Week 3 Friday Night Lights football Heroes - Part 2

Scottsbluff's Max Mason (#5-Red) is off to the races against Lexington. Mason leads the state in rushing.

Week 3 Friday Night Lights football Heroes - Part 2

No use in idle chatter. Off we go with Part 2.

*Max Mason-Scottsbluff - 5-6, 160 pound speedster leads the state 11-Man rushers with 719 yards after 3 games. This young man is unbelievable to watch in live action. In last week's 56-0 win over Lexington, the elusive Mason ran for 206 yards on just 13 carries, scoring 3 touchdowns.

This season, Max is averaging 11.2 yards a carry (64 carries-719 yards). In a junior season shortened by a knee injury, Mason averaged 11.9 yards a pop (36-429) and an even bigger 12.7 yards a tote as a sophomore (10-123).

You just have to love the way this guy runs. Honest to pete, Mason's running style reminds me of Danny Woodhead. Subtle little cuts, getting to the outside in a hurry and bouncing off defenders like a pinball. And if you are a defense, you certainly do not want this kid to turn "pass receiver" out of the backfield.

Low pad level, twists and turns, great speed, Max Mason has it all. See you Friday in Aurora, man.

*Noah Mick-Millard North - Sit back and wait, but Fred Petito will eventually find a guy like this 6-0, 190 pound junior FB. No carries in the opening season loss to Omaha North.

Then Bang! Noah gets the ball 20 times in the Millard West win and responds with 129 yards. Last Friday in the Mustangs 52-21 win over Papio, QB Cade Elwood gets his running game in gear, so Mick gets the ball 23 times and breaks loose for 221 yards and 2 TDs with the Papio defense keying on Elwood.

Noah scored running touchdowns covering 4 and 11 yards and caught a 15 yard TD pass for good measure. Yep, Freddy has himself a fullback now.

*Cade Elwood-Millard North - Same story, broken record. I see Omaha North down the Mustangs 41-21 in the opener, and Elwood carries the ball six times for 4 yards. A Millard North quarterback that can't run? What? Is this a sub .500 team?

We all know better. In the 26-21 win over Millard West, Freddy Petito eases Elwood into more of a running role. Elwood runs 17 times for 64 yards and completes all 3 of his passes for 98 yards.

Last week vs. Papillion LV, Cade Elwood carries 18 times for 141 yards and scores three times on runs of 1, 19 and 3 yards. Who does the defense watch, Cade Elwood or fullback Noah Mick? Next week will it be Dylan Price or Andrew Wine Freddy turns loose at RB against Creighton Prep?

Makes an opposing coaches lose sleep, huh?

*Jaylin Bradley-Bellevue West - Broken record here also. Bradley, the smooth as silk Thunderbird runner who is Nebraska's top Prep running back, gauged Lincoln North Star for 226 yards on 18 carries and 2 TDs.

Bradley, who already has an offer from D1 South Dakota State, has strung together three straight 200 yard rushing performances to swell his 2016 total to 663 yards. Jaylin also increased his career rushing mark to 3,056 yards in 30 games. In his last 15 games, counting last year and this season, Jaylin has averaged 158 yards an outing.

At his current pace, Jaylin Bradley would rush for 2,652 yards if the Thunderbirds play 12 games like they did a season ago. Special Player indeed with a superior O-Line in front of him.

*Zach Claussen-Lincoln Lutheran - The 6 foot 5, 180 pound sophomore gunslinging quarterback continued his blistering 2016 pace by completing 25 of 33 passes for 190 yards and 3 TDs in the Warriors 28-14 win over rival Lincoln Christian.

The bullseye Claussen hit Sam Rathe and Logan Kreizel with 1st quarter touchdown passes covering 14 and 46 yards respectively, then later found Joe Admiral with a scoring pass in the 3rd stanza. All three are juniors.

