Week 8 Friday Night Prep Football Heroes - Part II

Posted Tuesday, October 20, 2015, at 12:49 AM

Neligh-Oakdale Quarterback, Grant White (#7). Sharpshooter extraordinaire.

by Bobby Mills (1000 Yard Guy)

Time to salute the 2nd of three waves in our Friday Night Heroes series. There just seem to be more football players rising to the occasion as the regular winds down to crunch time. Here we go:

*Grant White-Neligh-Oakdale - The star quarterback came up up huge when it counted in the Warriors big 37-30 win over Elgin/Elgin Pope John. The 5-10, 140 pound sharpshooter connected on 10 of 17 passes for 160 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two of those scoring tosses were by grabbed by Chris Bentley (23, 48 yards). The impressive stat for White is that in his 23 game career to date, he has completed 60% of his 507 passes for 4,427 yards and 58 TDs with only 17 interceptions. That's 192 yards every game and Neligh-Oakdale has won the majority of their games with White at the controls. This fall, White has completed 63% of his 144 passes for 1,494 yards, 21 TDs and only 2 picks.

The multi-talented White has also rushed for 225 yards and 5 scores, has 227 punt return yards and 2 scores, and has 1,721 yards of total offense going into the final regular season contest. Great player for a really dangerous D-1 football team.

***1000 Yard Rusher Alert - 2nd Time Around***

*Gideon Monette-Mullen - 6-1, 195 tough customer ran for 214 yards on 22 carries in a 74-58 loss to Brady. Monette scored on runs covering 43, 3, and 20 yards, plus a TD on a 45 yard punt return. Those 214 yards put Gideon over the coveted 1000 yard rushing mark for the 2nd straight season, raising his 2015 total to 1,255 yards (21 TDs) to go with his 1,400 yards a season ago. The bruising back narrowly missed a thousand as a sophomore, gaining 924 yards. Over his 27 game career, spanning 4 years, Monette has run for 3,637 yards and 52 touchdowns. Quite an accomplishment, but certainly not that rare at Mullen, where backs like Steven Dent, Wade Edis, Zach Call, and Nick Simonson have graced the gridiron over the years.

***1000 Yard Rusher Alert - 3rd Time Around***

*Wyatt Pankowski-Bridgeport - The punishing Pankowski ran for 136 yards on only 23 touches in Bridgeport's 53-6 beating of Bayard. That elevates the 6-3, 210 Pankowski to his third consecutive 1000 yard rushing season, and not many pull that one off. This far in 2015, Wyatt has rushed 166 times for 1,102 yards and 10 touchdowns, made 30 tackles (12 for losses) and picked off a pass on defense. The steady senior ran for 1,164 yards as a sophomore, 1,201 a year ago, and now his 1,102 this season puts him at 3,467 for his illustrious career. I hope the 'Dogs can get at least one playoff game to give Wyatt another game to showcase his talents. Always, always there when the going gets tough.

*North Platte Defense - The 'Dog's "D" made life miserable for the visiting Panthers, especially defensive end, Trevon Weaver. The 6-2, 190 pound junior fought off blockers, shedding them like they were 120 pound middle schoolers. Weaver put some pretty mean licks on Norfolk QB Gunner Fuelberth and outstanding RB Lane McCallum. 167 pound junior Jaden Songster got in on some of the pain inflicting fun as well. Coach Bernie Madison's defense was so efficient in the 1st half, Norfolk was buried with a minus 16 yards on the ground in those opening 2 quarters of football. You also have to give props to guys like MLB Brendan Folk (over 90 tackles) and Inside Linebacker, Ricky Sandoval (5-9, 170 Sr.) who have led the nasty Bulldog defense all year.

It will be interesting to see what this top notch crew can do when they visit Grand Island Friday night in the regular season finale.

*Mark Zeckser-Adams Central - 5-10, 160 pound junior turned in his best performance of the season when he bolted for 235 big ones on 28 carries in the Patriots 28-15 win over Lexington. Zeckser had to take over the running back slot from the get-go this season when returning 1000 yard rusher Kyler Wormstadt suffered an injury and had to be shifted to wide receiver. Mark has done just fine, thank you, rushing for 954 yards and 8 touchdowns in 8 games. Adams Central finishes the season at powerful McCook and needs a win to qualify for the playoffs. Get your 46 yards, Mark.

