Memory Lane

In 1986, Coach took me to my very first state football championship game. Custer County. Ansley 40, Bancroft-Rosalie 14. The things you learn years later are the legends who played in that game — Jim Scott (!!!) — and the amazing coaches who were there that night.

It turned into a tradition a little bit for dad and I, these small town state championship games. Brainard, 1989. Geneva, 1990. Overton, 1994. A few more that I remember.

As we continue down that road to more state title games, let’s enjoy these as well. Where you play at your school for your town. The memories you have in 20 years, you’ll cherish for the rest of your life.

Onward with a quarterfinal preview.

A Million Things

We could write and talk about these quarterfinal matchups for days — tell you a million things — but the Newsletter needs to keep it fresh. So, let’s give a quick overview on each class before you pick the game you want to go to tonight.

CLASS A (UP TOP): All eyes on top-ranked Omaha Westside facing the talented wide receiving corps from Bellevue West with their Nebraska quarterback commit Daniel Kaelin. The Warriors seem to be one of the most focused teams in Nebraska prep history. Fresh off an upset and reversal of Kearney last week, Grand Island heads to Buell Stadium for a matinee game. Last year, the Islanders upset Millard South in this round.

CLASS A (BOTTOM SIDE): Can Elkhorn South’s line play dominate another game? The Storm haven’t surrendered 20 points since September 15th. Last week, Lincoln East quarterback Jeter Worthley carried 23 times for 163 yards. He might need another one. Speaking of focus, Millard South appears to want another crack at Westside with quarterback Jett Thomalla leading Class A in passing. Omaha North went to Gretna and won in double overtime last week on a highlight reel catch from Donovan Jones.

CLASS B (UP TOP): Bennington’s 36-game winning streak is on the line again against a Norris team that ran wild on Northwest last Friday in a 50-14 win. Running back Blake Macklin had 235 yards on 17 carries and four scores for the Titans. Scottsbluff heads east again and would we think more of them if they were 9-1 (not 6-4) and those 4, 1 and 1 point games were flipped? Expect a low scoring, meat grinder in this afternoon contest.

CLASS B (BOTTOM SIDE): Since losing 14-13 to Bennington to open the season, Skutt beat three playoff teams but none of them remain. Blair, meanwhile, played seven playoff opponents and avenged a week two loss to Plattsmouth last week. Waverly hasn’t been 10-0 since 1975 and Hastings, which has won four in a row, avenged an early season loss with a 35-6 dismantling of Seward on the road. Quarterback Tucker Synek is over 2,000 yards.

CLASS A AND B PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS

CLASS C-1 (UP TOP): Wahoo, it seems, has been playing playoff games since week one so hosting Broken Bow should be old hat. Many thought coach Chad Fox’s group was a year or two away. Eight of ten games have yielded six points or less. The Indians, a 28-20 winner over DC West last week, will try to go right at the Warriors; they know no other way. An intriguing road trip for defending champion Pierce and tailback Keenan Valverde. The Jays — to earn a possible rematch with Wahoo — will have to slow down dual threat quarterback Isak Doty. PLAYOFF PREVIEW SHOW (with BBN Broadcasting)

CLASS C-1 (BOTTOM SIDE): Will Ashland-Greenwood — the only team to score 20 on Wahoo — be the first to crack 20 on a stingy Adams Central defense. The running game will have to be sharp with Drake Zimmerman. The Patriots will have to force turnovers and play tough in special teams. Boone Central, by scoring, has an even better defense than Wahoo. The Cardinals also have running back Parker Borer with 3,733 career yards. Epic semifinals could be on tap.

CLASS C-2 (UP TOP): Norfolk Catholic’s 23-game win streak goes on the line against Kearney Catholic. The Knights have scored 40 points in eight of 10 games this season. Unbeaten Fillmore Central hosts once-beaten Malcolm in the other semifinal. The Panthers have thrown just 63 passes all season, while Maddox Meyer has thrown for 1,500+ yards for the Clippers.

CLASS C-2 (BOTTOM SIDE): Ord and Oakland-Craig played a back-and-forth quarterfinal last year and they are each a win away from a semifinal showdown this week. First things first, though, as Mitchell and Yutan are game opponents tonight. In Mitchell, the Chants get an opponent that ran for over 500 yards against Bishop Neumann last week in a 58-20 win. Santi Castillo — sit down, please — had 225 yards on nine (!!!) carries last week. Yutan didn’t attempt a single pass in last week’s 42-6 win over St. Cecilia.

CLASS C-1 AND C-2 PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS

CLASS D-1 (UP TOP): Arapahoe won a 12-6 defensive stalemate last week against unbeaten Ravenna to advance. Their reward is top-seeded Stanton who has only been held under 50 points once, and we think Mother Nature helped Wisner-Pilger in that one as the game was halted in the second half. Becker Pohlman running and a great line led by Ren Brown. Both Cross County and Sandy Creek are unbeaten heading into the other quarterfinal. Loads of talent both ways.

CLASS D-1 (BOTTOM SIDE): Unbeaten Crofton seems to be getting better and better. Just 50 passes in 10 games and Wyatt Tramp is over 1,300 yards on the season. Elkhorn Valley earned a home game after reversing their regular season matchup with previously undefeated Plainview last week. EMF and 2,000+ yard back Breckan Schluter head to all-season No. 1 North Platte St. Pat’s which counters the running of Jackson Roberts. Both defenses pitched shutouts last week.

