Running For a 1000, and Into Forever (A history of the Bobby Mills 1000 Yard Club) - The “A” schools into the Bs.

We continue the Bobby Mills 1000 Yard Club history tour and complete the schools beginning with “A” and start with the “B’ list.

*The Bobby Mills 1000 Yard Club Master List - Continuing with the “A” schools and into the Bs.

*(We will list the athlete’s name first, then the year he surpassed the 1000 yard mark)

ARLINGTON-10

Drew Schroeder - 1,685 - (2012)

Adam Monke - 1,637 - (2004)

Josh Schollmeyer - 1,624 - (2012)

Adam Monke - 1,402 - (2003, Jr)

Jonathan Smailys - 1,328 - (2014, Sr)

Taylor Johnson - 1,283 - (2007)

Thomas Grove - 1,219 - (2006)

Bill Wehler - 1,173 - (1977)

Thomas Grove - 1,062 - (2005)

Jonathan Smailys - 1.058 - (2013, Jr)

ARNOLD-11

Mark Engleman - 1,910 - (1987)

Andy Schwartz - 1,732 - (1990)

Casey Derr - 1,583 - (2005)

Adam Hornung - 1,550 - (1996)

Jeff Preston - 1,543 - (2003)

Mike Reed - 1,476 - (1993)

Kip Wehrman - 1,417 - (1984)

Jeff Preston - 1,388 - (2002)

Thomas Derr - 1,207 - (2008)

Roger Andre - 1,169 - (1993)

Scott McDowell - 1,151 - (2000)

May be a while before Arthur County sees another athlete like Wyatt Simpson, who dazzled for the Wolves on the gridiron from 2010 to 2013. Rare talent, who knew the game inside and out. Matt Simpson was nothing to sneeze at either and those Knott boys, especially Toby, always knew the shortest route to paydirt.

ARTHUR COUNTY-14

Wyatt Simpson - 2,222 - (2003) {5,859 Career rushing, 4th-6-Man list, 17th all-time}

Shawn Cochran - 1,731 - (1996)

Nathan Knott - 1,514 - (1994)

Matt Simpson - 1,486 - (2010)

Don Walker - 1,388 - (1982)

Toby Knott - 1,340 - (1994, Soph)

Toby Knott - 1,339 - (1995, Jr)

Alex Worthing - 1,330 - (2020, Jr)

Nathan Knott - 1,302 - (1993)

Toby Knott - 1,177 - (1996, Sr)

Jordan Trimble - 1,165 - (2011)

Alex Worthing - 1,117 - (2019, Jr)

Ryan Schmidt - 1,056 - (2000)

Kevin Robertson - 1,049 - (1979)

ASHLAND HIGH - 1

Rich Lutton - 1,053 - (1970)

Two names you need to know when it comes to Bluejay running backs; Trevor Nichelson and anyone with the last name KITRELL. Nichelson was one of the purest football talents I have EVER seen. Dude did whatever he wanted. Saw him play more than just a few occasions. Lucky me. And don’t don’t forget Cozad transfer Matt Schuster, the great Brian Schuster’s boy.

ASHLAND-GREENWOOD-10

Trevor Nichelson - 2,142 - (2015, Jr) {6,480 career rushing, 3rd-11-Man, 9th-all-time}

Trevor Nichelson - 1,917 - (2016, Sr)

Trevor Nichelson - 1,752- (2014, Soph)

Dave Taylor - 1,414 - (2005)

Matthew Schuster - 1,389 - (2020, Sr)

Bryce Kitrell - 1,242 - (2018, Jr)

Rich Petty - 1,204 - (1982)

Bryce Kitrell - 1,197 - (2019, Sr)

Barry Kitrell - 1,192 - (1983)

Gunnar Garner - 1,191 - (2013)

Bryce Kitrell - 1,060 - (2017, Soph)

Rocky Abbott - 1,055 - (2000)

Extreme West Holt STUD category; Josh Coyle AND Tannon Dvorak.

