Send A Message

It’s Saturday morning and you need to smile. So crack this baby open and have at it with your favorite morning ritual and know that Matt Rhule licked his lips to a Big Ten football win (we pulled our hair out watching the final 10 minutes) and the Huskers will be .500 for TWO MORE WEEKS. 

We are one week away from the 8-man playoff brackets (holy cow!) and knee deep into the rest of football. We even have some 11-man playoff spots clinched tonight (hello, Adams Central). It was a perfect Friday night for your team to send a message with a big win. And many did just that.

Ok, you ready? You might need a blanket for this one, it’s going to be a little chilly. Don’t forget to give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram for great photos, analysis and story links. We appreciate you coming along in our journey.

I Am The Warrior

FOSTER FIELD, WHERE A COLLEGE TEAM PLAYS: Mike Sautter called on the way home and the Newsletter finally figured it out. What to say, you know?

“I have been covering high school since 1999,” I said, “and that’s the best half of football I have ever seen a single team play.”

Truly nothing else comes to mind as we watched Omaha Westside — defending state champion, current No. 1 team in Class A — dissect Kearney 56-0 here. Not only was it the final score, it was the half time score.

The Warriors were wearing white, but it was surely Kearney who would surrender. You name it, it worked.

Quarterback Anthony Rezac — look, I’ll just say it — is the best quarterback in Nebraska. He’s also the best winner. It’s the second part that should make him most desirable for college football programs. Let’s pile on with some evidence, if you don’t mind.

1. He scored the games opening touchdown on a 61-yard dart up the center of the field.

2. On Westside’s second drive, he handed off to Jahmez Ross three times. Another score.

3. Drive three, a 64-yard touchdown to Christian Jones. It’s 21-0 with 6:54 left in the first quarter. The Warriors have 211 yards on ten plays and have faced one third down.

4. Next time out? 10 plays, 85 yards, a 10-yard spinner to Trevor Spady in the end zone. They only faced one third down on that drive as well.

By halftime, they had scored four more times. Rezac completed 13-of-14 passes for 237 yards and Ross carried 14 times for 182 yards and scored three times — his 60-yarder a thing of beauty in the second quarter.

Rezac talks like a grown man. Maybe because he is one.

“We talk about elevating every single game and every single week,” he said, postgame (we could have just as well chatted mid-third quarter). “It starts in the weight room, in practice, with your preparation individually and sleep and nutrition.”

The numbers are gaudy. 35 plays, 506 yards. Kind of makes you chuckle a little bit. Kearney is good and the Bearcats are well-coached. That’s not an opinion. On this night, they were simply beat.

Maybe more impressive? Game in hand and helmets on the bench for most of Paul Limongi’s group in the second half, and the starters were engaged with their teammates the rest of the way.

That’s when you know you have built a special culture. A winning culture. A championship culture. Not very often you see it up front and personal like we did on Friday night.

Think the Warriors are satisfied? Try that at your own risk.

“We just have to come out and keep getting better,” Rezac said.

Fair enough. No. 2 Millard South next week.

The Rest of Friday

MORE WARRIORS: Speaking of Warriors, Class C-1, No. 2 Wahoo doesn’t appear to be too bad at football either. In the Pinnacle Bank Game-of-the-Week they played their notorious ball control football that led to a 32-0 win over Scotus Central Catholic.

It wasn’t the prettiest thing for Wahoo. They led 19-0 at the half despite two turnovers inside the Scotus 20 (hey, this sounds familiar) but a stingy defense (also familiar), a second half punt return touchdown and a big rushing night from Noah Bordovsky moved the Warriors to 7-0 on the season.

A HURRICANE??: Elkhorn South turned it on late against a pesky Grand Island team at Elkhorn Stadium. Leading just 17-10 at the half, the Storm scored 28 second-half points and cruised to a 45-10 win over the Islanders. Brady Bousquet scored three times for Elkhorn South. Postgame

THE HEADSCRATCHERS: A few interesting results during Week Seven as well lead by No. 2 Millard South just hanging on over Columbus. Thinking ahead? And, Lincoln Southeast scoring a big city win for Lincoln with a 21-10 upset of No. 3 Millard West.

