A Little Bit of Chaos

best read with a good game plan

Some Fridays are status quo. Some Fridays are not. And some have perfect timing.

Week Six of the Nebraska high school football season may have been a little of everything. But, to say we had our eyes opened full while scrolling through the score feed would be an understatement.

Time for a breakfast trip around the state to catch you up. Can we start thinking about the playoffs yet? Some teams are, and they got a leg up in the first Friday of October. Let’s get to work.

🏈⏰ Right on Time

CHARGING NORTH ON US 77 — If you’re on time for a Wahoo football game, you’re already late.

Because if you’re rolling down Locust Street and pulling into Wahoo High’s parking lot a few minutes before 7 o’clock, you’re weaving through a whole mess of cars to find a spot.

And lucky for your tires, they get to rest on the nice cool grass east of the field, along with everyone else’s who had the audacity to think showing up less than 30 minutes early was good enough to watch one of the state’s best teams.

In any class.

No, you realize real quick that on time means early, because the action with these Warriors starts right away. Mount Michael, one of the best football stories of this season, found that out as Wahoo cruised to a 62-21 win that wasn’t as close as the score indicated.

“I’m just happy with where our progress is,” said Wahoo coach Chad Fox. “And we’ll move forward.”

So happens that this night was one of those times where football and life intersect with each other. This new assignment was right on time for me during the most difficult moment in my professional career.

On the morning of September 19 — a football Friday — I got a phone call telling me my services were no longer wanted as the assistant sports editor at the Lincoln Journal Star. My position was being eliminated, effective immediately, in what corporate suits like to call “reduction in force”.

I had been laid off.

Sports writing, save for about eight months in 2016, is all I have ever done in my career. A few days away from my 46th birthday, that means I’ve been at it for 23 years.

Well, had been at it.

This wasn’t the fault of anyone at the Journal Star, which has a proud history of some of the best prep coverage in the state.

This was a reflection of a form of media that has been in decline for a while now, where no one is immune from the chopping block.

Not even the sports guy. Just like that, my time was over.

But this is where those lessons you learn on the football field come in handy.

I was thrown a line by Harvest Sports and my friend Tony Chapman – a great teammate if there ever was one – and happily grabbed hold.

And after two Fridays at home, my first not at a game somewhere in more years than I’d care to admit, we were back at it again this week.

Like Chad Fox said: progress. Moving forward.

And what better place than Wahoo, a town that might love its high school sports more than anywhere else across this state?

It’s just so easy for the Warriors at the C-1 level. Star running back Kip Brigham is too fast, too athletic, too good at running back for your typical Class C program to handle.

He was at it again Friday night: 15 carries, 267 yards, four touchdowns. Two catches, 104 yards, one touchdown.

His third carry went for a 78-yard score. His fourth went 50 yards to the house. His first catch was a swing route from quarterback Jase Kaminski with a couple blockers in front. He moved upfield, turned on the blinker a couple times, and cruised 74 yards for a score.

It was part of a Wahoo onslaught of five touchdowns in less than nine minutes of game time.

Thanks for coming. See you next week.

The speed of the touchdowns stood in contrast with the patience Brigham used to score them.

He has learned the art of waiting for his linemen to create a crease. And to be sure, it is an art. Few paint better than Brigham. Even if he had to learn how.

A few too many runs into the backsides of his linemen helped him along.

“Early on in my career I just wanted to go, go, go, right away,” Brigham said. “And as I’ve aged and learned football on a deeper level, I’ve learned to stay patient and the linemen will really open up huge gaps for me.”

It’s the fine art of making sure everything is on time. And that’s a skill that will suit Brigham well down the road.

“Special player, man,” Fox said. “He does some things that other kids just can’t do.”

Now it’s onward for Wahoo after its 18th consecutive win.

And it’s onward for this newsletter as well. Timing is everything.

— Chris Basnett has been in Nebraska prep sports for most of his adult life. His free agent contract with Harvest Sports might cover his popcorn on the sidelines. But, we love high school sports enough to keep bringing the stories. Catch Baz with us the rest of the fall (and longer, we hope).

Every coach and team knows it takes a good game plan to create a winning program. With well-designed and thought out financial plans, the Karges Financial Group team educates clients to make important decisions to live differently and achieve their goals of financial security. It’s a winning game plan for you and your family. Karges Financial Group is a proud supporter of Nebraska high school athletics.

🏈🚗 An Epic Trip

Each week will take a trip around the state and highlight some big games that you may or may not have seen. It’s an “Epic Trip” powered by EPIC Team Camps.

All The Scores

CLASS A: All Prep all the time as they controlled their game with Omaha Central. The Jays won 31-16 and held OC to less than 50 yards in the first half. We’d like Tim Johnk’s shirt. | BUSINESS TRIP: Papio South 45, Kearney 17 | Millard South. GOAT Territory.

CLASS B: Some yawners for the top-ranked teams. Nate Kelley, however, big night in the Mountain Time Zone. Scottsbluff 34, Gering 7. NK with 190 yards and three scores in a battle of 4-1 teams.

