returned an early second quarter kick 89 yards for a score to give the Wildcats a 13-6 lead.

Pederson’s electrifying 87 yard touchdown sprint alsio gave Millard West a 25-13 lead with 9:43 left in the 4th, but the ‘Cats couldn’t hold on. By the way, Nathan Pederson has run for 639 yards and 6 TDs thus far in 2020.

*Cooper Hausman, Trey Deveauz, James Carnie-Norris - Quarterback Cooper Hausman completed 17 of 22 passes for 258 yards and 4 touchdowns, including the winning 27 yard toss to Trey Deveaux with 4:36 left in the 4th quarter. The touchdown play came with Norris facing a 4th and 13 at the Plattsmouth 27.

Deveaux caught 7 passes for 94 yards and the winning score, while D1 prospect James Carnie caught TD passes coverning 8 and 57 yards. Hausman’s other TD strike was a 25 yarder to CJ Hood.

Makai Nelson-Douglas, Storm “D”-Elkhorn South - In the Storms 59-6 stomping of Bellevue East, Nelson-Douglas carried 3 times for 47 yards. SO what, you say. But wait, all three carries went for touchdowns (1, 2, 44 yard runs). Five different Elkhorn South backs rushed for at least 43 yards in the romp.

Besides Makai’s 3 TDs, quarterback Dilan Krause ran for a pair of scores (2, 10 yards) and Dylan Warren (51 yards) and Ben Warren (3 yards) each scored one ground touchdown.

The Elkhorn South defense limited Bellevue East to 183 total yards with Luca Kozeny, Bo Wieseler, and Mason Cain all recording 3 solo stops each, while Gary Hunt picked off a pass and had a tackle for a loss.

*Grady Gatewood, Tavis Uhing, Knights “D”-Oakland-Craig - In Oakland-Craig’s 68-14 win over Tekamah-Herman; Gatewood completed 7 of 8 passes for 154 yards with TD tosses of 44 and 29 yards to Gunnar Ray. Uhing ran 13 times for 127 yards with scoring dashes of 28, 3 and 38 yards and the Oakland-Craig defense picked off FIVE Tekamah-Herman passes which included a pair by Carter Thomsen and one each by Gunnar Ray, Trey Deemer and Connor Guill.

**1000 Yard Rusher Alert - Second Time Around**

*Brian Turek-Hemingford- Western Nebraska 8-Man RB ace rushed 35 times for 263 yards and 4 touchdowns in Hemingford’s 58=25 win over Perkins County. Turek scored on runs covering 13, 23, 67 yards,plus a 69 yard kick return TD. Turek was also 2 of 2 passing for 45 yards and a touchdown and made 12 tackles on defense.

Brian’s big game put him 1,037 yards for the year and added to his 1,042 rushing in 2019 and 641 rushing yards in 2018. This kid can play some football, friends!

*Gabe Fries, Carter Harsin, Lucas Epperson-Minden - The 6-0, 170 pound Fries took off for 206 yards on 16 carries in the Whippets 39-0 trouncing of Holdrege. The senior RB also had a 15 yard touchdown run in the win. Carter Harsin carried only 6 times, but gained 116 yards, which included a long distance 92 yard touchdown scamper. Lucas Epperson led the Minden defense with 12 tackles (3 solos)

*Keaghon Chini, Jayden Widler, Carter Plowman-Conestoga - All three Conestoga backs got in the act during the Cougars 76-42 win over Cedar Bluffs. Chini rushed 155 yards on just 13 totes with scoring runs of 10, 54, 31 and 13 yards. Widler added 96 yards on 4 carries with all 4 totes going for touchdowns (44, 24, 19, 9 yards) while Carter Plowman wasn’t far off Wilder's pace with 93 yards on 7 carries and a 50 yard TD scamper.

Lucas Anderson also got in on the fun with a 51 yard kick return score.

*Cooper Gierhan-Centennial - Poised quarterback rambles for 270 yards on 29 carries and TD runs of 7, 1 and 4 yards in the Broncos 27-14 win over Wahoo Neumann. Gierhan also completed 9 of 11 passes for 88 yards to keep the Cavaliers honest on defense. Gierhan also made 4 tackles in the win.

*Carson Rohde-SEM - 179 yards rushing with touchdown runs of 1, 29 and 42 yards in the Mustangs exciting 33-28 victory over Wallace.