Oakland-Craig loses in Semifinals to Centennial

The Oakland-Craig Football Team ended their season Friday night in the Class C-2 State Semifinals, falling 35-14 at Centennial.

The Broncos led 7-0 at the end of one and doubled up the Knights 14-7 in the 2nd quarter to take a 21-7 lead into the locker room.

After neither team scored in the third quarter, Centennial doubled up Oakland-Craig 14-7 in the 4th quarter.

Robby Mayberry had 95 yards rushing on 25 carries, including a score. Jefferson McNeill added 66 yards rushing on 10 carries, and scored once.

Ian Lundquist had 10 tackles.

The Knights racked up 216 yards of total offense, 182 coming on the ground.

The defense gave up 302 yards of total offense, including 185 rushing.

Solid effort from Oakland-Craig, but the weather and some injuries were simply too much to overcome.

The Knights end the 2018 season with an 11-1 record.

It was a season filled with memories for Oakland-Craig, who beat the likes of Hartington Cedar Catholic, Ponca, Fremont Bergan, Yutan, and BRLD in the regular season, and Shelby-Rising City and Wilber-Clatonia in the playoffs.

Winning a District Championship and finishing with an undefeated regular season is something to be very proud of.

Jared Mulder finished with 1,084 yards passing and 10 touchdowns on the season while Mayberry had 1300 yards and 20 TD's rushing. McNeill added 607 yards on the ground and 7 touchdowns.

Mike Brands led the way in tackles with 62.

The Knights say goodbye to a very talented senior class that includes Mayberry, Garrison Dodge, Mulder, McNeill, Wyatt Uhing, Daniel Sechler, John Werner, Tyson Harney, Cole Bures, and Justyn Hale.

Oakland-Craig is hit hard by graduation this year, and these seniors will be greatly and sorely missed no doubt.

These kids accomplished a lot in their 4 years at Oakland-Craig, including a State Champion Game appearance.

It's onto the future though, and key returners for the Knights are Laurence Brands, Wyatt Seagren, Tom Maline, Lundquist, Jack Pille, and Colton Thomsen.

There is some talent returning for Oakland-Craig next year, and the Knights always seem to reload.

The Knights should be good and solid once again next season, and I'm very excited to see what they can do.

In the meantime though these kids need to enjoy their winter sports season and spring sports season when it comes.

Oakland-Craig has to sit back and enjoy everything as four years of high school goes pretty fast.

The Knights had a great season and should be very proud of their efforts, but next season starts now.

So the sooner Oakland-Craig hits the weights and gets back on the gridiron the better they will be next season.

The Knights need to have an excellent offseason of hard work and conditioning, and must get ready to take it home once again in 2019.

Oakland-Craig has to enjoy time with each other and friends off the field, but also put in the time in the weightroom and on the playing field to be successful next season.

GACC's season ends in Quarterfinal Playoff loss to Exeter-Milligan/Friend

The GACC Football Team saw their season come to an end last Tuesday night as the Bluejays lost 46-12 at Exeter-Milligan/Friend in the D-1 State Quarterfinals in Milligan in action carried on 107.9 the Bull.

Cody Steffen had 88 yards rushing on 14 carries, including a touchdown, while Cash Meier had 87 yards on the ground on 18 carries. Noah Hass added 59 yards on the ground on 17 attempts, and scored once.

Nate Yosten had 13 tackles while Blake Pojar, Hass, and Noah Kreikemeier had 10 apiece. Casey Doernemann, Damon Crawford, and Jadyn Smeal each had 7.

GACC amassed 281 yards of total offense, including 256 rushing.

I thought the lack of a passing game and not having Jared Minnick were the two things that really hurt the Bluejays in this one, and were reasons why GACC lost.

The Bluejays end the season with a 9-2 record.

Highlights of the season are two wins over Howells-Dodge, a win over Wisner-Pilger, and probably the win in the season opener over defending State Champion East Butler.

