You’re right, it was fun.

Last Saturday night I was lucky enough to be named a member of the Nebraska Eight-Man Football Hall of Fame Class for 2019. (Don’t ask too many questions, that’s the way I approach it.) As exciting and fulfilling as such a high honor might be it is not the ultimate in my profession, at least not in my eyes.

The ultimate is to circulate the room during Saturday’s pregame reception and visit with the people in attendance, people who all have a shared bond with me, that being a love of the game of football. That love of the game has yielded many high honors in my long career (man, today getting out of bed today reminded me how long a career it’s been) and to me that all seems a little crazy. You don’t do what I do so people will hand you an award, exciting and fulfilling as it might be, you do it because of a love the of the game, a love for the people in and around the game, and the love of one great hobby.

A few weeks ago I bored you all with my recounting of how Huskerland Prep Report came to be and while that isn’t necessary here it is worth restating the initial idea behind Huskerland was, and remains, to make for myself a fun pathway for being involved in Nebraska high school football. Having grown up (or at least grown older) as a sports reporter this seemed a natural outlet and to say I knew I’d be part of the big game 30 years later would be untruthful. When we started I hoped to be publishing Huskerland the next year, and then the next, and the next thereafter.

To stay in the game this long is a direct reflection of how fun my hobby is and, regardless of zip code, how great the people surrounding our game really are.

* As for last Saturday night it was especially awesome to share my big moment with my wife of 33 years, Huskerland Penni. (If we’re still together on July 6 the calendar flips to 34 years. I like our chances.) Also in attendance were our two kids, Shea and Jessie, and many of you have met one or both of them. They’re good kids, take after their mom.

I was also lucky enough to be able to share the evening with my three sisters - Becky Mora, Rhonda Jensen and Roxanne Reyes - as well as my brother-in-law Larry Mora and my niece Abbi Jensen. I was not able to share the moment, at least not in an earthly way, with my mother Margaret Jensen, who dove into that heavenly end zone last October, nor my father, Bud Jensen, who slipped the surly bonds of earth back in January of 1998. I wish very much they had been there.

As member of the Class of 2019 I was surrounded by some of the all-time greats in Nebraska eight-man football, most of whom Huskerland had featured on our ink-stained pages. Not only are these great football players and coaches, they are all accomplished professionals, people who have become good family men and great role models in their community.

Which isn’t to say we didn’t have some fun at that reception. (wink)

It was a great night for my conference, the Loup Valley Conference, with Casey Beran of Sargent and John Howell of Mullen joining the hall of fame. Casey is an orthopedic surgeon - joint replacement is his specialty - so I told him I hoped we’d never meet again. (wink) It was also great to see former Bulldogs great Mike Kozeal, who now coaches his high school alma mater, breaking out the Sargent gear in support of Casey. As for John, we share the same accountant, so there is that, but only one of us won a Super Bowl ring with Tampa Bay back in 2003. It wasn’t me. (BTW, you want commitment to a cause? John watched his son play in the state 7-on-7 tournament Saturday morning in Denver, hopped on a plane and flew to Grand Island in order to get to the ceremony.)

There was a matched set of Irish in the house, as Steve Simon and head coach Doug Goltz sharing the spotlight. (And Steve’s world famous dad, Mike, of course. Of course.) Doug is going win a thousand combined games, football and basketball, before he’s done but he’s said it all started with Steve, his first great player. And maybe his greatest. That’s quite a statement given all the winning that’s gone on down there.

Back in the mid-1990s, when Huskerland Prep Report was hitting it stride, Falls City Sacred Heart and Dodge were the flavors of the month. Sacred Heart won its state record six straight Class D-2 state championships from 1989 to 1994 then handed the baton to Dodge, which won Class D-1 state titles in 1994, 1995 and 1996, adding D-2 state titles in 1997 and 1999. (I will save you looking it up, those teams met only once during that glorious stretch, Dodge beating Sacred Heart 28-8 in the 1997 state quarterfinals.)

At the core of all that Dodge greatness was a trio of hall of famers, including head coach Gordon Pilmore and superstars Cory Eikmeier and Clint Eikmeier. Gordon rode herd on those titles teams from 1994 through 1997, Cory set national records while becoming the greatest eight-man running back of all time and it’s real possible Clint is the greatest all-around player the program has ever produced. Seeing them together certainly brought back a lot of memories of games at the stadium in the park at Dodge.

Two great players from north central Nebraska, Billy Legate of Clearwater and Matt Ickes of Orchard, are part of this HOF class and I somehow viewed them as a field entry. Maybe it’s because they played the same type of game - tough, physical, no-favors-asked - maybe it was because they both looked like they could still take the ball on fourth-and-one and make something happen. (They assured me they could not.) Another guy from up that way, the great Andrew Zeisler of Butte was one tough customer when it came to playing defense for the Wildcats. He was a member of Huskerland’s 1990s all-decade team for a reason, you know.

A Kosch got inducted, which comes as no surprise as the Kosch family from Humphrey St. Francis has been a pretty good feeder school for the athletic program. Paul Kosch was a dynamic two-way player who had a knack for making big plays at the biggest moments, I remember that pretty well.

Overton’s football program had dual representation on Saturday night as both former Eagles great Eric Ryan and head coach Glen Snodgrass were inducted. Ryan was one of the most dynamic players in this class, leading his team to a state runner-up finish, and he’s also one of the deeper thinkers in this class. There is a complement in there somewhere.

As for Glen, he’s gone on to establish himself as one of the great high school coaches in our state - five state finals, two state titles - but he cut his coaching teeth at Overton, where his teams made three finals and won the 2006 Class D-1 state title. As I have told Coach Snodgrass over the years in many ways I still view him as an eight-man fixture, it always seemed like the right fit.

Maybe that’s because I also remember Glen as some sort of superstar back in high school, leading his dominating North Loup-Scotia team to the 1993 Class D-1 state title. For what it’s worth, I have never seen a better defensive end than Glen at the eight-man level. Maybe any level.

And speaking of domination and North Loup-Scotia another member of this power packed class is the power packed Steve Kriewald. Look, man, high school kids aren’t built to try and tackle a 250-pound fullback, ya know? That was Steve, who was part of North Loup-Scotia’s 1997 Class D-2 state runner-up team, then went on to a highly successful career as a Huskers fullback. (All of which pales in comparison to the achievements of his father, Gordon, who was part of another powerhouse NL-S team back in the early 1970s, one which beat by beloved Arnold Cardinals in back-to-back conference championship games.)

Speaking of Husker fullbacks, there were two more of them on hand Saturday night, as East Butler’s Jeff and Joel Makovicka were named members of the Class of 2019. Both are high profile professionals - Jeff’s an attorney, Joel owns about a billion physical therapy offices around the state - and it was great to share a few moments with them. Having said that, I waited until later in the evening to speak with them because when they entered the room it was a little bit embarrassing, the stampede to say hello to these Husker legends.

I thought they only did that kind of thing when Eric Ryan entered a room.

So there it is, a sanitized (wink) version of what went on Saturday night at the Eight-Man Hall of Fame induction. I am very honored to share the stage with so many great guys, many of them I have gotten to know well over the years while doing my Huskerland thing.

Congratulations to all the hall of famers, not only in this class but also to the classes inducted in 2017 and 2018.

Now, back to work on the preseason mag...