Random thoughts on a quiet trip back home from Foster Field on Friday night as the 9 county plates traveling west were surely trying to figure out if anyone might score on the Kearney High defense this year.

The main thought here, as we get ready to recap week two, is that high school sports are hard. Playing a sport you love shouldn’t be easy; we do this to make ourselves better. Coaching is hard. For every good thing that happens two might go wrong.

Everyone is out there giving it their all. Maybe if we just appreciated that, soaked in the memories and realized the lessons; high school sports would be in the perfect place.

Let’s have breakfast and the Newsletter, as always, thanks to our friends at Tom Dinsdale Automotive in Grand Island.

Seeing Stars

“Young men.”

Kearney Catholic football coach Rashawn Harvey used the two words five times in a 2 ½ minute post game chat on Friday night after his Stars moved to a 2-0 with a 43-29 win over Class C-2, No. 10 Ord.

We are not sure if they look so young anymore.

Despite just six seniors listed on his 49 man roster, Harvey (who said he thought it was seven) has a bunch that is playing beyond their years so far this season.

It was on full display Friday as the Stars played what they hope to be their final game at UNK’s Foster Field before debuting their new stadium and field turf on September 20th against Minden.

“We came out and performed well,” Harvey said after seeing his team jump to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. “We had a script of plays that we were able to stick with and the young men executed well. We made some big plays.”

In jumping to that big lead, the Stars had a pair of 10-play drives that covered 59 and 41 yards while getting touchdown runs of 1 and 3 yards from senior Pete Homan. Two plays after the second score, junior Hunter Key jumped in from of Jordan Williams’ first pass attempt of the night and returned it 22 yards for a third score.

The Chants — who ran five plays to KC’s 21 at that point — should have folded and went home. But that’s not how it works in Ord. They responded by controlling the next 10 minutes of the game.

Williams — who threw for three touchdowns — first connected with Haydin Nelson for a 17-yard score. Then, after Colton Thompson recovered a Homan fumble, Williams hit Thompson on a slant and it was 21-14 with 1:40 until halftime.

“But the quarterback made some big play for us,” Harvey said.

Enter KC’s own sophomore, Jake Bosshamer, who led a drive from his own 33 to the Ord 2 in the waning seconds that resulted in Solomon Wiens’ 22-yard field goal for a momentum boosting halftime chat.

“It was momentum and confidence for our young men,” Harvey said. “We have a kicker we believe in (it was Wiens fifth field goal of the season). That stopped their momentum and pushed it back in our direction.”

Bosshamer, who finished 20-for-24 for 250 yards then threw third quarter touchdown passes to Jake Geiser (32 yards) and Owen Axmann (29 yards) which put the game in serious doubt.

“At halftime we kind of talked about how we were hurting ourselves a little bit,” Harvey said. “Jake really adds several components to our offense. He can beat you with his feet and his arm. He makes the right plays, the right reads in our offense.”

Young men or not, the Stars are 2-0. And, with a swarming defense, high-powered offense and difference-making kicking game they may be a tough Class C-2 out in November.

Around the State

HOME SWEET HOME: After a long trip to Arizona to open the season, Millard South found Buell Stadium much more inviting on Thursday night. Jett Thomalla and Chase Loftin connected for two of the first three Patriot touchdowns as they rolled to a 56-0 win over Millard West. Game Thread

ELKHORN NORTH 34, YORK 0: The top of Class B may be sorting itself out already as No. 3 Elkhorn North sprinted to a 28-0 halftime lead over No. 8 York and rolled to a 34-0 win over the Dukes. Junior quarterback Ethan Beachly had four touchdown passes and 313 yards in the air as the Wolves passed an early season test. Game Thread | Mike Sautter with Beachly postgame

WAHOO 28, ASHLAND-GREENWOOD 14: Kip Brigham ran for 186 yards, scored three touchdowns and had an interception to seal the top-ranked Warriors 28-14 win over No. 2 A-G. No word on if he drove the bus back to Wahoo. Chris Basnett Game Thread

SEWARD 35, WAVERLY 21: Something may be brewing in Seward. The Jays knocked off their second straight preseason top-10 team on Friday night as they defeated Waverly 35-21. Game Thread

CHERRY CREEK, CO 42, MILLARD NORTH 10: Nebraska commit Pierce Mooberry had 10 receptions for 149 yards and a touchdown, but Cherry Creek from Denver scored a 42-10 win over the No. 4 Mustangs on Friday. Jacob Padilla Game Thread

TWO-MINUTE DRILL: A wild one in Central City as Cozad stunned the Bison on this two-point conversion in double overtime for a 56-55 win. Omaha Westview won two games last year. Now? 2-0 after a 21-7 win over Fremont. South Sioux City’s Tony Palmer ran for 390 yards (a school record) and seven touchdowns (a Class A record) in the Cards 49-26 win over Sioux City West. Elkhorn South pulls away from Bellevue West.

ALL THE SCORES

Odds and Ends

You’ll get most of our volleyball, softball and other sports coverage in our occasional Wednesday newsletter but we also hope to do some more “long-writing” on those days too. We will see what the fall brings.

VOLLEYBALL: Volleyball continues to ease its way into the season and we’ll start seeing bigger and bigger matches as the weeks progress. This week, Class B, No. 2 Norris moved to 7-0 with a sweep over conference mate and 7th ranked Bennington on Thursday. Game thread | nebpreps Coaches Poll | Highlights: No. 1 Papio South sweeps Papio

Also on Thursday night, the Newsletter dusted off the “gamer” to take in Class C-2, No. 4 Hastings St. Cecilia’s sweep of Grand Island Central Catholic. Hastings Tribune | ALL THE SCORES | PLAYOFF POINTS

SOFTBALL: The G’s (Gretna and Grand Island Northwest) are still off to unbeaten starts (with multiple wins over ranked teams) to start the 2024 softball season. The Dragons moved to 14-0 on Friday winning their first game in the Katie Williams NFCA Classic. Northwest, which has scored 10 runs in seven games of their 9-0 start, is playing in the Kearney Invite today. The latest nebpreps Coaches Poll also has Bishop Neumann No. 1 in Class C. ALL THE SCORES | PLAYOFF POINTS

GIRLS GOLF: The differential is now being used in both Classes A and B for district seeding in girls’ golf and will move to boys in the spring. District seeding and placement will be determined through meets played on September 20 and be released early the following week. District play is October 7 and 8 in all three classes. CLASS A TEAM | CLASS A INDIVIDUAL | CLASS B TEAM | CLASS B INDIVIDUAL

CROSS COUNTRY: While most everyone has had one or two cross country meets so far this fall, we are still easing into the 2024 fall season. There’s plenty of time let, but will be state meet time in Kearney before you know it. If you did need to know anything this early in the season, it’s that Fremont’s Juan Gonzalez is here to ruin you. The Tiger senior went to Sioux Falls and won the huge (430 runners, huge!!) Augustana Twilight race in 14:34. Gulp.

Here is your weekly reminder to follow Prep Running Nerd for all things cross country in Nebraska. September 4 Nerdsletter | Results and Photo Links | Week One Rankings

PARTING SHOT: Lincoln Christian is 2-0 after rolling past Wilber-Clatonia in their home opener on Friday night. It means very little, but it also means everything. The Lincoln Journal-Star’s Chris Basnett with the heartwarming (and gut wrenching) story of Christian head coach Kurt Earl and his wife Da’Nelle who is battling brain cancer.

(If it asks you to subscribe, might we suggest paying the $1 for six months. Good Husker coverage, too. The story is worth way more than that.