Steffen finished with 789 yards passing and 11 touchdowns on the season while Minnick rushed for almost 1800 yards and 28 touchdowns. Smeal had 676 yards receiving to go along with 9 TD's while Doernemann finished with a team-high 88 tackles.

This year's senior class includes Smeal, Minnick, Dylan Duhsmann, Will Kreikemeier, Tyson Snodgrass, Jack Baumert, and Yosten.

Each and every one of these players meant a lot to the GACC program, and will be sorely missed.

Minnick and Smeal will be missed in particular I would say.

The Bluejays just seem to reload and retool every year though, and so key returners for next year include Crawford, Hass, Steffen, Meier, Mitchell Peatrowsky, Kreikemeier, Doernemann, Ben Ulrich, and Pojar.

I think the one positive thing that came out of Minnick having to miss time was players like Meier and Hass got very valuable carries and minutes on the field.

That didn't do a whole for GACC last Tuesday night, but it should pay off next year and in the future.

The Bluejays should be pretty good and dynamic once again next season, but a new offensive weapon at receiver needs to develop for Steffen.

I look for Steffen to shoulder more of the load and responsibilities next season.

These kids have to have good winter and spring sports seasons, but be ready to work on Football as soon as those things end.

GACC should have another fine season next year, but these kids have to work their tails off this offseason and grow and get bigger, faster, and stronger.

The Bluejays have to sign themselves up for as many individual and team camps and leagues as possible, and be football junkies.

Football has to be a big priority in these kids' lives, and they have to go out there and work hard from now until next August.

I think GACC has a chance to be really good up front next season.

Oakland-Craig knocks off Wilber-Clatonia in State Quarterfinals

The Oakland-Craig Football Team won 35-21 at home over Wilber-Clatonia in the State Quarterfinals Friday night.

The Knights led 14-0 at the end of one, and blanked the Wolverines 6-0 in the 2nd quarter to take a 20-0 lead into the locker room.

Wilber-Clatonia outscored Oakland-Craig 21-8 in the 3rd quarter to make it a 28-21 ball game at the end of three.

The Knights shutout the Wolverines 7-0 in the 4th quarter.

Jared Mulder was 6-15 passing for 102 yards and a touchdown. Robby Mayberry rushed for 148 yards on 38 carries, and scored twice. Jefferson McNeill ran the ball 12 times for 75 yards, including one touchdown. McNeill also made 3 catches for 56 yards.

Oakland-Craig had 354 yards of total offense, including 252 rushing.

The defense gave up 191 yards of total offense, including just 8 on the ground.

I'd say stuffing the run is what propelled the Knights to the win.

Oakland-Craig (11-0) takes on Centennial (11-0) in the State Semifinals in Utica Friday night in action that will be aired on 107.9 the Bull.

The Broncos beat BRLD 33-28 at home in the State Quarterfinals this past Friday night.

That's a game in which the Wolverines gave up 295 rushing yards.

Centennial also passed for 220 yards so the Knights have to be wary of that as well.

I think Oakland-Craig's best bet is to try and stuff the run and make the Broncos one dimensional.

If the Knights can stuff the run again and force Centennial to beat them throwing the ball then they should have a good chance to win.

Players for the Broncos Oakland-Craig has to watch out for are Wyatt Ehlers and Caleb Horne.

Ehlers passed for 220 yards and ran for 141 against the Wolverines while Horne rushed for 128 yards and three touchdowns in that game.

The two accounted for all of the Broncos' scoring last week so they are players the Knights have to key on for sure.

This should be a great battle as it's a battle between two very good unbeaten football teams.

Centennial is a great team, but so is Oakland-Craig, and both teams beat BRLD on last second plays.

It's a toss up as to who wins.

The Knights can definitely go in there and come away with the win, but it won't be easy.

Oakland-Craig has to go in there and play a great game and leave everything out on the field.

This is the seniors' last chance to make another trip to Lincoln, another chance to play for another state title.

Chances like these don't come very often, and so the Knights have to seize the moment and opportunity, and take everything they ever wanted.

Oakland-Craig has to play a good, physical, hard nosed, and smashmouth football game, and must take it to Centennial for four quarters.

