Week Five Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - Part One

These Adams Central stars were instrumental in lifting the Patriots to a huge 30-27 win over Central City. (L-R) #28 Hyatt Collins, #9 Jayden Teichmeier, #2 Sam Dierks, #11 Holden O'Dey and #24 Nick Conant.

*Hyatt Collins, Nick Conant, Sam Dierks, Jayden Teichmeier, Holden O’Dey-Adams Central - Yes! All of these gentlemen plus others, contributed to a terrific, hard fought win over a very fine Central City football team.

Hyatt Collins ended up making what would be a game winning touchdown catch in the endzone after a tip by a Bison defender. The 2 time 1000 yard rusher Caught 3 passes for 20 yards also had 73 yards on 16 carries with a pair of rushing TDs from 15 and 2 yards away. He also added 5 tackles on defense.

Backfield buddy Nick Conant led the ground attack with 94 yards on 12 totes with a 2 yard scoring run.

Quarterback Sam Dierks was an efficient 10 of 19 passing for 147 yards with that game winning 16 yard TD pass to Hyatt Collins. Jayden Teichmeier caught two passes from Dierks for 36 yards, but was an absolute monster defensively, picking off a pair of Central City passes, both at critical points in the game.

Teichmeier also batted away three passes and made 5 tackles (4 solos). Holden O’Dey, a Swiss Army Knife, caught 3 passes for 73 yards and logged 6 tackles on defense.

There will also be more Adams Central defensive players getting salutes before all the Friday Night Lights Football Heroes are in the books this week.

**1000 Yard Rusher Alert** - First of 2022

*Breckan Schluter-Exeter/Milligan/Friend - The bad news; Breckan’s 277 yards on 38 carries and 5 touchdowns could not overcome Palmyra’s high powered aerial attack in a 48-44 loss to the Panthers. The good news; Schluter’s huge rushing night makes him Nebraska high school’s 1st 1000 yard rusher of 2022.

Schluter’s five touchdowns covered 37, 19, 49, 10 and 39 yards, giving the EMF Junior 1,295 rushing yards with 22 touchdowns. The 190 pound EMF star is averaging an incredible 253 yards rushing with 4.4 touchdowns a game thus far in 2022.

*Abram Scholting, Ben Brahmer-Pierce - In a 58-6 win over Wayne, Scholting was good on 12 of 14 passes for 283 yards and 5 touchdowns. The magical senior, the 2-time All-State quarterback, also had 1 rushing touchdown and a 57 yard Pick 6 on defense for another. Husker pledge Ben Brahmer had 8 receptions for 140 yards and a pair of TD catches.

Honest to goodness, Abram Scholting makes things look so easy no matter who is playing against. Amazing, amazing talent.

Thought I would also mention that the Pierce defense had Thirty Seven players make at least one tackle in this game and one of those being the great Colton Fritz’s little Brother Kaiden Fritz, who made 10 tackles (5 solos)

Oh yes……..Kaiden Fritz is a Freshman.

*Carson Kudlacek, Cooper Butler, Jensen Anderson-Hastings St. Cecilia - Bluehawk quarterback Carson Kudlacek riddled the GICC defense in St. C’s 41-0 win. The senior gunslinger hit a ridiculous 24 of 30 passes for a whopping 423 yards and 4 touchdowns and added 56 yards on the ground on just 12 carries.

Three of Carson’s scoring tosses were handled by Cooper Butler, who had 8 receptions for 176 yards. Jensen Anderson, just a junior, had 10 catches for 123 yards and a one receiving TD.

This St. Cecilia football squad is a dangerous Class C-2 title contender. Carson Kudlacek has 1,296 yards passing with 17 touchdowns with just 4 INTs. Butler has 20 catches for 466 yards and 9 TDs with Anderson right behind with 453 yards receiving (26 receptions) and 6 TDs.

Oh, so you can stop the Bluehawks on the ground right? Wrong! The speedy Chase Evans has 408 yards rushing with 4 TDs and if he doesn’t get you, Kudlacek will keep the ball and hurt you (339 yards/5 TDs thus far).

Okay, so maybe St. Cecilia’s defense is a little suspect? Nope. They already have 3 shutouts and have turned away a fantastic Bishop Neumann after taking a 27-0 halftime lead, watching the Cavs score 34 straight, then coming back to win 44-34.

