Scheierman for Six: Baylor Scheierman, Aurora

@HuskerlandBob Sez: This article is republished from last month...hope you enjoy it to start another big week of playoff football.

It sort of takes your breath away.

After a while you just grow numb to the numbers - 507 yards and eight touchdowns one week, 431 yards and seven touchdowns the next. I mean, where will it all stop?

Lincoln, most likely, but let’s move along, shall we?

The artist behind the work is Aurora senior Baylor Scheierman, who last season was a Friday night football hero with his 2,424 passing yards and 28 touchdowns. That’s the kind of production that will make you a local legend 40 years down the road.

But it pales in comparison to what’s going on in 2018. Scheierman has led the Huskies to a blazing 7-0 start, beating the opposition by an average of 37 points per game, and that includes a 15-point win over Class B Grand Island Northwest.

Sending a shock wave through Class C-1 football Scheierman has ignited the Aurora onslaught, having passed for 1,950 yards and 30 touchdowns through just seven games.

And about that C-1 thing. Aurora has decades of history as a Class B powerhouse but wound up dropping a class for this classification cycle. The Huskies opened the preseason as the No. 1-ranked team in its new class and never looked back.

Neither has Scheierman.

“We didn’t come into this season having to prove anything to anybody, especially on offense,” says Baylor. “Coach (Kyle) Peterson is so smart, we always have a great game plan and I am lucky to have great receivers - they are amazing. People will say those receivers are lucky to get to play with Baylor but it’s really the other way around.”

For the record, Baylor’s elite receiving corps include seniors Cade Reichardt, Jordan Stevenson and Cy Bullerman. Between them they have caught 87 passes for 1,590 yards and 22 TDs. That’s pretty good.

And so is Scheierman, and not just when he’s back in the pocket.

“Baylor has developed a lot as a leader in the past year,” says Coach Peterson. “He is the ultimate competitor and brings out that competitive nature in all of his teammates. Baylor has a way of making all of those in the huddle with him better and that’s not just on the field or in the film room but in the weight room where he’s become one of our hardest workers.”

In today’s media driven world all the buzz surrounding a great football player like Baylor can turn a guy’s head. Not with Scheierman.

“All that talk does is make me work harder. I like the idea of other guys thinking when we come to town, ‘oh no, here comes Aurora,’ but our coaches do a good job of keeping us on the straight and narrow path.”

Um, pretty sure other teams are still saying ‘oh no, here comes Aurora’ but you get the point.

Born in Hastings, Baylor has two older sisters, a younger sister who is a freshman and a sixth-grade brother. His life mostly revolves around sports, either playing them or watching them, though he does like the occasional round of golf to find some solitude.

Also an outstanding classroom student Baylor carries a 3.9 GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society.

With all these crazy passing stats the natural question would be, where is the 6-6, 180-pounds sweet throwing left-hander going to play his college ball. South Dakota State, he’s committed to play at Division I South Dakota State.

Basketball. To play basketball.

See, that’s the conundrum in Baylor’s life. He’s also a big-time basketball talent, a returning all-stater who has always dreamed of playing in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. SDSU, led by Kimball native Mike Daum, the two-time conference player of the year, played in last year’s NCAA tournament.

“I loved everything about SDSU. The coaches and their influence was huge for me, they saw me as a good fit in the program, they have a great family atmosphere around the program and their facilities are great,” says Baylor. “But football has entered my mind in a big way this year, especially once I realized this would be the last time I would ever play the game.

“I have a decision to make.”

At this point Aurora has dominated its competition and will enter the playoffs as the favorite to win the C-1 state title. So what, says Baylor.

“We can’t get caught up in all that. Our team loves playing football but you can’t look too far into the future or you’re going to slip up. We can’t put ourselves above other teams, we need to respect them all.”