The Knights have to come up with big, clutch plays, and make plays when it counts and matters.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with pregame beginning at 6:30 on the Bull.

BRLD loses heartbreaker at Centennial

The BRLD Football Team lost 33-28 in heartbreak fashion at Centennial in the State Quarterfinals aired on 107.9 the Bull Friday night.

The game was tied at 7 after the 1st quarter before the Wolverines won the 2nd quarter 6-0 to take a 13-7 lead into the locker room.

The Broncos blanked BRLD 14-0 in the 3rd quarter to go up 21-13 at the end of three.

The Wolverines won the 4th quarter 15-12.

Will Gatzemeyer was 22-34 passing for 271 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He added 119 yards rushing on 17 carries, and scored twice.

Lucas Vogt made 13 receptions for 213 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Derek Petersen made 14 tackles while Vogt registered 10. Gatzemeyer and Kobe Lyons recorded 9 apiece.

BRLD racked up 411 yards of total offense, including 271 through the air.

The defense gave up 515 yards of total offense, 295 of them coming on the ground.

Head Coach Dan Maresh on undefeated Centennial. "Couple kids out there that...incredible. The plays they made. And the game came down to a couple inches there. And our defense played lights out, got us turnovers, we just couldn't finish it. Had a few things, just kind of stubbed our toes, and can't do that against a team like this. Hats off to them, good luck to them cause wow that's an impressive ball club."

The Wolverines wrap up the season at 8-3.

Great season for BRLD....a season in which all three of their losses came to teams in the Semifinals.

The Wolverines were a play or two away from being a great, elite team, the type of team I full expect BRLD to be in the future.

Gatzemeyer finished with over 2,500 yards passing with 30 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He also rushed for over 1,000 yards and had 16 rushing touchdowns.

Vogt had over 1,150 yards receiving with 19 touchdowns.

Defensively, Petersen led the way with 90 tackles.

The Wolverines say goodbye to Jackson Beaudette, Ryan Payton, Bradley Marr, Dustin Burgett, Nick Ronnfeldt, Mo Hawk, Seth Totten, and Nathaniel Sears.

These players will be missed greatly, but BRLD has to be very excited and anxious for the future.

Key returners for next year include Braxton Bargmann, Dylan Beutler, Gatzemeyer, Vogt, Darwin Snyder, Lyons, Petersen, Jaxon Johnson, Parker Paulson, and Luke Kramer.

The Wolverines will have a lot of seniors next year so next season figures to be their year.

I wouldn't be shocked if BRLD was playing for a State Title at Memorial Stadium next season.

There's a lot of hard work to be done in the offseason to make that dream a reality though.

Picking up the pigskin often, lifting a lot of weights, conditioning hard, and attending as many team camps and summer leagues as possible will be all a part of and factor into the Wolverines' success next season.

BRLD has to learn to finish against the great teams, but that will happen in time, perhaps even next year.

As good as the Wolverines were defensively...I feel BRLD can be even better on that side of the ball.

I felt the defense let the Wolverines down at times this year, and was the side of the ball that decided a couple of ball games, or at least the Centennial game.

BRLD should be scary good next year though so I'm very excited and anxious to see what the Wolverines can do and what they will be like next season.

GACC loses Minnick, but still manages to win over Howells-Dodge in 2nd round of playoffs

In a treat made for Halloween, Guardian Angels Central Catholic defeated Howells-Dodge 40-34 in the second round of the Class D1 football playoffs on Wednesday night, as heard on 107.9 The Bull.

Howells-Dodge started the game with authority, scoring on the very first play of the game as Dylan Horejsi raced 57 yards for the score, going up 8-0.

GACC fumbled on their first possession, giving the Jaguars the ball on the Bluejays 24-yard line. Horejsi reached the end zone for the second time in the first quarter, this time from two yards out. The score was 14-0 in favor of the Jaguars with 8:12 left in the first.

The Bluejays were able to get on the scoreboard on their next possession, capping off a 49-yard drive with a two yard run by Jared Minnick. The score was 14-6 with 4:01 in the first.

