A History of Nebraska 8-Man Football - 1965 All-State Teams/Final Rankings.

*136 Teams played 8-Man football in 1965, down16 teams from the previous year. It would mark a steady decrease in the numer of teams playing 8-Man football until 1977, when the numbers would slowly rise again.

11-Man football was on the rise again, reaching 257 schools in 1965 while the 6-Man game was nearly becoming extinct with only FOUR teams playing the game on a part time basis. By 1967, the Six-Man game, ironically invented in Nebraska by the Father of Six-Man, Stephen Epler of Chester.

The game would lay dormant until the mid-1980s.

One interesting piece of NSAA rulings back in 1965 I will have to uncover is what the cutoff number was for teams to be eligible to play 8-Man football. I ran across an article that stated West Kearney was still playing 8-Man football with a student enrollment of 105 in 1965.

Onward we go with the final ranking for 8-Man football teams for 1965.

Here is that Final Top Ten:

*Final 8-Man Top 10 (1965)*

1. Sutherland (9-0)

2. Western (9-0)

3. Cedar Bluffs (10-0)

4. Overton (8-0)

5. Maywood (9-0)

6. Paxton (7-1)

7. Dawson-Verdon (7-1)

8. Johnson (8-1)

9. Bartlett (8-0)

10. Doniphan (9-0)

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Here is the Final Top Ten showing each team’s game by game scores. I used to just LOVE when the Omaha World-Herald put this in their wonderful sports section. The one thing missing on some of these is the name of the head coach.

*1965 Eight-Man Football Final Top 10*

1. Sutherland, (9-0)

19 Hershey………......13 - 38 Hayes Center...0

67 Hyannis…………....0 - 51 Big Springs…....6

31 West Kearney…....7 - 54 Brady………….....0

13 Paxton…………......12 - ?? Trenton..........?? (Win, but score unavailable)

62 Halsey-Dunning...0

Coach-Daryl Broberg

2. Western (8-0)

28 Plymouth………….0 - 40 Tobias………..6

38 Diller………………..0 - 1 xDorchester….0 (forfeit)

40 Sprague-Martel….7 - 47 Alexanderia...12

27 Beaver Crossing….6 - 41 Milligan………..0

x (11-Man game)

Coach-

3. Cedar Bluffs (9-0)

25 Snyder………..13 - 58 Waterloo….6

13 Alvo-Eagle……7 - 28 Mead……...13

27 Yutan…………...2 - 48 Prague….…6

44 Platte Center…6 - ?? Weston…...?? (Win, but score unavailable)

58 Fort Calhoun…6

Coach-

4. Overton (8-0)

50 Loomis……...6 - 63 Wilcox……...14

44 Axtell………...6 - 66 Sumner…...20

40 Pleasanton…0 - 45 Elm Creek...0

67 Amherst…….13 - ?? Hildreth…...?? (Win, but score unavailable)

Coach-Allyn Chambers

5. Maywood (9-0)

38 Venango………....0 - 61 Wallace….6

40 Brady…………......0 - 19 Farnam….0

45 Beaver Valley....18 - 40 Elsie……...6

34 Tryon………….....12 - ?? Maxwell…?? (Win, but score unavailable)

54 Eustis………….....7

Coach-Jerry Meyer

6. Paxton (7-1)

47 Lewellen……...7 - 44 Elsie……....19

52 Venango…....24 - 33 Madrid…....6

26 Big Springs….6 - 45 Brule……....13

12 Sutherland….13 - 15 Hershey.....13

Coach-

7. Dawson-Verdon (7-1)

13 xFalls City SH...26 - 61 Stella……….20

25 Cook…………….....7 - 32 Table Rock…0

44 Odell……………...14 - 20 Johnson…...19

45 Shubert…………...6 - 60 Nehawka…..18

x (11-Man game)

Coach-

8. Johnson (7-1)

61 Filley……....26 - 20 Talmage…………....0

32 Brock……....0 - 19 Dawson-Verdon…20

32 Nehawka...12 - 48 Peru Prep…………...7

33 Cook………..6 - 33 Palmyra…………......0

Coach-

9. Bartlett (8-0)

40 Elba……………….....6 - 26 Elgin………....0

25 Meadow Grove.....12 - 46 Chambers…12

48 Page………………....0 - 45 Clearwater…..6

31 Red Willow………...7 - ?? Butte..............?? (Won, but score unavailable)

Coach-Jerry Maurer

10. Doniphan (9-0)

20 Glenvil……..0 - 19 Boelus……....6

32 Cairo………..12 - 61 Hordville…13

12 Phillips……...7 - 70 Glenvil……..7

54 Trumbull……0 - 34 Juniata…...18

72 Marquette….13

Coach-

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Once again, the Eight-Man football All-State team boasts of of the most talented backfields if statistics are your bag. The 1965 backfield chosen by the World-Herald's Gregg McBride was one of the speediest, most versatile units in the history of 8-Man football to that point in time.

The spectacular mythical backfield of Sutherland’s Class D sprint champion Ken Beatty, Prague’s powerful 6-3, 185 pound Terry Petrzelka and Johnson standout junior Lee Rohrs combined to score 554 ponts and rush for 3,865 yards, a high water mark in that day.

The sizzling Beatty, although keyed on by every opponent, escaped for 1,694 yards, averaging a mind-boggling 11.6 yards a pop. He also reeled in 14 passes, good for 356 yards and five more touchdowns.

Petrzelka, Prague’s four-year starter at quarterback, threw for 813 yards, rushed for 1,232 yards and logged 45 unassisted tackles and made 14 interceptions defensively.

Rohrs, the Johnson junior, ran for 939 yards and 23 TDs, added 321 more yards in pass receptions, booted 26 PATs, made 104 stops from his linebacker slot on defense, had three Pick 6’s and averaged 39.2 yards on his booming punts.

*1965 8-Man All-State Football Team*

End---Robert Gergen-Dawson-Verdon, 6-2, 195, Senior, (17 years old)

End---Dennis Bartels-Western, 6-2, 200, Senior (17 yo)

Guard-Bob Larson-Overton, 6-0, 175, Senior, (17 yo)

Guard-Al Childers-Bartlett, 5-10, 185, Junior, (16 yo)

Center-Clifford Underwood-Doniphan, 5-10, 176, Senior, (17 yo)

Back---Lee Rohrs-Johnson, 5-11, 163, Junior, (17 yo)

Back--Ken Beatty-Sutherland, 6-1, 180, Senior, (17 yo)

Back--Terry Petrzelka-Prague, 6-3, 185, Senior, (17 yo)