Zach Claussen has completed 52 of 76 passes for 619 yards and 7 TDs with NO interceptions. That's a 68% completion rate. A year ago as a freshman, Claussen completed 139 of 263 throws for 1,456 yards (53%) and 8 touchdowns. Only problem with that is Zach was picked off 17 times.

Ponder this. Claussen is already one TD away from his 2015 total, has NO picks and has increased his accuracy rate from 53 to 68%. More importantly, Lincoln Lutheran, who was 0-3 at this time a year ago, being outscored 130-42, have totally reversed that trend in 2016. This season after 3 games, Lutheran is 3-0, outscoring opponents 103 to 20.

Don't you just love it?

*Carson Weidner-Humphrey St. Francis - Story Time kiddies. Last year Wynot visits that gorgeous artificial turf facility down in the hole in Humphrey and nearly beats the Flyers. St. Frans eventually pulls it out 24-20.

So, last week HSF travels up to Wynot, yeah the field that slants 3 feet from one end zone to the other, and falls behind 13-0 to the Blue Devils in the 1st quarter and 26-22 at the half. Enter Mr. Weidner.

The 6-0, 180 pound QB completes 4 of 8 passes for 115 yards and 2 TDs and also runs 52 yards for another. Carson's two scoring tosses went to Riley Jarosz (39 yds) and Colton Engle (55 Yds) as the Flyers went on to crush Wynot 66-32.

*Jalen Wieseler-Wynot - Suffice it to say, Wieseler and buddies lost the scoreboard battle last Friday against Humphrey St. Francis, but the 5-8, 175 pound Blue Devil QB won the aerial battle going away.

In that 66-32 loss to HSF, Jalen Wieseler completed an insane 30 of 32 passes for 316 yards and 4 TDs. Dawson Sudbeck, Wynot's other All-State candidate, caught 11 of Jalen's passes for 174 yards and 3 touchdowns, covering 59, 3 and 49 yards.

Wieseler is a terrific QB friends. Last season the dude threw for 1,415 yards, rushed for 414 and made an unreal 131 tackles on defense with 3 interceptions to his credit.

*Brayden Olson-St. Edward - Mr. Gold Shoes hit the 300 yard rushing mark again last Thursday in the Beavers 62-32 win over GI Heartland Lutheran. Olson sprinted for 304 yards on 28 carries and scored 6 touchdowns.

The twinkle-toes senior danced to the end zone on runs of 50, 13, 1, 3, 19 and 49 yards. Olson's 2 game rushing total is 654 yards. The All-State RB flew for 1,403 yards and 27 TDs a year ago for 6-Man state runner-up St. Ed.

Think this kid might be pretty good?

*Braden Wright-Elkhorn South - Is there no end to what this young man can do on the football field? In Elkhorn South's 55-7 trouncing of Plattsmouth, Wright hit on 14 of 18 passes for 280 yards and 2 TDs.

Wright, who has thrown for 591 yards this season, found RB Brayton Haley open as a receiver, connecting with the senior 8 times for 168 yards and a 12 yard TD. Haley also scored on a 56 yard run, while 2-time all-state running back Moses Bryant ran 12 times for 81 yards and three scores (3, 7, 7 yards).

A staggering 25 players had at least one tackle or assist in this football game, including 11 stops by middle LB Coleman Anderson.

I really like this football program.

*Easton Clark-Hershey - 5-10, 168 pound junior ran for 242 yards on 30 carries and scored twice in Hershey's big 28-14 win over Doniphan-Trumbull. Clark also made 7 stops for Ryan Smith's Panthers, who are now 3-0 on the young season.

Easton Clark has improved from rushing outputs of 38 yards on 18 carries in game one to 170-13 totes to the 242 yard output last Friday. Clark now has 450 rushing yards, 18 tackles on defense while averaging 17.5 yards per punt return and a huge 44 yards per kick return.

This dude already has more rushing yards than he did all of last season. And by the way, that stout Hershey defense held Mark Zeckser, a 1000 yard rusher last year at Adams Central, to 67 yards on 19 carries and No touchdowns.

