Week 9 Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - Part One

Riverside running back Tony Berger, pictured fourth from the right, top row, is one of 8-Man football's most feared runners, with the ability to go the distance every time he touches the ball.

*1000 Yard Rusher Alert*

*1000 Yard Passer Alert*

*Tony Berger, Trent Carraher, David Lozano - Riverside - Speed merchant senior Tony Berger added to his 1000 yard rushing mark with his 102 yards and 2 TDs in the Chargers opening round 74-20 Class D-2 playoff win over Sandhills Valley (Stapleton/McPherson County). That swells Tony’s 2021 rushing total to 1,291 yards with 25 touchdowns. Berger is also the tackling leader of this fine Riverside squad with 147 Excedrin headache crunches.

QB Trent Carraher completed 7 of 9 passes for 98 yards and touchdown tosses to Lane Swerczek (43 yards), Connor Carraher (21 yds) and Carson Bloom (29 yds) to push him over the 1000 yard passing mark for the year. The accurate throwing Carraher has hit 47 of his 70 passing attempts for 1,051 yards and 17 TDs.

And then there is the always tough guy leader of the O and D Lines, the great David Lozano, who had 5 assists against Sandhills Valley. Love the way this young man plays the game.

Next stop for Riverside will be a 2nd Round playoff home game against Johnson-Brock. Kickoff is set for 5:00 PM @ Cedar Rapids.

*2000 Yard Rusher Alert*

Dylan Mostek-Benington - Nation’s 3rd leading rusher broke loose for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns on 17 carries in Bennington’s 49-10 triumph over Omaha Gross. Mostek’s electrifying touchdown runs covered 56, 71 and 52 yards. The senior flyer now has 2,230 yards rushing with 30 touchdowns thanks to BADger offensive linemen Carter Lerch, Nate Schaefer, Cody Harris, Jake Stier and Jameson Krayneski.

Bennington will open the Class B playoffs with a home appearance vs. McCook. Kickoff is slated for 6 PM.

*2000 Yard Rusher Alert*

*Christian Meneses-Plattsmouth - Nation’s 9th leading rusher ran for 136 yards and a touchdown in the Blue Devils 48-14 win over Class A Bellevue East. That gives Meneses, who rushed for 1,740 yards a year ago, 2,017 yards with 30 TDs thus far in 2021. The amazing Christian Meneses has a career rushing total of 3,958 yards with all but 201 of it coming in less than two seasons (19 games).

Plattsmouth opens the Class B postseason with a home game this Friday against Omaha Gross (7:00 kickoff)

*1000 Yard Rusher Alert*

*Gaige Ritner-Wilcox-Hildreth - Huge final regular season by the Sophomore vaulted him over the 1000 yard rushing mark for the year. Ritner exploded for 343 yards

and 5 touchdowns on 21 totes was too much for Deshler as Wil-Hil prevailed, 56-19.

Ritner’s scoring runs covered 51, 65, 56, 5 and 48 yards as the sophomore sensation finished his season with 1,430 yards and 21 TDs.

Gaige Ritner (5-10, 160) also made 72 tackles on defense, had 2 interceptions and recovered 2 fumbles in 2021.

**1000 Yard Rusher Alert - Times Two**

*Gage Racek, Dylan Hurburt-Ord - Chanticleers Touchdown Twins each cracked the coveted one thousand yard rushing mark in Ord’s 55-7 regular season finale win over Gibbon. Senior RB Racek’s 80 yards on 7 carries (3 TDs) elevated his 8 game season total to 1,063 yards (16 TDs). Quarterback Dylan Hurlburt, the sophomore, ran for 114 yards on 7 touches, moving his rushing total to 1,022 yards. Hurlburt has also thrown for 602 yards and 11 TDs this season.

Ord will host 5-4 Centennial this Friday in Round One of the C-2 postseason. Kickoff is 7 PM.

*Cole Murray, Preston Harms, Devin Moore-Waverly - The Vikings showed what they were made of in a wild 52-49, three overtime victory over Norris. Waverly had to rally from a 21 point deficit in the second quarter AND a 14 point deficit in the 4th to gain the win.

All-State Cole Murray rushed for 3 touchdowns, and threw for 3 more as Waverly secured the #8 seed and a first round home game in the Class B playoffs. Preston Harms scored a pair of crucial touchdowns in the game, the first coming on a sparkling 83 yard kick return with less than 50 seconds left in the first half. The second came on a terrific 81 yard pass reception at the 4:36 mark of the 4th stanza when Preston overcame a slight bobble at the Waverly 45, before Dad’s (the great Anthony Harms) handed down athleticism kicked in and the junior secured the football, speeding the remaining 55 yards for the critical score.

Then there’s Cool Hand Luke, I mean Devin, as in Devin Moore, who calmly stepped in to boot the game winning 18 yard field goal in the 3rd overtime. Moore was also a perfect 7 for 7 on PATs during the game. This season, Moore is 37 of 38 on PATs and 7 of 11 on field goal tries. Good as gold in my book.