CLASS C-1: Who hangs with Wahoo? Sidney maybe. Austin Jacobsen with a hometown return for the Big Game Chain. | Gothenburg 56, Cozad 21. The Swedes are 5-1. | No. 6 O’Neill 33, No. 10 Pierce 21 |

CLASS C-2: When we saw Ord play Central City in week one, we knew the record might not be gaudy when district play rolled around. The Chants lost to three teams that are still 6-0. But, their Friday night 21-14 win over previously undefeated, No. 4 GICC could have them knocking on the rankings door. | No. 5 Boone Central survived Centura 24-20 | Malcolm stuns No. 1 Bishop Neumann, 21-7. HIGHLIGHTS

EIGHT-MAN: Defending champion Sandy Creek turned a 22-14 halftime game into a 55-14 blitzing over country rival Sutton. | DCS standout Ethan Latta set the 8-man career interception mark in a 47-14 win over North Platte St. Pat’s | Wausa-Osmond still perfect, 50-24 over Hartington-Newcastle | No. 5 Hitchcock County 28, Loomis 6 | Central Valley 48, Twin Loup 7

SIX-MAN: No. 4 SEM 63, No. 9 Wauneta-Palisade 33 | No. 10 Hampton 42, Shelton 18. Unbeaten Hawks with a road trip to Stuart next week.

HIGHLIGHTS: 10/11 Sports Overtime

12 years. Seven states. Over 15,000 miles, 16,000 shirts, 1,000 teams and 125 camps. EPIC Football Camps are ready to make your team better in the summer. In the 12 years since they founded, Nebraskan’s Scott Trimble and Jeremy Epp’s camps have produced 18 state champions and 28 more finalists.

🏈🏈 R-A-V-E-N-N-A

There wasn’t much fooling around on Friday night in Ravenna either — they made Baz proud in his hometown. In the state’s only battle of unbeaten teams, Ravenna blitzed Arcadia/Loup City, 52-8.

In moving to 6-0, the Bluejays never trailed.

Sophomore shot put phenom Mannox Martin blocked ALC’s first punt and Kobe Chamberlin went in from 10 yards away on the next play. When the Rebels fumbled on their next play from scrimmage the Jays used three plays to get a 14-0 lead on Wyatt Wroblewski’s 22-yard scamper.

We hadn’t played three minutes.

“I don’t think that it could have gotten much better than the start of the first half,” Ravenna coach Dan Bolling said. “We had a little lull, but then we had a nice response coming out of the half.

Yes, the Rebels cut the lead to 22-8 by halftime, but Ravenna had seen enough. They scored on three of four third quarter possessions on two runs from quarterback Trenton Wedemeyer (3 and 46 yards) and another from Chamberlin.

The clock was off and running.

“I think we just refocused on play fast, physical, detail-oriented football,” Bolling added. “Just like we preached all week.”

It’s Wedemeyer whose role has changed for the Jays as they play this season with the memory of quarterback Gavin Riesbeck, who was killed in an auto accident on Christmas Day 2024. In last year’s 6-3 playoff season, he ran for 919 yards, threw for 635 and accounted for 27 touchdowns.

Now, the Jays all wear the No. 4 on the back of their helmets to honor Gavin. He’d have liked what he saw on this early October night.

“Gav was a friend to everybody,” Bolling said. “Our job to is to play for him every night we get. We have been doing that and we will continue to keep doing that to honor him.”

There was plenty to go around on Friday as Chamberlin (186 yards) and Wedemeyer (113 yards) ran well behind a line that included senior center Cooper Todd, converted running back Bryce Rasmussen and Martin. The Jays have speed, too, on a defense that held ALC under 200 yards.

“Our kids have just gotten better every game,” the coach said.

It’s a good time to do it. The playoffs will come calling soon in Ravenna.

— Tony Chapman, Harvest Sports founder

Our Friday Night Drive game of the week is fueled in 2025 by Good Life Golf. Harvest Sports readers can take 15% off of their order by using the code HARVEST15 at checkout and if you order two or more hats, the shipping is free.

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Odds and Ends

• A state championship preview on Thursday night in Class A softball as No. 1 Millard North needed extra innings to beat No. 2 Lincoln Southwest, 7-6. PHOTOS

• Sometimes you need to read the Prep Running Nerd’s Nerdsletter just to get your mind right. This week is one of those weeks — teamwork, being a good parent. And, of course, the UNK recap. CLICK HERE

• District softball pairings were announced by the NSAA on Thursday. You can catch them all here. Class B will use the serpentine for seven districts and a wild card to state for the first time with Grand Island Northwest garnering the No. 1 seed. In Class A, it’s Millard North.

• Girls golf will be the first NSAA championship of the fall and post season. District tournaments will be held on Monday and Tuesday (let’s keep the rain away). District assignments | Class A Differentials | Class B Differentials

• Xavier Watts. NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month. Pretty darn cool for the Burke and Notre Dame product.

The Newsletter remains free to our readers thanks to our Harvest Partners and their support of our content. Please thank OrthoNebraska, Northwestern Mutual — Nathan Karges as well as Striv AV and Striv Education for their support of Nebraska high school athletics.