At last.
After months of build up - which is actually one of the great joys in high school football - our kids get to play some games, starting with four of them tonight.
There is sort of a heavy concentration of games (with four games total can there really be a “heavy concentration?”) in central Nebraska, with Lincoln North Star playing at Hastings High, Schuyler traveling to Sandy Creek, and Blue Hill visiting Cross County. Our fourth game features Homer at Laurel-Concord-Coleridge.
Though it’s been a while now it’d be pretty hard to remember what a battle royale the 2020 Class D-1 playoffs final four turned out to be. Double overtime in the championship game before Dundy County-Stratton locked up its first title with a win over Burwell, with Burwell rallying from a 22-0 deficit to beat Cross County in the semifinals, 37-36.
At Cross County you are pretty certain they remember all that pretty clearly.
That loss put a bit of a damper on a spectacular season of football by the Cougars, who won their first 11 before that loss, the closest win by 20 points. And there is a lot of talent back from that Cross County, which has now played in each of the last two state semifinals, and they seem to have picked up where they left off.
“We’ve had a fairly crisp fall camp this year. This is year three in our system and the kids have a really good grasp on what we are trying to do now and that has allowed for us to spend more time on the fundamentals and less time installing scheme,” says Cross County head coach Hayden Delano. And here’s more bad news for Cougar opponents, the team’s two returning all-staters, Carter Seim and Cory Hollinger, are now all grown up - Hollinger has filled into that massive 6-foot-5, 225-pound frame and Seim has added 30 pounds of muscle since last season (and gotten a step quicker!) and now checks in at 6-1, 215. Big boys with big talent.
Seim was one of Cross County’s two - you read that right, two - 2,000-yard rushers in 2020 and he will operate behind a very veteran line, one that returns four of last year’s five starters. Senior Haiden Hild is another big athlete - 6-foot-2, 190 pounds - and he will become the team’s new quarterback. He’s had a big fall camp, says Coach Delano. “Haiden will be a big factor in our offense. He’s waited patiently to prove what he can do, and I think he will take full advantage of his opportunities.
Last season Cross County took full measure of a young Blue Hill team, winning by 58 points. Maybe so but Coach Delano and his crew won’t be taking the Bobcats lightly.
“We expect Blue Hill is going to take a big step forward this year. Last season they had one of the toughest Class D-2 schedules in the state, so their record didn’t’ quite show how talented they were” says Coach Delano. “They’re going to be big and physical and we are going to have to play really well and execute at a high level Friday night in order to win the game.”
Blue Hill does return a talented core group from last year’s team, including senior all-state candidate MJ Coffey, the team’s quarterback and leading defender. “We will definitely need to keep tabs on him,” adds Coach Delano.
* Another program that enjoyed huge success in 2020, also reaching the state semifinals, Class B Hastings will host Class A Lincoln North Star in a fun cross-class match-up which will be played at Hastings College. Last season Hastings kicked off its 9-2 season - which ended only after a competitive semifinal round loss to eventual state champion Elkhorn High - by beating the Gators, 35-8.
“We have had a really good camp, really fun,” says Hastings head coach Charlie Shoemaker. “We have a lot of new faces in the mix and it has fun putting the puzzle together. Our kids are working hard and will be ready to go.”
You lose your starting quarterback to the Huskers - Jarret Synek walked on at Nebraska - and also lose a two-time all-state slot receiver (Carson Shoemaker) and your offense will probably be a little choppy to start the season. No need to fear at Hastings, though, as the defense seems ready to take the lead, at least for now.
“We have some inexperience at quarterback and wide receiver but our running game should be good, and we really feel our defense will be a strength for us, especially early,” says Coach Shoemaker. “It may take a little time for our players to settle in but we will be a good football team.”
They will face a North Star program that has struggled to gain traction, but which also jumped to a 3-1 start last season before losing its last four games. Either way, you respect the opponent at all times, especially when you are playing up a class.
“They lost a lot of seniors just like us, so they are a similar situation, playing a lot of younger players,” says Coach Shoemaker. “It should be a good match-up.”
* At Sandy Creek, we have a real interesting pairing. The host Cougars, a Class C-2 program, will be looking to take the proverbial next step this season and could make a big splash if it finds a way to again beat Class C-1 Schuyler. In last year’s suffocating heat at Schuyler (I was there, I should know) Sandy scored a 37-20 victory.
Schuyler has a new head coach, Greg Hansen, who led Stanton to the Class C-2 state final back in 2004.
* At Laurel, the Class D-1 Bears, who won a playoff game last fall, will face a Class D-2 Homer team that could cause them some problems. Laurel won last year’s game by 64 points and will win again tonight but a name to remember is that of Homer junior Avery Overfelt, a tough little cookie (5-6, 140 or so) who is a playmaker on both sides of the ball.
Gee, isn’t fun to be talking about real games, and real players like Avery Overfelt? I knew you’d agree...thanks for your support of all things Huskerland, now buckle up for what should be a three-month thrill ride.