CHANTS PROVIDE STATEMENT: After Kearney Catholic’s win over then-No. 6 Hastings St. Cecilia last week, their subsequent date with No. 3 Ord on Friday night would be a glimpse into the Class C-2 playoff picture. And the Chants, who have lost to No. 1 Norfolk Catholic and No. 2 Battle Creek, showed why they still belong at the top of the rankings with a 34-20 home win.

The Chants (5-2) led 20-0 at the half, but Kearney Catholic (5-2) battled back to within 20-13 after Ord mishandled a snap in their own territory that led to a touchdown, but a Dylan Hurlburt run and a pick-six moved the lead back to 34-13 before the Stars scored late.

“It was really good for our kids to battle through some adversity tonight,” Ord coach Nate Wells said. “Over the last few weeks we have really had some kids step up and into some leadership roles on our team.It showed tonight.”

Hurlburt ran 36 times for 177 yards and three scores, while Trent McLain added 106 yards on 15 attempts.

ANOTHER HASTINGS HAYMAKER: Quarterback Tucker Synek connected with Keithen Krings for a touchdown with four seconds left as the Tigers came from 21-6 down for a 29-28 win over No. 10 Scottsbluff. The hard-luck Bearcats dropped their fourth straight — two of them by a single point.

ALL THE SCORES // NSAA POWER POINTS

Quick Hitters

SPEAKING OF HASTINGS: The Class A field is set for next week’s state softball tournament that begins at the Bill Smith Softball Complex in Hastings on Wednesday.

The top-five seeds all won their districts — Gretna, Millard North, Papillion-LaVista, Lincoln East and Lincoln Southwest — with minor upsets in districts 6 and 7 as Lincoln Pius and Norfolk advanced. It appears that Omaha Westside has a slight edge on Millard West for the wild card spot, which will be determined after the final Class B and C districts are complete later today.

Three Class B and six Class C district finals were completed on Friday. Full list of pairings and results here.

MORE: ALL THE SCORES // NSAA POWER POINTS // NEBPREPS.COM COACHES POLL 

ON TO STATE: The state girls golf tournament is set for Monday and Tuesday at three sites across the state. Our Wednesday Newsletter highlighted the completed districts with some remaining that were completed on Wednesday.

The tournament will again be at three site across the state: Riverside Golf Club in Grand Island (Class A), Scottsbluff Country Club (Class B) and Lake Maloney Golf Club in North Platte (Class C). We’ll have a full preview on Sunday of each class and teams and players to watch.

Class A Tee Times // Class B Tee Times // Class C Tee Times

Parting Shot: Wrong Place, Wrong Time

BEING BORN IN THE WRONG YEAR: I always see state championships as a funny thing. Yes, you were the best in your sport in your class that year. A sure accomplishment to be celebrated. It happens on an annual basis. But, I often wonder about the teams that didn’t win the championships. Surely, their hard work and effort shouldn’t go unnoticed, right?

So, you had to play Wahoo basketball between 1988 and 1992? You had to play South Sioux City or Sandy Creek or Seward or North Bend Central in girls basketball? You have been trying to beat Omaha Skutt in volleyball for the last nine years. Were you born at any other time, could you possibly make the claim of being a champion? How many “state championship” teams could your team have defeated? It all seems so irrelevant to me.

Great teams are great no matter their finish in a tournament or a meet or a playoff game or whatever. This year, because in our house we ADMIRE how they run and who they are, I keep thinking about the York girls cross country team.

There is history in the program at York High. Four boys teams titles and three girls; 11 individual gold medals and two all-class golds. The 2023 girls team might be as good — heck even better — than any of those state title teams.

It would appear the Dukes have one of, if not the, top runner’s in the state in senior Kassidy Stuckey. They have a strong supporting cast — three other runners were in the top-8 at the Central 10 Conference meet on Thursday. It’s likely they’ll have five top-30 runners at the state meet (or close to it).

And, if they do all those great things? It might be good enough for third place in the team race. Yep. Two-time defending champion Norris and conference mate Elkhorn North will likely finish ahead of York; the three schools could take 12 of the 15 medals on October 20 (!!!).

We are in a prime time of distance running in Nebraska. It’s amazing to watch. And every single runner who laces up their shoes at district meets this coming week, has already won. You’ll see champions everywhere you look..