ATKINSON WEST HOLT-6

Josh Coyle - 1,884 - (2012, Jr)

Josh Coyle - 1,729 - (2011, Soph)

Tannon Dvorak - 1,602 - (2000)

Tannon Dvorak - 1,591 - (2001)

Bryce Kerkman - 1,207 - (2017)

Tyler Larby - 1,083 - (2019, Sr)

When Auburn produces a great running back, they don't mess around. In the “AS-GOOD-AS-IT-GETS CATEGORY”; Luke Lundy, Eric Moody and Quint Hogrefe. Lundy, who is a Facebook friend, had a stint with the Cleveland Browns. Great story behind this young man!

AUBURN-14

Luke Lundy - 2,441 - (2006) {5,023 career rushing, 23rd-11-Man, 51st-all time}

Eric Moody - 1,905 - (1999, Jr)

Eric Moody - 1,561 - (2000, Sr)

Quint Hogrefe - 1,416 - (1992,)

Steve Cole - 1,410 - (1976)

Luke Lundy - 1,278 - (2005, Jr)

Baily Darnell - 1,253 - (2018, Sr)

Quint Hogrefe - 1,244 - (1993)

Scott Gerdes - 1,234 - (1986)

Baily Darnell - 1,156 - 2017, Jr)

Matt Henrichs - 1,153 - (1995)

Lex Gonsalves - 1,058 - (2010)

Quinn Boden - 1,019 - (2014)

David Kimball - 1,009 - (1981)

Luke Lundy - 1,008 - 2004, Soph)

What a treat to have seen every single Huskie 1000 yard running back…..ever. Thank God I missed playing against Tom Kropp by just a couple of years. My favorite Aurora 1000 yard runner…….Cody Hoegh.

AURORA-20

Aaron Collingham - 2,076 - (1995, Sr)

Clay Mankin - 1,771 - (1999)

Preston Dibbern - 1,718 - (2015, Jr)

Jerry Lobeda - 1,590 - (2008)

Kirk Reichardt - 1,363 - (1984)

Caleb Moural - 1,290 - (2019, Sr)

Cody Hoegh - 1,281 - (2001)

Mack Owens - 1,215 - (2020, Jr)

Kirk Reichardt - 1,175 - (1983)

Cal Narber - 1,165 - (2017)

Brock Reichardt - 1,124 - (2013)

Aaron Collingham - 1,094 - (1994, Jr)

Ethan Shaw - 1,092 - (2020, Sr)

Aaron Collingham - 1,079 - (1993)

Cody Hoegh - 1,076 - (2000, Jr)

Tom Kropp - 1,065 - (1970)

Preston Dibbern - 1,058 - (2016, Sr)

Jack Conger - 1,048- (1957)

Ken Shaw - 1,039 - (1978)

Jay Furse - 1,004 - (1986)

AXTELL-6

Cody Nickel - 1,415 - (2015)

Heath Anderberry - 1,414 - (2010)

Justin Swedburg - 1,252 - (2006, Jr)

Justin Swedburg - 1,096 - (2007)

Brendon Parks - 1,035 - (2005)

Blake Wells - 1,015 - (2003)

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THE “B” SCHOOLS:

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This list is simply breathtaking. Thirty one schools that began with the letter B produced 294 thousand yard rushers through the years in Nebraska high school football. Among them, some of the greatest running programs in history.

Legendary powerhouses like BATTLE CREEK, under Bob Schnitzler, and BANCROFT-ROSALIE, coached by our friend D r. Jon Cerny.

BEATRICE had a bunch of speedsters, the great BEEMER teams from back in the day under Hall of Fame coach Ron Peck, the BELLEVUE WEST studs as of late and all those BERTRAND tough guys.

Then there is BLAIR, and the KINGS OF THE RUN-BLOOMFIELD! WE also can’t forget all those BLUE HILL horses and lest we forget, those speed burners from BOYS TOWN.

BRADY, BRIDGEPORT and THE BOW have produced a bunch of 1000 yard guys and how about those boys from BURWELL, who eat ten penny nails every morning for breakfast?

Finally we have all the BRUNING offshoots and last but not least, all those hard-nosed runners produced by our good friend Steve Colfack up at BUTTE.