It’s going to take a mighty fine C-2 football team to derail this 2022 Hastings St. Cecilia bunch

*CT Thielen-Millard North - Mustang dandy scooted for 194 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries in Millard North’s 56-35 loss to Lincoln Southeast.

**1000 Yard Rusher Alert-2nd Time Around**

*Kason Loomis-Bridgeport - The 6-1, 180 pound Loomis ran for 135 yards on 15 carries with 3 TDs in the Bulldogs 65-20 rout of Bayard, elevating his 5 game, 2022 rushing total to 1,010 yards. Loomis also caught two passes for 15 yards plus 3 stops on defense, and recovered a fumble.

Loomis ran for an even 1000 yards a year ago when Bridgeport played in the 11-Man ranks. A thousand in 11-Man, a thousand in 8-Man. Pretty sweet, Kason!

*Wes Geiken to Jake Burge-Gothenburg - This Swedes duo hooked up for the winning touchdown pass/catch in Gothenburg’s 35-28 win over Chadron. QB Wes Geiken connected with Jake Burge for a cleverly designed 37 yard touchdown with just 54 seconds remaining in the game to seal the win.

Head Coach Craig Haake and company had a pair of wide receivers split out on either side while Burge lined up directly off the right tackle, partially hidden to the Chadron defensive backs. Burge hesitated after the snap, then took off on a slant route across the middle where Wes Geiken hit him on the run for a game winning 37 yard scoring pass. Burge, by the way, was pretty well covered on the play by Chadron’s Seth Gaswick.

Geiken also rushed for two touchdowns in the game (55, 13 yards) and made 4 tackles on defense. Burge ran for 87 yards on 17 touches and caught 3 pasases for 48 yards, the big one being the 37 yard TD catch.

*Cam Kozeal, -Millard South - Well, mission accomplished for Kozeal, who helped his TEAM USA win the Gold Medal in the Under 18 Baseball World Cup in Florida recently.

So, Friday night it, was back to Football for Cam Kozeal who led his Millard South Patriots ball club to a 49-10 victory over Lincoln North Star.

All the Vanderbilt baseball recruit did in his return to the gridiron was complete 9 of 15 passes for 134 yards and 4 touchdowns and run for 89 yards on the ground.

If you recall, Kozeal led Millard South to an opening night win over Millard West, but the Patriots lost their next 3 with Cam away playing baseball in Florida.

Now it’s back to being a competitive force in Class A for Millard South with Kozeal back at the controls. Grant Renken caught three of Kozeal’s TD throws covering 29, 23 and 21 yards.

*Max Buttenback-Lincoln SE - Rushed for 116 yards and 4 touchdowns on 18 carries, caught 2 passes for 39 yards and made 5 tackles on defense in the Knights 56-35 win over Millard North. Buttenback now has 506 yards after 5 games with 8 touchdowns for the 3-2 Knights.

*Derek Pfeifer, Ashton Gragg-Central City - In that heartbreaking 30-27 loss to Adams Central, Bison QB Derek Pfeifer completed 19 of 27 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Both scoring strikes (36, 5 yards) were grabbed by the great Ashton Gragg, who had 8 total catches for 105 yards.

Pfeifer also carried the ball 21 times for 54 yards for a very busy evening, something the Central City coaching staff expects from their quarterbacks…..and they get it.

After 5 games, Derek Pfeifer has compiled 928 passing yards (9 TDs) and 547 yards rushing (7 TDs).

Gragg has 462 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns in 5 games with three 100+ receiving yardage games under his belt.

This Central City squad is a very good football team with a very strong defensive line.

*Bo Rohrich-Wood River - The 5-10, 183 pound Sophomore exploded for 192 yards on 20 carries, a touchdown and 8 tackles on defense in the Eagle's huge 29-20 win over Doniphan-Trumbull. This kid is a Beast with a capital B.

*Gage Hedstrom-O’Neill St. Marys - Freshman Quarterback completed 10 of 13 passes for 247 yards and 6 touchdowns in the Cardinals 54-0 blanking of Niobrara-Verdigre. Three of young Gage Hedstrom’s TD passes were gathered in by Isaac Everitt (30, 30, 10 yards), who had 4 catches for 117 yards.