*Brody Belt-Millard West - Catch this. In the Cat's 49-0 win over Lincoln Southwest, Belt touched the ball 7 times, gained 169 yards (24 yds/carry) and scored 3 TDs on runs of 80, 15 and 69 yards.

Good grief, Belt has only carried the ball 30 times in three games for Kurt Peterson's Wildcats, yet has run for 451 yards (15/carry) and scored 6 times. Yeah, he's Millard West's next 1000 yarder. Take that one to the bank.

*Cody Thompson-Omaha Concordia - While Concordia has quietly run their record to 3-0, Mr. Thompson has rushed for 460 yards and scored 6 TDs.

In Concordia's 48-25 "W" over Auburn, Thompson rushed 14 times for 156 yards and 3 TDS. Cody also logged 5 tackles on defense.

*Colton Wolfe-Columbus - Ooohhh, big dude, mean one too. In the Discoverers 18-0 shutout of GINW, Wolfe ran for 123 yards on 23 carries and scored from 9 and 2 yards out. That is Wolfe's 3rd straight game over 100 yards and puts him at 366 for the year.

It's on defense where Mr. Wolfe likes to rattle your bones and shake a few head screws loose, though. The 6-1, 210 pounder already has 21 tackles with 4 going for losses.

And a friendly word of advice.....stay away from Colton Wolfe on the wrestling mats. In three years, Colton Wolfe has compiled a record of 110-2 in Class A. 160 pound State Champ as a freshman (28-1). 182 pound runner-up as a sophomore (28-1) and 195 pound king with a clean slate of 54-0 as a junior.

*Alex Rogers-Omaha Roncalli - In a 31-23 rivalry win over Omaha Gross, Rogers, a 5-10, 160 pound sophomore, ran for 185 yards on 19 touches and scored on a 77 yard run. The Crimson Pride defense also picked off 4 Gross passes in that victory with two coming from Tyler Kloewer.

*Garrett Meyer-Omaha Gross - 175 pound senior scored all three TDs for the Cougars in that loss to Roncalli. Meyer hit paydirt on runs of 16 and 24 yards and brought a kickoff back 83 yards for another TD.

*Tori Huffman-Burwell - Rushed for 155 yards on 30 carries and 2 touchdowns in that 42-37 loss to Palmer. Longhorn QB Cayden Owens completed 7 of his 13 passes for 225 yards and 3 TDs. All-State Tight End Tyler Gideon turned his usual top notch performance with 169 receiving yards and 2 TD catches.

TOP 11-Man Rushers in Nebraska Prep Football (thru Week 3)

1....Max Mason-Scottsbluff............................719....(11.2/carry)

2....Jayln-Bradley-Bellevue West..................663....(11.6/carry)

3....Drake Gilliland-Mitchell..........................603....(8.5/carry)

4...Hunter Spier-Lutheran High NE..............532....(13.6/carry)

5....Tristin Anderson-Omaha South.............514....(11.7/Carry)

6....Wyatt Hamer-Battle Creek.....................496....(7.6/carry)7

7....Zayne Heckenlively-Falls City.................490....(7.6/carry)

8....Caiden Groff-Elkhorn Mt. Michael........464....(7.9/carry)

9....Cody Thompson-Omaha Concordia......460....(10.7.carry)

10....Milton Sargbah-Omaha North................460....(7.7/carry)

11....Garrett Leach-Sutton...............................458....(7.3/carry)

12..Grant Bruner-Gretna...............................455....(6.3/carry)

13..Easton Clark-Hershey..............................450....(7.4/carry)

14..Jose Guzman-Centura.............................441....(6.4/carry)

15..Kaleb Johnson-Centura...........................428....(6.9/carry)

16..Mark Zeckser-Doniphan-Trumbull........429....(6.1/carry)

17..Tanner Lamoree-Cross County...............422...(10.3/carry)

18..Finest Hampton-Papillion LV South.......420....(7.2/carry)

19..Tyler Pecena-Wayne................................403....(10.9/carry)