Week 6 High School Football Heroes - Part 2

Sutherland's Kadin Copeland (#8) sprints for yardage.

*Taylor Murph-Ralston - (5-11, 170, Junior RB/QB/SB) #5 - Although Murph is listed as a QB, there is little doubt he has hit his stride at running back.....and how. After rushing for 21 yards in the Ram's opening game loss to Plattsmouth, Murph has reeled off 4 straight 100+ games for Ralston. Last week Taylor ran for 155 yards on 25 totes and scored 3 times in the 36-7 victory over Platteview. It appears that Taylor Murph is headed for a thousand yards, having accumulated 736 thus far in 2014.

*Trevor Carlson-Osceola - 160 pound senior carried only 6 times against GI Heartland Lutheran but rushed for 142 yards and 3 Tds in the 82-20 blowout. Carlson, who missed the season opener, has rushed for over a hundred yards in each of the 3 games he has played. Carlson has rushed only 19 times in those three contests, yet has 391 yards. That is 20.6 yards a carry. Not a misprint sports fans.

*J J Oltmer-Humphrey St. Francis - Played sparingly in the Flyers 76-3 win over youthful Hampton, but still rushed for 107 yards on 13 carries. Squeezed in FIVE touchdowns in the game with runs of 18, 4, 9, 3 and 4 yards. Oltmer is so difficult to stop in short yardage situations and is a ferocious linebacker. J J has 647 yards so far this season and is looking for his 3rd 1000 yard season for St. Francis.

*Jesse Prieto-West Point Guardian Angels Central Catholic - (5-10, 175, WB/LB) #31 - Stepped into the featured back role before the Bluejays even hit the field this fall. When Junior 1000 yard rusher Tanner Hass went down with a broken leg in pre season preparations, Prieto stepped right in and has done a nice job since the get-go. In a tight, tension-filled win over Scribner-Snyder, Prieto rushed for 147 yards on 22 carries and also caught 7 passes for an even 100 yards. WPGACC won the game 24-20 but lost a few fans who were ejected from the football game. Not often you see that, thank goodness. Prieto has rushed for 641 yards this fall.

*Nate Klaumann-Fairbury - (5-8, 160, WR/DB) #8 - In the Jeff's 53-6 romp over Lincoln Lutheran, Klaumann intercepted 2 passes and returned them both for TDs. One of the Pick 6's was a 95 yard shocker, the other a 49 yard IR. Klaumann has caught 17 passes for Fairbury this season, good for 391 yards, 6 Tds and is 3rd in C-1 in receiving. That's 23 yards a reception. In addition, Nate is a very dangerous kick return man, averaging 26 yards every time he fields one of those babies.

*Brian Lapke-Papillion La Vista South - (5-9, 175, Jr.) #41 - Ran for 105 yards on only 9 second half carries in the Titan's 34-6 win over Lincoln North Star. Lapke scored on three of those touches and hit the end zone on runs of 27, 23 and 12 yards. Not even sure where Lapke fits in on the Titan offense. Prior to last Friday, Brian had only carried the pig 7 times for 32 yards. He does have 19 tackles on defense, so he certainly is a valuable asset to PLVS on either side of the ball.

*Christian Logemann-Fremont Bergan - (6-1, 185, RB/LB) #9 - This young man does it all for Coach Seth Mruz. In a 41-0 win over Logan View, Logemann ran for 132 yards on 27 carries and scored 4 times on runs of 1, 3, 1, and 9 yards. Christian has rushed for 756 yards this season and scored 15 TDs. He has also grabbed 7 passes for 118 more and a score, has 2 sacks on defense plus a fumble recovery and a blocked punt. How about that Bergan/Aquinas match-up the final regular season Friday. I'm betting Logemann can't wait.

*Sean Lambert-Fremont - The Tigers were smothered by Grand Island 46-6, but Lambert did his part by running for 117 yards on 16 totes and scored his team's only touchdown. Lambert has rushed for 647 yards this fall and is attempting to reach that coveted 1000 yard rushing mark. Last Tiger to pull that off was Dan Giebler (1,081) in 1999. C'mon Sean, it's only 353 yards, you can do it.