Jace Rosencrans hauled in two more of Gage Hedstrom’s touchdown throws covering 44 and 20 yards, while junior Carson Dannebring caught the other one from 11 yards away.

Another scary stat in this game is Hedstrom’s massive 19 tackles. Taking a peek at Gage Hedstrom’s 5 game stat line for this season; 32-56 passing for 639 yards, 12 TDs with just 2 INTs, 419 yards rushing (9 TDs), 95 tackles (24 solo, 5 TFL). Impressive!

Keep an eye on this O’Neill St. Marys football team, After a heartbreaking 22-20 loss in the season opener to Wausa (4-1), the Cardinals have reeled off 4 straight wins.

*Trent McCain, Dylan Gabriel-Ord - Junior RB Trent McCain ran 24 times for 179 yards with touchdown jaunts (5) covering 3, 7, 1, 6 and 10 yards) in the Chants 46-0 win over Gibbon. Big returning All-State lineman Dylan Gabriel helped hold Gibbon to a 100 total yards with his 10 punishing tackles (7 solos)

*Hayden Frank-Malcolm - Holy Moly, talk about making the most of your rushing opportunities! In the Clippers 48-0 win over Tri-County, Frank carried the ball 6 times for 181 yards with 5 of those totes going for touchdowns (82, 26, 15, 1 and 56 yards). Just for kicks and giggles, Hayden threw a touchdown pass to Dalton Amen too.

Don’t look now but this C-2 Malcolm team has compiled a 5-0 record with wins over Yutan (14-7), Raymond Central (38-13), Oakland-Craig (22-20), Tekamah-Herman (35-0) and Tri-County (48-0).

*Will Twogood-Nebraska Christian - Eagles veteran ran for 132 yards on 8 carries with touchdowns covering 45 and 52 yards. Twogood also returned the opening 69 yards for a score in Christians 56-12 afternoon win over a very young Pleasanton squad.

*Carson Wessell, Isaac Classen, Jordan Kosch-Humphrey St. Francis - Field general Carson Wessell completed 6 of 7 aerials for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Flyers 56-6 win over Winside. RB Isaac Classen gained 144 yards on 23 carries with a 22 yard TD run while Jordan Kosch was on the receiving end of 4 Carson Wessell passes for 119 yards with 20 and 43 yard touchdown receptions.

Alright, so the Flyers are 3-2 and face Howells-Dodge this Friday, but nobody will convince me that St. Frans will not be a big time player in the D-2 playoffs. I’ve been around far too long to ever count an Eric Kessler team out of any playoff race, football or basketball.

As far as high school coaches go, it’s like this: Doug Goltz= God I, Eric Kessler=God II. with Mike Spiers coming in at God III this week.

*Brandt Leetch-Humboldt-TRS - In a 48 to 44 loss to Diller-Odell, QB Leetch completed 21 of 30 passes for 305 yards with 5 touchdowns. The 6-2, 180 pound senior also ran for 47 yards on 22 carries with 2 more TDs.

Three of Brandt’s TD passes went to junior Brogan Dunlop (66, 11, 15 yards). Brennen Vaughn one of the remaining two scoring passes from 14 yards away while classmate Alex Kozeal had the other covering 18 yards.

Brandt Leetch has completed 54% of his 84 passes for 708 yards this season with 16 TDs and just 3 INTs.

HTRS is currently 3-2.

*Trev Peters-Heartland- Exploded again with 219 yards on and 12 totes with 5 touchdowns in Heartland’s 58-0 win over Sutton. Peters now has 710 yards rushing for the year.

*Talen Storer, Lance Vasa, Dakota Storer-Arthur County - In the Wolves 6-Man football 60-30 win over Paxton, Sophomore QB Talen Storer hit 10-18 passes for 224 yards with 5 touchdowns. Senior Lance Vasa rushed 22 times for 203 yards and 2 touchdowns, while senior Dakota Storer caught 4 of Talon’s TD passes covering 30, 52, 17, 41 yards). Junior Justin Wenzel grabbed the other scoring pass from Talen Storer covering 39 yards.

*Eli Paxton-Mullen - Rambled for 205 yards on 20 touches with 5 touchdowns in the Broncos 46-14 win over Anselmo-Merna.