*Marly Jensen-York - 5-9, 190 pound Renaissance Man did it all (as usual) in the Duke’s 14-7 win over Lexington in the season finale. Jensen rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown, caught two passes for 50 yards and logged 11 tackles with 2 sacks in the playoff qualifying win.

Here’s the deal on Marly Jensen. The dude tied the single game tackle record for York with 20 stops TWO weeks in a row this year. Right now, the All-State middle LB candidate has 137 tackles (37-103-137) and according to Coach Snodgrass is one of the best middle linebackers in York’s rich history. Considering they have had some great LB’s there over the years (Garrett Snodgrass York/Huskers might ring a bell), that is saying a bunch.

York will travel to Elkhorn for the first round of the Class B playoffs to meet the Antlers in the nightcap of a Class A/B playoff double-header this Friday. The York/Elkhorn kickoff is set for 4:00.

*Trey Bird, Cayden Bluhm-Bennington - In that Badger 49-10 win over Gross Catholic, Bird completed 8 of 13 passes for 269 yards and 4 touchdowns. Three of those scoring passes (83, 56, 44 yards) went to Cayden Bluhm, who had 3 receptions for 147 yards on the night. The remaining scoring toss was gathered in by junior Nick Colvert.

For the season, Trey Bird has completed 95 of 143 passes for 1,709 yards with 19 touchdowns and only 2 INTs. Bluhm currently leads all Badger receivers with 35 receptions (23.5/per catch) for 821 yards and 10 touchdowns.

*Carlos Collazo, Drew Knust, Tia Teigre-Aurora - Powerful senior Carlos Collazo rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, QB Drew Knust was a perfect 8 of 8 passing for 73 yards and added 47 rushing yards in the Huskies 50-14 win over a shocked Seward team. Senior FEMALE linebacker Tia Teigre, an exchange student from Norway, registered her first tackle of the season, a crunching stop near the Aurora bench. You just DO NOT see that everyday, sports fans.

For the season, Collazo has 1,202 yards rushing as the Huskies enter the Class B playoffs as the number 2 seed, hosting 4-5 Lexington at 7:00 this Friday.

*1000 Yard Rusher Alert - The Hard Way*

*Isaac Kracl-Crete - After missing nearly a month of football, the 6-0, 175 senior returned for the Cardinals final regular season game and was a shining star with his 189 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries in Crete’s 48-34 loss to Beatrice. That boosted Isaac over the thousand yard rushing mark, giving him 1,069 yards in a tad more than FIVE games.

The Crete senior started the 2021 season with games of 219 yards (York), 136 vs. McCook, 230 against Seward, 281 against Lexington before being injured in the Plattsmouth game (September 24th) after gaining just 14 yards on 7 carries. Isaac sat out until last Friday when he closed out his high school career with the 189 yard output against Beatrice.

Is that a Feel Good story or what?

*Will Skradis, Blake Daly-Elkhorn South - Will Skradis and Blake Daly were outstanding in the absence of 1000 yard rusher Cole Ballard, who sat out the game with an injury. Skradis rushed for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns on 18 carries and completed 10 of 16 passes for 160 yards, while Blake Daly grabbed 7 of those pass completions for 142 yards in Elkhorn South's big 21-10 win over Lincoln SE.

Supercoach Guy Rosenberg’s forces will host Kearney in the First Round of the Class A playoffs this Friday as part of a Class A/B double header at Elkhorn Stadium. Kickoff will be at 8:00 following the York/Elkhorn matchup.

**1000 Yard Rusher Alert - Second Time Around** - The Hard Way*

*Carter Seim-Cross County - All-State 2000 yard rusher (2020) rushed for 160 yards and two TDs on 18 carries in the Cougars' opening round 45-12 D-1 playoff win over always tough Clarkson-Leigh. Seim hit the endzone with runs of 21 and 28 yards.

That raises Seim’s 2021 rushing total to 1,008 yards (21 TDs).

The incredible thing about Carter Seim, who has 4,348 career rushing yards, is that the senior has missed 3 games and has played in multiple half-only games and still reached the 1000 yard mark for the 2nd straight season.

Teammate/backfield mate Haiden Hild has also filled in well in the absence of Seim, having run for 956 yards on just 106 carries thus far.

*Jack Wemhoff, Paiton Hoefer, Colton Wright-Elgin Public/Pope John - Wolfpack trio played a huge role in knocking off O’Neill St. Marys 30-26 in the opening round of the Class D-2 playoffs. Wemhoff, who rushed for over a thousand yards as a sophomore in 2020, cut loose for 158 yards and two touchdowns (41, 3 runs) on 28 carries, part of a punishing 360 yard offensive attack for Elgin Public/Pope John.

Junior QB Paiton Hoefer completed 6 of 10 pass for 162 yards and a pair of second quarter tosses (75, 19 yards) to Colton Wright, who had 5 of the 6 Hoefer completions, good for 146 yards.

The upstart Wolves, who have seemingly improved each week, will head to Bloomfield Friday to face the Bees in the 2nd round with kickoff slated for 7 PM.