*Preston Schnitzler-Kenesaw - This dude is one tough customer and a pure football player. In the Blue Devils 74-26 win over the solid Schnitzler rushed 34 times for 272 yards and Six touchdowns. Preston also made 10 tackles on defense in the huge win. In only 6 games this fall, Schnitzler has racked up 1,187 yards on a meager 100 carries, scoring 31 touchdowns, and has also logged 36 tackles on the defensive side of the ball. The rock solid 180 pound senior has rushed for an incredible 3,962 yards and 92 TDs in just three seasons. You see, Preston missed his entire sophomore season with an knee injury. Kenesaw will win by forfeit this week over Elwood and will await the playoff seedings to be released Saturday. You do not want to draw this football team in those Class D-2 playoffs.

*Gage Orton-Plattsmouth - 160 yards on 25 carries and TD runs of 16, 3, and 7 yards in the Blue Devils 56-14 win over Nebraska City. The hard running, dedicated Orton now has 1,207 yards this fall, and is already 4th on Plattsmouth's single season rushing list. The 5th rated Blue Devils sport a perfect 8-0 record and nail down a playoff spot with a win over Waverly Friday evening. Bob Dzuris' Plattsmouth team is the real deal folks.

*Taylor Gannon-GI Northwest - One play earns Taylor Gannon a spot on this Friday Night Hero list. One play. In the Vikings heartbreaking loss to rival Aurora, the 6-3, 180 pound linebacker came up to meet a Huskie ball carrier 35 pounds heavier than he is and stopped the Aurora player in his tracks, waged a short "hold your ground" King-of-the Hill" battle and drove him into the ground. I could just about visualize every blocking sled hit Gannon ever went through on that play, and it all paid off in one splendid crunch.

Players like this fine young man rarely get mentioned, but the 180 senior, along with fellow Linebacker, Isiah Daws, lead Class B in tackles. Daws has recorded 114 stops, with Taylor not far off with 102. If you catch a Northwest football game yet this season, keep your eye on #53. You can't miss the crisp lateral movement and sure tackles. Great kid, great family.

***1000 Yard Rusher Alert***

*Emmitt Knight-Gretna - The Knight Rider crashed over the 1000 yard rushing plateau with 176 yards on 25 carries and scoring dashes of 75 and 8 yards in the Dragon's 42-7 pounding of Elkhorn. Knight is averaging nearly 8 yards a pop while gaining 1,168 yards and 19 touchdowns to go with those yards. The Knight Rider has also carried the ball 163 times this season with NO FUMBLES. In this day and age, very difficult to pull off. This guy may be Super-State material.

*Bill Adusei-Boys Town - 134 yards on 32 carries plus TD runs of 1 and 7 yards in the Cowboys 42-41 overtime thriller over Ashland-Greenwood. Adusei now has 959 yards in 2015, but is only one of many scary threats this football team has in its arsonal. In that Ashland-Greenwood game, Boys Town led the Bluejays 42-41 after A-G scored. Ashland-Greenwood went for the 2 point conversion, but the multi-talented Rodney Rosier stepped in front of a Trevor Nichelson pass, intended for big All-State Ben Stille and took it away, preserving the victory.

Boys Town is now #2 in the OWH Class C-1 ratings and has to be the most feared team in the upcoming playoffs, with the athleticism they possess. The Cowboys can clinch a spot in the 16 team field with a win over Arlington this week.

*Cody Feist-Yutan - Yeah baby, Benny The Jet does it again. The fleet-footed Feist rambled for a cool 183 yards on 32 carries in the Chieftains 27-13 win over Fremont Bergan. That is a huge win. Fiest, who also made 10 tackles on defense, ran for touchdowns of 32, 8, and 5 yards in the victory and raised his season rushing total to 1,307 yards (27 TDs)

*Colby Ensz-Tri-County - Kept his foot on the gas pedal in the Trojans 49-16 romp over Thayer Central. Ensz exploded for his 5th straight game over 200 yards by going off for 269 big ones on only 21 carries in the route. Colby scored 3 times in the game and averaged 12.8 yards every time he touched the football. In 8 games, Colby Ensz has rushed for 1,560 yards on 173 carries (9.0) and scored 19 touchdowns. In the past 5 games this young man has run for an incredible 1,461 yards! Oh God, please let this team make the playoffs.

