Wisner-Pilger tops Tekamah-Herman in final game

The Wisner-Pilger Gators blew out Tekamah-Herman at home Friday night, winning 72-26.

The Gators led 22-0 at the end of one and outscored the Tigers 26-8 in the second quarter to take a 48-8 lead into the locker room.

Wisner-Pilger won the third quarter 18-12 to go up 66-20 after three.

Both teams scored 6 points in the fourth quarter.

Cooper VonSeggern was 16-19 passing for 222 yards with three touchdowns.

Korrell Koehlmoos caught 6 balls for 123 yards, and scored twice. Hunter Waterman had 2 catches for 53 yards and a score.

VonSeggern added 225 yards rushing on 18 carries, including two scores. Cobe Porter had 145 yards rushing on 14 carries, including two scores.

The Gators racked up a school and 11-man state record 777 yards of total offense, including 531 on the ground.

That broke the school record of 590 set in 2011.

Wisner-Pilger also broke Omaha South's 11 man all-class record of 760 yards set in 1991.

In addition, it's the 18th highest total offensive output of all-time nationally, and the 2nd highest total offensive output nationally this season.

WOW. Simply put that's amazing.

Head Coach Brent Bauer says the win was a nice way to end the season after all the tough things the Gators had to go through this year.

"It was nice to see our team finally be able to put it all together. After all of our injuries and adversity this season our kids were ready to go play. I saw us starting to practice better during the Logan View week and knew we were starting to hit our stride. We have had so many players playing in positions that they hadn't practiced or rep'd in so many games that it was difficult for us to get into any rhythm on offense. It was also difficult for each player to really learn their defensive assignments when one week your a D end and the next week your an inside LB and so on. Getting a win to end the season felt great. Hopefully we have some great energy - attitude- effort going into our winter & spring sports and our summer workouts."

Bauer says it's a great feeling to set a record for once.

"It's fun. To know we broke a state record for total offense that was set in 1991 is something special.  As I look through the state records you'll find more than 1 record set AGAINST Wisner-Pilger. Especially in 1977 when Pierce set the Class B total offense record against Wisner-Pilger. It's neat to know that in 11 man football no one has gained more yards than we did in the history of Nebraska High School Football. However, it also shows you what we were capable of the entire season. We are really looking forward to playing with a HEALTHY team this summer!"

Wisner-Pilger finishes the 2016 campaign with a 1-8 record.

Bauer says there are a number of seniors he will always remember.

"I'll never forget guys like Nathan Hatterman who was the definition of a coachable player. Came to us as a freshman with very little athletic ability. Developed a love and passion for football that was second to none! He leaves here with a lot of college interest and is a player I will point to for future classes to see as an example of doing everything right. Cooper Von Seggern was a great leader as well. Very vocal and did all he could to get our team to practice and play the right away. Cooper was told twice this season that he was going to be out for the season. Going into our Crofton game with a thumb injury and then going into our Oakland Craig game with a stress fracture in his foot. He kept going and finished the season with all heart! I'll also always appreciate the toughness of Cobe Porter who put off shoulder surgery to finish his senior season. He was told during the week of our Hartington Cedar Catholic game that he would have to sit the rest of the season. Love and passion for the game kept him with us and he finished the season very well. We had 13 seniors out for football, but only had 4 that were 4 year players on our roster. Gage Riecken and Travis Keyes both transferred here as sophomores. They also added a lot of passion and pride to our team. I felt our seniors did the best they could and really exemplified what it takes to play football."

Other seniors include Brody Mattson, Kaden Henry, Jake Denton, Ryan McBride, Alexander Ausdemore, Braydon Kalkowski, and Devin Rasmussen.

Key returners for the Gators include Koehlmoos, Keegan Ruskamp, Waterman, Caden Schweers, Jayden Raabe, and Levi Otten.

Bauer says kids need to be more involved if this team is going to have the type of season they hope to next year.

"We MUST have better multi-sport participation. That is number 1. We need kids out for basketball or wrestling, track, and baseball. Our multi-sport athlete numbers are pretty low in regards to the successful schools in our conference. We also need to get our summer lifting / camp numbers back up to where they were 2 years ago. We had averaged 97% attendance rates for football players in our Summer Gator Power program. This past summer was the lowest attendance percentage we have had in my 9 years here at Wisner-Pilger (Under 70%). Our camp attendance was low as well.  We also must get healthy and take better care of our bodies. So many of our injuries came from previous seasons or other sport injuries in which the kids didn't get the injuries addressed when they should have. That caused many of our early season injuries.  And last but defiantly not least, we need to practice with better energy - attitude and effort. This was a big issue for this team. Regardless of your team situation if you practice great you'll play great."

I think that simply says it all in terms of what the players must do better to have success next season.