*Levi Belina-Howells-Dodge - Had all of his work done early with his 179 yards and 4 TDs on just 9 carries in the Jaguars 56-32 win over Elmwood-Murdock. Belina, who has gained 1,273 yards rushing this season, scored from 51, 21, 26 and 45 yards away in the 1st Round of the Class D-1 playoffs. Undefeated Howells-Dodge will be at home again this Friday to face the great Evan Haisch and the 7-2 Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Bears. Kickoff is at 7 PM

*Riley Grieser, Brett Mahony, Kade Uelmen, Dylan Merz, Koren Conrad-Kearney Catholic - The Stars scored on 6 of their opening 7 possessions then eased past Cozad 49-13 in a regular season finale last Friday. Riley Grieser rushed 17 times for 141 yards with 3 touchdowns, Brett Mahony was solid gold, completing 9 of 13 passes for 113 yards and three TDs and 101 more yards rushing.

Uelman had 6 solo stops on defense with a 3 yard QB sack, the All-State Merz had 5 solo stops with a 5 yard sack and Conrad also recorded 5 solos and teamed up with Gavin Drumheller for a 6 yard QB sack.

The 2nd rated Stars open the postseason at home this Friday with Boys Town in the Class C-1 playoffs. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 PM.

*Aidan Kuester-Neligh-Oakdale - Remarkable junior quarterback completed 19 of 27 passes for 327 yards and 5 touchdowns and rushed 16 times for 116 yards with 3 more TDs in the Warriors 64-30 opening 8-Man playoff win over Tri-County last Thursday. Kuester completed TD passes to Talon Krebs (24, 30 yards), Bryson Gadeken (7 yds), Carson Jones (23 yds) and Carson Whitesel (68 yds).

Kuester’s touchdown sprints came from 1, 46 and 9 yards away. Thus far in 2021, the incredible Kuester has completed 151 of 222 passes for 2,312 yards with 30 TDs and has 935 yards on 156 totes with another 18 scores. He has also punted 21 times for an average of 38.3 each and made a massive 121 tackles with 24 tackles for losses on defense.

Now remember, Aidan has started at quarterback every single game since the beginning of last season, compiling a career 4,836 yards passing with 60 TDs and 2,078 more rushing yards with another 43 TDs. That’s 6,971 Total Yards with 104 touchdowns and we haven’t talked about defense yet.

In 25 career games, Kuester has 282 tackles with 46 TFL, 3 sacks, and 4 interceptions, one of which was a Pick 6 versus Plainview a year ago.

Neligh-Oakdale (8-1) will make the 275 mile trek to Trenton to face an 8-1 Hitchcock County squad this Friday with kickoff slated for 6 PM CST.

*Chase Hultman-Millard West - Senior running back stepped up in the absence of Nate Peterson to rush for 196 yards and three TDs on 25 carries in the Wildcats' 38-7 win over Lincoln Northeast. Hultman, who had previously gained just 76 this season, recorded touchdowns on runs of 2, 3 and 6 yards for Millard West, who completed their 2021 season with a 3-6 record.

*Sebastien Boyle, Brayden Stull-Scottsbluff - Boyle, 195 pound SOPHOMORE, escaped for 274 yards and 3 touchdowns on 24 carries in Bearcats 70-17 throttling of Gering. Dual-Threat junior quarterback Brayden Stull completed 5-7 passes for 96 yards and a pair of touchdowns, one to classmate Tyson Klein, the other to TG Schwartz. In addition to that, Stull ran the ball 13 times for 130 yards and three more scores in the 70-17 romp.

For the season, Boyle has 1,459 yards and 22 touchdowns, while QB Brayden Stull has 869 yards through the air with 6 TDs plus 906 rushing yards and 17 more scores. Sebastien Boyle has been red hot the past three games for the “Cats, running for 729 yards on 81 carries with 10 touchdowns.

Scottsbluff (7-2) earns the #7 seed in Class B and has secured a home playoff game this Friday with Beatrice to open the 2021 postseason. Kickoff is slated for 6 PM (MT)

*Evan Shepard-Ashland-Greenwood - Senior was a perfect 3 of 3 on field goal attempts and matched that on PATs in Ashland-Greenwood’s 30-7 win over Platteview. Shepard, also a wide receiver and defensive player, caught 3 passes for 45 yards and made 5 tackles in the game.

Ashland-Greenwood earned the #1 seed in the Class C-1 playoffs and has a 16th seeded and extremely dangerous Adams Central coming to town Friday to kick off the postseason. Game time-7:00.

*Carson Glunz-Wallace - Junior RB broke loose for 161 yards on 11 carries and 5 touchdowns in the Wildcats 78-42 win over Southwest. Glunz, who has 1,353 yards rushing in 8 outings this season for 7-1 Wallace , also caught a 5 yard TD pass and made 17 tackles on defense with 3 TFL. Wallace opens the Class D-3, Six-Man playoff postseason with a Friday night home game against Hay Springs. Kickoff is set for 6:00 CST.