CLASS D-2 (UP TOP): High-flying Johnson-Brock faces another top west-central defense in Sandhills/Thedford this week. Two of the top quarterbacks in the class with the Eagles’ Sloan Pelican and S/T’s Kyle Cox, who runs for nearly 200 yards per contest. The other one should be just as good when Central Valley travels to Arnold to face South Loup. Both teams had their season end to Howells-Dodge last year. Trey Connell (South Loup) and Grady Kelly (Central Valley) had big games last week.

CLASS D-2 (BOTTOM SIDE): Goodness. How about the bottom of this bracket? Howells-Dodge, Humphrey St. Francis and Wynot. All played each other this year with Wynot going 2-0 and HSF getting a thrilling win over H-D. Now, the Flyers go back to try and reverse their 14-6 Wynot score. As for the Jags (8-2), another playoff rematch with western power Dundy County-Stratton, which has had their past two seasons ended by Howells-Dodge.

EIGHT-MAN PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS

SIX-MAN (UP TOP): Ever since an early season win over defending champion Parkview Christian, S-E-M has been labeled the team to beat in the six-man ranks. One of their closest regular season games? A 43-27 win over Stuart. Last week, Jordan Scoville had four TD’s for the Mustangs. In a win over Southwest, Kayde Ramm threw three TDs to Ben Paxton. Undefeated Pawnee City — a finalist last year — hosts Wilcox-Hildreth in the other matchup. The Falcons lone loss to S-E-M in a game they led in the second half.

SIX-MAN (BOTTOM SIDE): Shocked in this round by Pawnee City last year, Potter-Dix gets a quarterfinal rematch with Parkview Christian who they beat 40-34 on their way to the 2021 state championship game. Brayden Kasten has thrown for 474 yards and ran for 800 in nine games. Arthur County is still perfect and Dane Pilakowski might be able to play for any team in the state. Last week he had 243 yards on five carries (lol, not a typo). They face Hay Springs, who they beat 80-7 win week three. But the Hawks are healthy now and have won six in a row off an 0-3 start.

SIX-MAN PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS

Some Horses

On a night full of leaders (horses, thoroughbreds, maybe) here is one game in each class with a matchup we are keen on seeing play out on our way to the semifinals.

CLASS A. Anthony Rezac (Omaha Westside) and CJ Gauff (Bellevue West). In a game where so many players are going to play football at Nebraska, we focus our eyes on Rezac and Gauff. Rezac is an unquestioned winner and on a team full of talent, he is the ringleader and will make the Warriors go. As for Gauff? He’s gonna need another big night (32 carries for 185 yards last week) that might not matter how many yards, but how many carries if the Birds are to keep Westside off the field.

CLASS B. Blake Macklin (Norris) and Kyler Lauridsen (Bennington). For Norris to have any chance of ending Bennington’s 36-game win streak, they’ll need Macklin to run well — like his 235 yards last week — and keep them on schedule. How do the Badgers slow him down? With that elite defense that has 15 tackles for loss from Lauridsen; that will keep you off schedule.

CLASS C-1. Eli Coble (Broken Bow) and Braylon Iverson (Wahoo). The Warriors elite defense has forced 16 turnovers in 10 games, but mostly they want to tackle you to the ground. Iverson, a junior, has 81 tackles on the season. Coble may drive the bus to Saunders County. He’s the Indians quarterback, defensive back, punter, kicker, returner. You get it.

CLASS C-2. JT Brands (Oakland-Craig) and Derek Wacker (Yutan). Not many words here, because these two certainly just want the play to do the talking. So, in a game that will certainly be played (and won) in the trenches the South Dakota commit (Brands) and Nebraska walk-on (Wacker) will be immensely important.

CLASS D-1. Izaac Dickey (Cross County) and Ethan Shaw (Sandy Creek). Five unbeaten’s remain in Class D-1 and this game is the one that features two. Dickey averages 12 yards a carry, has 55 tackles and impacts the game with his blocking more than anything. Shaw, the junior quarterback, needs nine yards rushing for a 1,000-1,000 yard season.

CLASS D-2. Ethan Latta (Dundy County-Stratton) and Hunter Luther (Howells-Dodge). Yes, they are young (both sophomores). But they might be horses. And, both will be key to the end result this one. Last week, Latta had 29 carries for 211 yards and six touchdowns. In the “big game” in Ainsworth, Luther needed 51 carries for his 298-yard, three touchdown effort in a 32-12 win.

SIX-MAN. Anthony Kling, Jett Farwell (Pawnee City) and Graiden Ritner (Wilcox-Hildreth). Fine, we cheated. But Kling and Farwell have combined for 1,875 yards rushing and receiving with 50 (50!!) touchdowns. Ritner has 99 tackles for a Wilcox-Hildreth defense that has slowed down top-ranked S-E-M; he’ll need a load more Friday evening.

The games are important, but the lessons are forever. No bad vibes. So, mom and dad, make sure you enjoy them and give those boys a hug when its over. I promise, they’ll want one.

Thanks for reading this far and joining us on social media. We’ll be out an about on Friday and will provide as many updates as we can. If you loved the Newsletter, share with a friend or on social media.