These “B” schools are going to be a ride through history, I guarantee you. One, or even two articles may not get it.

Stay tuned, but just to tempt your taste buds, let’s have a look at all those great RB’s from Bancroft-Rosalie, BRLD, Banner County, all those Bob Newcomb swiftees from BARTLEY, and Bassett’s one lonely addition to the list.

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Not many runners left their mark as boldly as Bancroft-Rosalie’s incredible Brent Gatzemeyer. From 1984 to 1987, the Panther Legend churned his way to a career mark of 5,348 yards for Bancroft-Rosalie. Carson Tietz, who came along a quarter of a century later, was no slouch himself despite a non-1000 yard junior season.

BANCROFT-ROSALIE-21

Brent Gatzemeyer - 1,942 - (1985, Soph)

Brent Gatzemeyer - 1,714 - (1987, Sr)

Cole Worley - 1,711 - (2004)

Carsten Tietz - 1,692 - (2014, Sr)

Brent Gatzemeyer - 1,562 - (1986, Jr)

Travis Roth - 1,539 - (1989)

Matt Stansberry - 1,477 - (2010)

Carson Tietz - 1,418 - (2012, Soph)

Matt Pagels- 1,411 - (1999)

Nels Nelson - 1,387 - (1997)

Kyle Novak - 1,378 - (2006)

Zeb Greve - 1,197 - (2014)

Chase Goeken - 1,183 - (2006)

Jeremy Anderson - 1,099 - (2007)

Chris Kjeldgaard - 1,070 - (1991)

Travis Roth - 1,056 - (1988)

Ryan Rot - 1,043 - (1992)

Alex Berg - 1,028 - (2009)

Curt Aberdroth - 1,020 - (1985)

Kyle Novak - 1,015 - (2007)

Chris Stromberg - 1,011 - (1998)

Bancroft-Rosalie joined forces with Lyons-Decatur Northeast to form a lethal sports force in both football and basketball. The standout, like a sore thumb, was the great Will Gatzemeyer, who did it all as witnessed by his career total yardage total of 10,054 yards.

BRLD -3

Will Gatzemeyer - 1,750 - (2019, Sr) = {Accumulated 10,054 Total Career Yards}

Will Gatzemeyer - 1,088 - (2018, Jr)

Montana Reicken - 1,002 (2016, Sr) - {Reicken was a 1000 yard rusher for Lyons-Decatur NE in 2015}

BANNER COUNTY - 8

B.J. Cooper - 1,785 - (2006)

Sean Hopkins - 1,560 - (1984)

Ken Hessler - 1,303 - (1989)

Jim Revelle - 1,263 - (1998)

Vince Davis - 1,238 - (1994)

Dustin Lind - 1,045 - (2003)

Mike McKown - 1,040 - (2014)

B.J. Cooper - 1,037 - (2004)

Ole Bob Newcomb knew how to turn those 1000 yard runners loose did he not? Kent Proud definitely caught my attention when I saw him play in 1982. Dude was a Baller. If I remember correctly, Bartley began to co-op with Beaver Valley around the 1993/1994 school year.

BARTLEY-8 - (CLOSED)

Kent Proud - 1,593 - (1982)

Tom Hart - 1,390 - (1981)

Dan Rayer - 1,336 - (1991)

Mitch Johnson - 1,152 - (1992)

Brad Ross - 1,113- (1986)

Bill Kentopp - 1,109 - (1978)

Gene Colson - 1,109 - (1978)

Lloyd Ogerzelka - 1,038 - (1976)

Bassett may have produced only one thousand yarder in all their years, but Mike Kinney had to be the fastest gun in the state when he reeled off a mind-boggling :09.6 one hundred yard dash for the Bassett back in 1974. One step past the line of scrimmage on the gridiron and all they saw was Mike’s backside. Dude could run like a gazelle and jump like a deer for the purple and gold clad Tigers.

BASSETT - 1

Mike Kinney - 1,000 - (1973)

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…...Fasten your seat belts, coming up next we begin with Battle Creek, as the “Brilliant “B” schools continue.