The Jaguars scored on their third straight offensive possession in the first half, a 25-yard pass from Darrin Pokorny to Luke Rocheford, making it 20-6 Howells-Dodge.

After Being forced to punt, the Bluejays were able to hold Howells-Dodge on fourth down from the GACC 30. GACC then took two plays to score again, a 49 yard run by Minnick, making it 20-14, still in favor of Howells-Dodge.

Howells-Dodge punted on the next possession, and GACC set up at the Jaguar 27 following a bad snap on the punt. The Bluejays tied the game on a 11 yard pass from Cody Steffen to Minnick, making it 20-20 with 1:40 left in the first half.

The Jaguars weren't done just yet however, as they would go 51 yards in 18 seconds, thanks to a 33 yard touchdown run by Horejsi, and Howells-Dodge would take a 26-20 lead into halftime.

There were two key injuries in the first half. Howells-Dodge's Trevor Schumacher was injured earlier in the first half and was taken off the field in an ambulance. GACC's Jared Minnick pulled his hamstring late in the second quarter. Both players missed the second half.

GACC got the ball to start the second half, starting at their own 5. Steffen raced 63 yards for a touchdown tying the game 26-26 with 10:54 in the third.

Howells-Dodge was turned away on fourth down from midfield on their first offensive possession of the second half. The Bluejays took advantage and finished the drive with a 45 yard scoring pass from Steffen to Jadyn Smeal. The two point conversion was good, and GACC led 34-26 with 7:08 in the third.

The Jaguars answered right back, however, marching 48 yards and ending the drive on a three yard touchdown run by Horejsi, his fourth of the night. The two point try tied the game at 34-34 with 3:44 in the third.

GACC punted and then Howells-Dodge fumbled, with the Bluejays recovering at their own 28 yard line. The Bluejays finished the drive with a 29 yard touchdown run by Noah Hass, giving GACC a 40-34 lead with 10:53 left in the game.

Howells-Dodge started marching down the field to tie or win, and got down to the GACC 15 where they went for it on fourth down and were stopped.

GACC took over at their own 15 with 6:49 left in the game and were able to pick up enough first downs to eventually run out the clock, securing the 40-34 victory.

Horejsi was the S&W Welding Player of the Game for Howells-Dodge, and Steffen earned the award for GACC.

Minnick of GACC was the recipient of the CharterWest Sportsmanship Award.

Steffen was 9-15 passing for 119 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran the ball 12 times for 101 yards and a touchdown. Minnick ran the ball 10 times for 72 yards, scoring twice.

Nate Yosten made 17 tackles while Steffen notched 15. Blake Pojar made 11 while Minnick had 9. Casey Doernemann and Cash Meier each made 8 while Jadyn Smeal totaled 7.

The Bluejays amassed 356 yards of total offense, including 237 on the ground.

The defense gave up 289 yards of total offense, 264 of them rushing.

Head Coach Dave Ridder says his players weren't physical enough in the 1st half.  "Yeah we just told them we have to stick with it. We always know it's a long game, and they're a very good physical team and very well coached. Came out and they just hit us in the mouth and we didn't respond very well in the first few series in the half. And then we start figuring out that we need to play a little bit more physical to be able to be competitive, and we came out and played a lot more physical ball. But we're still not where we want to be there."

GACC improves to 9-1 on the season, and will face Exeter-Milligan/Friend (10-0) on the road in the D1 Quarterfinals Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. in action that can be heard on 107.9 the Bull.

EMF won 40-28 at home over Fullerton in Wednesday's 2nd round.

Ridder on the matchup. "They're tough cause we go to camp up in South Dakota and we saw them up there. And with them and Friend together they have a lot of good athletes and a lot of good players and speed. So it's going to be a heck of a challenge for us."

It does figure to be a very tough game for the Bluejays, but I think GACC can definitely win.

Minnick is supposed to play from what I hear, and if he's healthy the whole time then the Bluejays should really be in business.

