Week 6 Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - Part 3

Laurel-Concord-Coleridge RB Evan Haisch. The 195 pound junior does it all for the Bears this seaason.

*1000 Yard Rusher Alert*

*Evan Haisch-Laurel-Concord-Coleridge - The 6-1, 195 pound junior running back was a definitely a thorn in Plainview’s side last week in the Bears 50-14 win over the Pirates. Haisch powered his way to 268 yards on 27 carries with touchdown runs of 25, 30, 23, 4 and 49 yards in the romp. That vaults Haisch overe the one thousand yard rushing mark and sets him at 1,046 yards going into Bears big matchup with undefeated Wakefield this week.

Haisch has also caught five passes for 110 yards and a score this season, made 40 tackles defense and does the Bears punting, averaging 35 yards a boot.

I like this young man’s running style, especially his ability to plant his foot, change directions and go very quickly. The entire stop and go process by the 195 pound junior almost seems to appear in one smooth motion, enabling Evan to gain a step on his defenders and often times breaking into the clear.

I saw this kid play against Cross County in the opening round of the D-1 playoffs a year ago, and was really impressed by the sophomore’s versatility. That night, Evan Haisch carried the ball 4 times for 11 yards, caught 4 passes for 30 yards with a touchdown catch thrown in there, returned a pair of kickoffs for good yardage and made 3 solo stops on defense in the Bears 60-26 loss.

*Tate Thoene, Easton Becker, Carter Arens-Hartington Cedar Catholic - The Thoene boys, along with Easton Becker were hitting on all cylinders in the Trojans 45-14 victory over Crofton. Cedar came at the Warriors by land and though the air, and QB Tate Thoene

was just a monster force in both categories, as the Trojans exploded for 629 yards of total offense.

Tate Thoene was responsible for 420 of those 629 total yards, completing 18 of 32 passes for 250 yards. The fearless running QB also gashed the Crofton defense for 170 yards rushing on 22 carries with TD runs of 16 and 17 yards. Easton Becker was the ground attack leader with 201 yards on 40 carries and short touchdown bursts of 1, 2 and 2 yards. Carter Arens had 9 pass receptions for 136 yards, Myles Thoene grabbed 5 for 68.

On defense Kirby Hochstein had a huge night with 15 tackles (5 solos), Owen Heimes was right behind with 14 tackles (3 solos), Hunter Thoene was next with 9 stops (4 solos), and Myles Thoene followed with 8 stops (5 solos).

Blake Arens was also a standout in the kick scoring department, booting 3 PATs and a pair of field goals (26, 25 yards)

*Sam Scott-Omaha Skutt - A standout linebacker a year ago for Omaha North, the well constructed Scott ended up at Skutt Catholic this fall after his family moved to that school district in August. Scott, who was scheduled to move into the Omaha North backfield for some work this season, looks like he loves that backfield position after his performance in the SkyHawks 31-28 loss to Gretna last Friday.

Sam was nearly unstoppable as he bolted for 250 yards on 23 carries and scoring all four Skutt touchdowns. In fact, the 215 pound star back escaped for long distance touchdown runs of 40 and 76 yards during the first three minutes of the game. He later added a stunning 66 yard, cutback touchdown run before adding his 4th touchdown of the game.

Sam Scott, who played his first game for Skutt back on September 18th, has 384 yards and 6 TDs in three games.

*Dominic Rezac, Cole Payton-Omaha Westside - Junior RB Dominic Rezac is turning into some kind of versatile football player for Omaha Westside. In the Warriors 44-14 victory over Millard North, Rezac rushed 15 times for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns covering 11 and 7 yards. Oh no, that’s not all. The junior speedster also caught three Cole Payton passes for 66 yards, two of which went for TDs covering 10 and 42 yards.

Speaking of Cole Payton, the North Dakota State commit hit 8 of his 13 passes for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns. Avante Dickerson caught Cole’s third touchdown pass, that one covering 50 yards.

For the year, Cole Payton has completed 60 of 87 passes for 944 yards and 13 TDs. He has also rushed 58 times for 413 yards and 7 more scores.

Tommy Stevens, Zach Smith, Kelen Meyer-Ord - The boys from Ord apparently did not mind playing under the dimly lit construction lights at GICC last Friday. The Chants jumped out to a 45-0 halftime lead and never looked back, enroute to a 59-6 win over the Crusaders.

Tommy Stevens rambled for 210 yards on 21 carries and scored touchdowns on runs of 4, 11, 40 and 54 yards…..all in the first half. QB Zach Smith added 93 yards on 11 carries and one touchdown (1 run). Kelen Meyer kicked 8 of 8 PATs, booted a 40 yard field goal, averaged 55 yards on 10 kickoffs, averaged 43 yards on two punts and picked off two GICC passes, one of which he returned for a 37 yard Pick 6.

The Chanticleer defense, by the way, held 10th rated GICC to just 125 yards of total offense in the game.