*Austin Glause-Malcolm - Quarterback rushed for 152 yards and 2 TDs (1 and 46 yard runs), and passed for another 112 yards with 3 TDs, as the Clippers scored a big win over Fillmore Central, 42-7. Two of the scoring passes were caught by Trevor Hoeft (13, 23 Yards). The stout Clipper defense held Fillmore to just 155 yards of total offense for the night.

Wahoo Neumann Defense - Speaking of defenses, how about the Cavs "new" "D"? In Neumann's 22-3 win over a potent Wahoo team, the Cavaliers allowed zero or minus yards on 16 of Wahoo's rushing plays. All the Warriors could muster for the entire game was 116 yards on the ground. Meanwhile, QB Noah Vedral found his groove in the running game, bolting for 183 yards on 19 carries and registering long TD scampers of 38 and 59 yards in the win. Vedral also tossed a 16 yard TD pass to Reid Jurgensmeier to round out the scoring. Neumann is getting to be a tough bunch approaching playoff time.

*Riley Bilstein-Atkinson West Holt - Excellent quarterback ran for 131 yards on 16 carries and scored on a 15 yard dash in West Holt's 27-12 win over O'Neill. Bilstein also pirated a pass for the 7-1 Huskies, who are better than you think and appear to be playoff bound.

*Jerrod Fedorchik-Bridgeport - Ran for 152 yards on only 15 carries in Bridgeport's 53-6 win over Bayard. Fedorchik scored on runs of 10 and 68 yards, while increasing his 2015 rushing total to 929 yards.

***1000 Yard Rusher Alert***

*Matt Neiman and Dayne Porter-Brady - 5-11, 165 pound junior, Neiman skyrocketed onto the 1000 Yard Rushing scene with his 316 yard/30 carry game against Mullen (78-48 win). Neiman scored 6 touchdowns in the contest, hitting the end zone on runs of 3, 10, 5, 12, and 45 yards. Matt also caught an 8 yard TD pass from quarterback Dayne Porter. Now that we mention Dayne Porter, we can tell you he also had a huge rushing night. The 6-0, 135 pound QB also cracked the 1000 yard rushing mark with his 281 yards on 28 carries. That swells Dayne Porter's 2015 ground total to 1,085 yards. This Brady Bunch (bad pun) has two 1000 Yard Rushers and the regular season isn't even over.

*Kobe Paprocki-Clarkson-Lehigh - Carried only 8 times in the Patriots 60-20 win over Cross County, but still rushed for 140 yards and 2 TDs. Paprocki has 886 yards for the season, and along with junior Bradley Bunner's 981, Clarkson-Lehigh should have twin 1000 Yard Rushers this season. Jim Clarkson's squad stands 14th in the wildcard standings right now and faces a stiff challenge in the regular season finale when Nebraska Christian comes to town. Both should qualify for the playoffs.

*Kraton Gabel-Osceola - Tackling machine logged 20 stops in Osceola's 60-14 win at Palmer. This kid is a football player folks, having made twice as many tackles as any other player on his team (98).

*York Dukes Offensive Line - I can't tell you exact stats for anyone on that Glen Snodgrass York offense, but one thing i do know is that this group of Offensive linemen can get the job done. Here is a salute to those boys in the trenches that just do not get the credit they deserve. Brian Gibson (6-3, 240 Sr.), Joe Miller (6-0, 205 Sr.), Robert Nguyen (5-8, 235 Jr.), Gage Sinsel (6-0, 245 Jr.), Marvin Lazo (6-2, 230 Sr. All-State), and Tight Ends, Sam Hall (Sr.), and John Erwin (Jr.). We'll see these dudes up close Friday night in the huge game at Aurora.

..........up next, Week 8 Friday Night Prep Football Heroes - Part III