What a great job by GACC winning without him on Wednesday though.

I have to admit after he went out on Wednesday I thought Howells-Dodge might run away with things.

That wasn't the case though.

The Bluejays stuck with it and persevered, and kids like Steffen, Hass, and Smeal really stepped up.

That's what it's going to take for GACC to win again on Tuesday night.

The Bluejays are going to have to play as a close knit team and unit once again.

GACC has a very tough and difficult hurdle to climb, and the winner will really be challenged in the Semifinals.

The road to Lincoln is certainly not an easy one for the Bluejays, but I think GACC is going to be a very tough out.

The Bluejays have to have the same kind of offensive balance they had against the Jaguars, and must slow down EMF's running game.

If GACC can make EMF one dimensional like they did Howells-Dodge then I think they stand a good chance to win.

Defense is going to be big in this one I feel.

Both defenses and offenses are good, and I think these teams are about dead even so it should be a great game.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. with pregame at 5:30 on the Bull.

Howells-Dodge loses shootout at GACC in 2nd round of playoffs

In a treat made for Halloween, Guardian Angels Central Catholic defeated Howells-Dodge 40-34 in the second round of the Class D1 football playoffs on Wednesday night, as heard on 107.9 The Bull.

Howells-Dodge started the game with authority, scoring on the very first play of the game as Dylan Horejsi raced 57 yards for the score, going up 8-0.

GACC fumbled on their first possession, giving the Jaguars the ball on the Bluejays 24-yard line. Horejsi reached the end zone for the second time in the first quarter, this time from two yards out. The score was 14-0 in favor of the Jaguars with 8:12 left in the first.

The Bluejays were able to get on the scoreboard on their next possession, capping off a 49-yard drive with a two yard run by Jared Minnick. The score was 14-6 with 4:01 in the first.

The Jaguars scored on their third straight offensive possession in the first half, a 25-yard pass from Darrin Pokorny to Luke Rocheford, making it 20-6 Howells-Dodge.

After Being forced to punt, the Bluejays were able to hold Howells-Dodge on fourth down from the GACC 30. GACC then took two plays to score again, a 49 yard run by Minnick, making it 20-14, still in favor of Howells-Dodge.

Howells-Dodge punted on the next possession, and GACC set up at the Jaguar 27 following a bad snap on the punt. The Bluejays tied the game on a 11 yard pass from Cody Steffen to Minnick, making it 20-20 with 1:40 left in the first half

The Jaguars weren't done just yet however, as they would go 51 yards in 18 seconds, thanks to a 33 yard touchdown run by Horejsi, and Howells-Dodge would take a 26-20 lead into halftime.

There were two key injuries in the first half. Howells-Dodge's Trevor Schumacher was injured earlier in the first half and was taken off the field in an ambulance. GACC's Jared Minnick pulled his hamstring late in the second quarter. Both players missed the second half.

GACC got the ball to start the second half, starting at their own 5. Steffen raced 63 yards for a touchdown tying the game 26-26 with 10:54 in the third.

Howells-Dodge was turned away on fourth down from midfield on their first offensive possession of the second half. The Bluejays took advantage and finished the drive with a 45 yard scoring pass from Steffen to Jadyn Smeal. The two point conversion was good, and GACC led 34-26 with 7:08 in the third.

The Jaguars answered right back, however, marching 48 yards and ending the drive on a three yard touchdown run by Horejsi, his fourth of the night. The two point try tied the game at 34-34 with 3:44 in the third.

GACC punted and then Howells-Dodge fumbled, with the Bluejays recovering at their own 28 yard line. The Bluejays finished the drive with a 29 yard touchdown run by Noah Hass, giving GACC a 40-34 lead with 10:53 left in the game.

Howells-Dodge started marching down the field to tie or win, and got down to the GACC 15 where they went for it on fourth down and were stopped.

GACC took over at their own 15 with 6:49 left in the game and were able to pick up enough first downs to eventually run out the clock, securing the 40-34 victory.

Horejsi was the S&W Welding Player of the Game for Howells-Dodge, and Steffen earned the award for GACC.

