They'll Remember the Tigers: Synek, Shoemaker, Hastings
Man, 1994 was a long time ago. And 1993 was even longer ago.
Maybe so but those years are burned into the memory banks of every Hastings High football fan since it was in those two seasons the Tigers won their only two state playoff titles, winning Class A in 1993 and Class B in 1994. The residue of those state titles still clings to the program and the community, the memories invigorated by the school’s 2020 team. Why’s that you ask? Because the Tigers are a serious state title contender this season, as legit as any Hastings team in the past 25 years or so.
The Hastings program is blessed with a deep and talented senior class, one which has grown accustomed to winning all the way back to junior high, and is a group led by its quarterback Jarret Synek and slot receiver Carson Shoemaker, a pair of returning all-staters.
Last season Hastings finished the season 8-3, scoring its first playoff win since 2007, and beating mighty McCook twice, both in the season opener and playoff opener. That opening win was Hastings’ first over McCook after 17 straight losses.
“Beating McCook was huge for our team. We expected to be good last season but beating them got the monkey off our back and gave us a real shot of confidence,” says Synek, a 6--foot-tall, 200-pound senior. “The season as a whole was really our next step as a program. People probably underestimated us coming into the season but we made a big jump and showed the underclassmen in our program we could be a successful team.”
Doesn’t hurt when your QB passes for 2,524 yards and 29 TDs and rushes for eight more, nor when your slot receiver catches 57 passes and accounts for over 2,100 all---purpose yards.
This group of seniors on the Hastings roster was unbeaten both as seventh graders and eighth graders and their impact on the varsity program has been pretty profound, lifting the Tigers from a 4-5 record when they were sophomores (all wins coming against teams with three wins or less) to last year’s sterling 8-3 mark. So when Hastings took a pretty good whipping the week after the McCook win, state finalist Scottsbluff got ‘em 47-12, its confidence wasn’t shaken.
“After that game we reminded ourselves one game doesn’t make a season, good or bad, and we went back to work. By our third game we were on the same page and started rolling,” recalls Synek. “I am lucky to have Carson on my side and some great receivers who are fast and catch the ball really well.”
Not all that big at 5-7 and 150, Shoemaker is exceptionally quick and elusive, a nightmare matchup in the open field. He loves playing the slot and for good reason.
“It’s just a natural fit for me and it gives me all sorts of ways to help our team. They can dump me the ball off short and do what I do best, which is to use my feet and create, but I also get the ball deep and that’s fun, too,” says Carson. “All of us receivers are lucky to have Jarret as our quarterback because he can make all the throws. No matter where you are on the field if you are open he’ll get you the ball.”
Jarret was born in Hastings and has two brothers, one young and one older, and a younger sister. He’s served as lifeguard at the Hastings Country Club pool, he likes to play video games, and he and Carson spend a fair amount of time playing disk golf - no word on who the big winner there is. Also a strong student, Jarrett carries a 3.9 GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society, as well as being a member of the school’s basketball and track and field teams. He’s made a couple of college visits but is taking his time in making a football decision, though he is pretty certain to study pre-medicine once he arrives.
Carson was born in Hastings and has two brothers and three sisters. He earns As in the classroom and is also an outstanding track athlete, qualifying in three events as a sophomore and running a leg on the school’s fourth-place 400 meter relay team. He’s also not ready to make his college decision but has been eying Nebraska Wesleyan for football and track or maybe Creighton University for track. Carson would like to follow in the footsteps of his father, Coach Shoemaker, and like to become a coach or maybe work in the physical training field.
“We love the makeup of our team,” says Hastings head coach Charlie Shoemaker. “Jarret has become a very good quarterback and Carson has always had that knack for big plays. We also have several other players on our team who can make plays and our staff has done a nice job of figuring out what each guy does best and then put them in position to make the most of our system.”
And all this winning has also pumped life into the Hastings fan base. Everybody loves a winner and the Tigers don’t want to let them down.
“Now we have a lot of people, including parents from those championship teams, come up and encourage us,” says Carson. “That was well before our time but I do know the guys want people to remember our team, and for all the right reasons.”