You know, to say that Bishop Neumann football has went been through some adversity would be putting it lightly. Going through five head coaches, yes you read that right, five head coaches in the last four years would be tough on any program.
If you didn’t know, Bishop Neumann has one of the great histories in Nebraska high school football. A program that has struggled to find its groove since the retirement of legendary Tim Turman, who was the head of program for three decades and won a couple of state titles, but the Cavaliers were back with a vengeance this season, finishing 8-2 after last week's Class C-2 quarterfinal loss to Lincoln Lutheran.
But to Trenton Barry, he just wants to play ball. A three-year starter, the team’s leading tackler and arguably one C-2’s best linebackers, Trenton certainly enjoyed the success his team has enjoyed in his senior campaign for the Cavaliers.
“I feel like our hard work the last four years is finally paying,” said Trenton. “We have just faced some much adversity, especially the senior class.”
Like I said, going through coaches like they have hasn’t been easy, but Trenton loves the way the team has bounced backed this season.
“We didn’t put our heads down, we just went to work for our new coach,” said Trenton, speaking of Jordan Roberts, who came to Neumann after a successful coaching career in Iowa. “I feel like we all bought in, we all played our role and kind of stepped up. I feel that helped a lot with building the team and feel like why everybody has played so well.”
And Neumann did play well this season. After reaching last year's playoffs and finishing 5-5 the Cavaliers were 8-1 in the regular season, the lone loss to unbeaten Hastings St. Cecilia. Nobody likes to lose, but Bishop Neumann won a lot this season, and by a lot, as it finished with eight wins with margin of victory over 36 points per. Again, yes you read that right. An absolute dominate regular season for the Cavaliers.
“After the loss, we knew right away we had to come back after the punch in the gut,” said Trenton. “It kind of left a salty taste in our mouths and after that night, nobody on the team wanted to feel like that again. Everyone on the team hates to lose, which I feel like is one our biggest qualities.”
An all-district player as a junior Trenton will be in the all-state conversation in 2022 after leading the team with 68 tackles, including six for loss, and and two interceptions, taking one of those to the house. Neumann loves to run the ball, and was very good at it, rushing for nearly 2,800 yards this season, but when they went to the air Trenton was option one, finishing with team-best totals of 14 catches for 283 yards and three TDs. Pretty good right? I would say so.
Well, you should see him on the diamond. Trenton has a career batting average of .372 and is outstanding shortstop. He is committed to play baseball at Northeast Community College in Norfolk.
Trenton is also an outstanding student, holding a 3.99 GPA. Whoever didn’t give him an A plus, how dare you. Trenton plans to major in pre-engineering while attending Northeast.
When Trenton isn’t playing sports, he’s helping around the family farm. Especially this time of the year with corn harvest. When he’s not helping around the farm, Trenton really enjoys spending time with his friends and family, especially one special individual.
“I love spending time with my grandma,” said Trenton. “She has been my biggest role model in my life, and she supports me through everything, so I spend a lot of time with her.”
What would we do without grandmas? It's sort of like asking, what would Neumann football without a guy like Trenton Barry. What you have there are a couple of real MVPs.