Minnick of GACC was the recipient of the CharterWest Sportsmanship Award.

Horejsi finished with 232 yards rushing on 35 carries and four touchdowns.

Levi Belina and Wyatt Hegemann each made 18 tackles while Carter Throener had 10. Pokorny totaled 9 while Lane Hegemann and Carter Jensen each made 8.

The Jaguars racked up 289 yards of total offense, including 264 on the ground.

The defense gave up 356 yards of total offense, including 237 rushing.

Great effort from Howells-Dodge, who came out and smacked GACC in the mouth early.

Howells-Dodge ends their season at 7-3 overall.

Solid season for the Jaguars.

Key wins came over Wakefield, Clarkson/Leigh, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, and Neligh-Oakdale, plus Cross County in the playoffs.

You're in pretty good company defeating those five teams.

Pokorny finished with 807 yards passing and 11 touchdowns this season.

Horejsi had 1,630 yards and 25 touchdowns to lead the team in the run game.

Defensively, Schumacher made 129 tackles to lead the team.

I think Schumacher getting hurt and not having him for much of the game with the Bluejays really hurt the Jaguars.

Howells-Dodge says goodbye to Chad Young, Josh Brester, Gaute Gunleiksrud, Lane Hegemann, Kade Hegemann, Horejsi, Mitch Yosten, Jensen, and Mike Balsley.

These seniors were huge contributors to Jaguar Football, and will be sorely missed I don't think there's any doubt about it.

Key returners include Rocheford, Pokorny, Charlie Dvorak, Schumacher, Blake Sindelar, and Wyatt Hegemann.

It sounds like Howells-Dodge will be good again, but young next year.

The Jaguars have to replace Horejsi at running back, and both Kade and Lane Hegemann, along with Yosten, up front.

I think Pokorny might need to step up and shoulder more of the load next year, but we will see.

I think one thing is for sure...Howells-Dodge is going to need new players to step up and emerge, and be forces and factors for next year's team.

The schedule figures to be tough again for the Jaguars so Howells-Dodge has a lot of work to do this offseason if they want to be a really good team once again.

The Jaguars figure to be comprised of a lot of seniors and sophomores next year so it will be interesting to see how the upperclassmen and underclassmen come together.

Wisner-Pilger falls at Creighton in 2nd round of playoffs

The Wisner-Pilger Football Team fell 66-12 at Creighton in the 2nd round of the playoffs on Wednesday.

Tough ending to the year for the Gators, who wrap up a nice season at 7-3.

Here is a picture from the team send off on Wednesday:

Photo Credit: Alicia Moyer

It was certainly a great season for Wisner-Pilger.

The Gators accomplished a lot this year and sent a message to other 8-man teams that they are a team to be reckoned with.

Wisner-Pilger came close to upsetting GACC.

The Gators part ways with seniors Jayden Raabe, Jacob Borgelt, and Dylan Uhing.

These 3 will be missed no doubt, but I think Wisner-Pilger has to be very excited about the future of the program.

The Gators bring back the likes of Gavin Lampman, Marqus Eddy, Trevor Styskal, Klay Koehlmoos, Justin Pieper, and Mason Dimon.

Next year figures to be the year for Wisner-Pilger as they figure to be pretty senior laden.

I think the Gators can build off what they did this year and make an even deeper run in the playoffs next year.

There's no reason to think Wisner-Pilger won't have another good team again next year.

The Gators should be a big time threat to do something again next year, and figure to be a force to be reckoned with.

I look for Wisner-Pilger to go out there and have more success in 2019.

The Gators should be more confident and energetic when working out this offseason I would think.

Maybe a little more hop and pep to their step after the result of this past season.

I think this season's success can be used as motivation to get even better this offseason and workout often in preparation for next year.

Kids should be very willing and ready to lift a ton, play the game often, condition a lot, and attend team camps and leagues and things of that sort.

With a lot of hard work, determination, and perseverance this offseason Wisner-Pilger should be a team to be reckoned with once again next year.