With Week One in the books, it finally feels like real football season is here. Mostly because it is.
The season started better for some teams than others - actually that's a 50-50 proposition now that I think of it - but there were some highlights to recall. We'll mix those in with some coach's comments in this segment, and I'd appreciate your feedback on this feature, so hit me up on Twitter @HuskerlandBob.
Coachspeak: Chris Seebohm, Alliance. "We did some very good things on both sides of the ball. Penalties limited some of our scoring opportunities in the first half, but we moved the ball efficiently and played sound defense. As always, there are some things we need to work on being this is our first game. I'm glad to come away with a win and all of our guys healthy.
"Offensively, we blocked really well and our running backs made some great reads. Defensively, our guys watched a lot of film and seemed to pick up on their tendencies. Besides that, we swarmed the football well and were able to get some turnovers. I'm very glad to have the coaches we have on staff. They do a tremendous job preparing our guys to play on Friday."
My Hero: Alliance. Brody Brennan rushed six times for 114 yards, with a 70-yarder mixed in, also caught four passes for 72 yards. Bryant Wilson had four tackles for loss, caused a fumble, recovered a fumble, and blocked a punt. Lane Lauder had three pass break-ups and a sack.
Coachspeak: Jeff Gross, McCook. "Beating Aurora (23-13) was a great win in a back and forth game. We really felt like we took control of the line of scrimmage as the game wore on and in the decisive 4th quarter the holes that were not there all game began to appear. We played great run defense and did not allow Dibbern any running lanes.
"We also managed to keep them from running and ball and make them (Aurora) one-dimensional, and that's due to some great play by our front eight."
My hero: McCook's junior all-state candidate Zach Schlager "was all over the place had a huge game," says Coach Gross, adding, "(Duncan) Fassler had a ton of tackles and three TD runs."
Coachspeak: Andy Schwarz, South Loup. "I think this win over Hemingford is just a confidence booster for us. Being down 22-7 at halftime and just getting physically manhandled in the first half, our guys never gave up and kept believing we could and would get the win.
"Our tackling was a big strong point for us, we swarmed to the ball and were just relentless. The biggest thing we kept them from doing was getting that big play. We made them grind it out and never gave up the back breaker big play that switches the momentum."
My Hero: For South Loup, Jack Rush completed 12-of-22 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns, with Blake Schwarz catching four passes for 100 yards and two scores. 135-pound sophomore Cole Gracey had 14 tackles in his first varsity start.
Coachspeak: Jake Nelson, Ainsworth. "The boys came into the game nervous and it showed the first quarter. We missed some tackles, overplayed and got out of position on defense, and dropped some balls that could have made for big plays.
"After we got down twelve points, I told the boys to settle down... this is eight man football, we can get right back into the game with one play. That's just what happened a couple plays later. My junior quarterback Payton Allen took a busted play for a long gain to Ravenna's ten yardline. A couple plays later he scored on a sneak. That brought the energy level and concentration back up. We started playing more aggressively on defense and tackled better and pretty much dominated the rest of the game except for a couple plays. I was glad to see the boys bounce back after that slow start because they could have just rolled over and thought "Here it goes again", but instead they came together as a team and showed a lot of people how talented they really are.
"For me personally, it was great to get back into the head coaching role after so many years of being an assistant. I had one win in three years as a Humphrey Bulldog...I've already matched that in my first group with these Bulldogs."
My Hero: Ainsworth junior quarterback Allen, a three-year starter, rushed for 191 yards and three TDs, part of a 384-yard rushing attack by the Bulldogs.