*Devyn Jones, Brady Fitzpatrick-Papillion LV South - Jones, a 5-11, 180 pound sophomore RB, escaped for 155 yards on 20 carries and TD runs of 18 and 58 yards in the Titans heartbreaking 27-26 loss to Grand Island. Devyn’s sophomore classmate, quarterback Brady Fitzpatrick, completed 16 of 34 aerials for 154 yards but couldn’t get one in the end zone.

*Zane Schawang, Evan Canoyer, Tyztin Hoos-Waverly - Speedy Zane Schawang exploded for 253 yards on 21 carries and 4 touchdowns in the Vikings 38-7 win over Beatrice. Schawang, who eclipsed his best rushing outing of the year by over 100 yards, hit the end zone from 61, 4, 27 and 36 yards away.

Evan Canoyer rushed 9 times for 62 yards, caught a one-handed 9 yard touchdown pass from QB Nolan Wiese, converted 5-5 PATs and booted a 30 yard field goal. Tyztin Hoos caught a couple of passes for 10 yards, but was a defensive star, recovering a pair of Beatrice fumbles.

Senior Dawson Britton and sophomore Grant Sindelar also both had interceptions in the win.

*Braden Benes, Ashton Shafer, Ryan Kramer-Boone Central/Newman Grove - In the Cardinal’s 6-3 Battle of the Field Goals loss to Battle Creek, junior QB Braden Benes connected on 16 of of his 28 passes for 172 yards but unfortunately, for no touchdowns. Shafer caught six of Braden’s aerials for 86 yards, while Kramer scored Boone’s only points with his 20 yard field goal, which was booted through at the 7:13 mark in the 4th quarter.

Three things here. Boone Central/NG played a pretty nice football game despite being off two weeks with COVID issues prior to this one with Battle Creek. Secondly, Coach Hud has a very nice football team up there that is a probably a year away from being really good. Thirdly, Braden Benes is a fine QB. The dude threw for 1,293 yards (10 TDs) and rushed for another 453 yards as a sophomore a year ago for a 2-7 football team. The lad is just simply a good football player.

*Tyler Race, Ben Brahmer-Pierce - Tyler Race ran for 111 yards on 8 carries and scored a pair of TDs from 5 and 58 yards out in the Bluejays 49-6 route of O’Neill. Race also made 8 tackles on defense. Ben Brahmer, the big junior TE, caught 4 passes for 79 yards and caught a 30 yard touchdown pass from Chaden Roth, as the Class C-1, #1 Bluejays remained undefeated at 5-0.

*Barak Birch, Caleb Busch, Dillon Critel-Burwell - The Longhorns had their hands full in their 28-22 victory over a fine Arcadia/Loup City football team. QB Barak Birch completed 11 of 16 passes for 115 yards and three touchdowns. Two of the scoring passes were hauled in by Alex Gideon and covered 27 and 22 yards.

Busch rushed 22 times for 103 yards and a score, while Dillon Critel made two critical interceptions in the game.

*Grady Gatewood, Tavis Uhing, Gunnar Ray, Knights “D”-Oakland-Craig - QB Grady Gatewood, last season’s post season hero, hit 7 of 8 passes for 154 yards and a pair of touchdown passes to Gunnar Ray (44, 22 yards) in the Knights 68-14 breeze past Tekamah-Herman. Tavis Uhing sparkled on the ground, running for 127 yards on 13 totes while scoring three times from 25, 3 and 38 yards out.

Meanwhile, the Oakland-Craig defense was outstanding, picking off five Tekamah-Herman passes, led by Carson Thomsen’s 43 yard Pick 6.

*Caleb Trimble, Brody Krusemark, Dylan Vogt-Pender - Caleb Trimble raced for 194 yards on 17 carries and two TDs in the Pendragons 67-16 pounding of Walthill. Brody Krusemark added 79 yards with a score, while Dylan Vogt was held to 45 yards on 9 touches, but four of those went for touchdowns.

*Patrick Vinson, Ryan Schmit, Brian Solorzano-Osmond - In a 62-22 win over Wausa; QB Patrick Vinson completed 14 of 18 passes for 241 yards and FIVE touchdowns. Both Brian Solorzano and Ryan Schmit each caught 5 of those Vinson aerials, each had a pair of scores, with Solorzano leading all receivers with his 100 yards.

Seven different Osmond runners also combined for 194 yards and three touchdowns to keep that offense clicking on the ground and through the air.

*Austin Leifeld, Justin Leifeld, Isaac Claussen-Humphrey St. Francis - The Flyers were on fire in their 65-0 win over Elgin Public/Pope John. Austin Leifeld hit paydirt from10 and 4 yards out, Justin Leifeld went in from 9 and 17 yards away and Isaac Classen scored touchdowns from 11 and 33 yards away.

QB Tanner Pfeifer tossed TD passes to Dustin Olmer (69 yards) and Haustyn Forney (49 yards) while Jaden Kosch blocked a punt and returned it 40 yards for a score.

So, Super Coach Eric Kessler gets his 177th career victory against 25 losses (Incredible!), the 2nd rated Flyers (Eight-Man 2) get their 6th victory against NO losses and continue on their quest to defend that 2019 state championship.