*Ty Benson and Jackson Hinze-Scottsbluff - Benson, Class B's leading rusher, fueled the 'Cats 37-29 win over Aurora with 155 yards on 25 touches and a 3 yard TD run. Hinze, the Bluffs quarterback, added 123 yards on 12 carries with an electrifying 84 yard TD dash and field goals of 52, 33 and 22 yards. Heck, Detroit's Alex Henery can't even match that and is now out of a job by the way. Thus far in 2014, Ty Benson has rushed for 823 yards with Hinze chipping in with 349 more on the ground. But it's the foot of Jackson Hinze that just may come in handy in crunch time and get the Bearcats a playoff win.....or two, or more. Hinze has connected on 20 of 21 extra point kicks and 6 of 6 field goals.

*Jaylon Sturdivant-Maxwell - (5-9, 180, RB/LB/K) #25 - Ran for 149 yards on 22 tries and scored 5 touchdowns in the Wildcat's 78-40 win over Medicine Valley. Sturdivant scored on a 6 yard run, 52 fumble return, then on runs of 45, 2, and 20 yards to pace Maxwell (4-1). Jaylon has gained 978 yards this fall and should hit the 1000 yard mark this week when Maxwell travels to bitter rival Paxton.

*Kadin Copeland-Sutherland - (5-10, 175, QB/SS/WR, Junior) #6 - Converted wide receiver from a year ago, Copeland rushed for 195 yards on 23 carries in the Sailor's 54-43 win against Dundy County. He also completed 8 of 12 passes for a hundred yards and totaled 4 touchdowns in the game. Copeland has run for 433 yards and 5 Tds, plus thrown for 427 yards and 5 more scores in 2014. Good to see the Sailors doing well again.....proud program.

*Carter Zlab, Connor O'Toole-Wilber-Clatonia - The multi-talented Zlab rushed for 118 yards on 14 totes and a score in a 42-7 win over Raymond Central. QB O'Toole added 91 yards on 13 carries and another TD. O'Toole was deadly with his passes, connecting on 5-9 for 154 yards and 3 touchdowns. Carter caught one of O'Toole's tosses for a 70 yard TD reception. On the season, Carter Zlab has rushed for 721 yards and 12 Tds. Connor O'Toole has thrown only 36 times but has completed 21 of those tosses. 7 have gone for Tds with only one interception. In case you haven't noticed, Wilber-Clatonia is a dangerous C-1 football team. Raymond Central's fabulous Jake Palensky ran for 123 yards on 28 carries in the contest. The 185 pound junior already has 861 yards this fall.

*Jonathan Smailys-Arlington - (5-9, 165, RB/DB) #27 In a 21-6 victory over Omaha Concordia, Smailys ran for 202 yards on a staggering 49 carries. Jonathan scored all 3 touchdowns and has rushed 184 times this season for 888 yards. That's 30 carries a game folks and is a TON for a high school lad. Smailys ran for 1,058 yards a year ago and wants that ball. Can you blame him?

***1000 Yard Rusher Alert***

*Wyatt Tremayne-Homer - Mr. Do-It-All even sparkles in a loss. Tremayne ran for 123 yards on 27 carries and scored his team's only TD in a 40-6 loss to Wisner-Pilger. Wyatt also hit 15 of 24 passes for 103 yards in the game. For the season Mr. Tramayne has rushed for 1,075 yards and hit 61% of his passes for 745 yards. Pretty impressive. I think his father Randy was a pretty salty football player at one time.

*Grant Norder-BDS - QB/LB ran for 130 yards on 14 carries and scored on a 60 yard run as BDS beat up on a good Diller-Odell football team, 34-0. Norder also completed 11 of 16 tosses for 190 yards and 2 more scores. On defense, Norder picked up a loose fumble and took it to the house from 49 yards out. Not the first time the all-state defensive player has done that. This kid and this team is very, very good.

*Skyler Ratkovek-East Butler - Junior scooted for 113 yards on 12 carries and scored on runs of 1, 22 and 10 yards in a 52-0 win over Cedar Bluffs.