Nebraska High Football Championship Previews - Class D-1

Burwell's offense (purple jerseys) prepare to attack Palmer in the D-1 semis. *(photo by Bobby Mills)

Nebraska High Football Championship Previews

Class D-1 (8-Man)

Monday, November 21st, 2:45 am @ Memorial Stadium, Lincoln

West Point Guardian Angels Central Catholic (12-0) vs. Burwell (10-2)

Burwell caught fire mid-season, earning a repeat trip to the D-1 Finals, while West Point GACC rode their strong offensive and defensive line strength, giving their new backfield a chance to jell.

The Longhorns punched their ticket to Memorial Stadium by avenging an early 42-38 loss to undefeated Palmer. Guardian Angels CC reached the title game with a stunning 48-44 win, over who many thought was an invincible Creighton football team.

Two veteran coaches will be on the Memorial Stadium sidelines for this D-1 matchup for the big hardware. Sixteen year head coach Luke Gideon, a former Burwell standout, will lead his Alma Mater, while 12 year head man Dave Ridder will guide his GACC Bluejays.

Both Gideon and Ridder have bloodlines that just smell of success. Gideon's lines are more from the athletic side of things as well as coaching, while Ridder's come from a long line of family coaching successes.

Burwell suffered some key graduation losses coming into the 2016 season, but built their success around returning All-State TE/DE Tyler Gideon, plus 5 returning starters on each side of the ball. And what better player to build your team around than big Tyler Gideon. What a force this young man is on either side of the ball.

Coach Gideon turned the 2016 signal calling controls over to junior Cayden Owens after All-State QB Victory Sikes graduated, and the youngster has done a terrific job leading the 'Horns this fall.

There's no doubt RB Tori Huffman is the center of this Longhorn offense, but GACC knows very well you cannot ignore Cayden Owens legs, as well as his passing skills.

Owens has proven he is a true dual-threat quarterback this season, as witnessed by his 1,085 yards through the air (20 TDs) and 719 rushing yards (10 TDs). The versatile junior is very a very dangerous rollout QB and will trick defenses with his sudden cuts and runs off tackle.

Most defenses will know exactly where Tyler Gideon is on any given play, but the problem is finding a defender to match up with the 6-5, 230 physical specimen. All Gideon has done this season is catch 49 balls for 913 yards and 17 touchdowns.

How prolific has Gideon been during his three seasons as an offensive starter? Try on 96 receptions for 1,720 yards and 27 scores, plus remember, the dude is a Tight End.

And Tori Huffman....what can you say about the 6-0, 205 battering ram, who has toted the ball 294 times for 2,104 yards and 32 TDs?

I can tell you that Burwell has really leaned on Huffman during their playoff run. The senior All-State candidate has averaged 35 carries a playoff game, good for 725 yards and 7 TDs, including a 41 carry/323 yard performance against a prolific Elm Creek defense in the quarterfinals.

On defense, the Bluejays may want stay away from Tyler Gideon's side of the field. Gideon has made 95 tackles and is a master at turning plays back inside and often times making the stop as well.

Junior linebacker Ryan Dawe matched Gideon's tackle total, while Huffman is not far in the rear view with 91 stops.

The Longhorn secondary has also picked off 11 passes for season and lest you forget, Burwell has place kicker Thomas Chardin, the foreign exchange student/rugby player, who beat Perkins County with a 28 yard field goal with one second left in that quarterfinal game.

West Point GACC had a good nucleus coming back with 4 returnees on each side of the line, but prior to the season I'm not certain anyone would have forecasted these two squads would be playing for the D-1 hardware.

As I stated before, Coach Ridder knew he some outstanding experience returning in both lines, so breaking in a new backfield was not as tough as it could have been. In fact, it appears that it was not a major deal at all by watching this bunch.

Nolan Plagge is at the QB controls for West Point GACC and only throws about a dozen times an outing, but the senior makes it count when he takes to the air. Plagge has completed 94 of 158 throws for 1,513 yards and 27 touchdowns in 2016. Yeah, scary numbers.

Those little numbers I just gave you? It means Nolan hits 60% of his aerials with each completion averaging 16 yards a pop.....and.....it also means every 3rd hit goes for a touchdown. Oh, just about failed to mention that Plagge is a 1000 yard rusher too, 1,002 yards to be exact (20 TDs). Can you say Dual Threat?

It's also pretty difficult to figure out what receiver to cover when you face these Bluejays. Pick your poison between senor Cole Kreikemeier (662 yds/13 TDs/13 a catch) or classmate Andrew Guenther (598 yds/10 Tds/19 a catch).

And lest you forget Kreikemeier's semifinal performance against Creighton, when the 6-0, 185 pound TE caught 6 passes for 139 yards and 3 huge touchdowns.

Guardian Angels CC's ground game has also produced a pleasant surprise in 175 pound sophomore, Jared Minnick.

Minnick, who carried for only 70 yards a year ago in reserve duty, has rambled for 1,298 yards and 17 touchdowns this fall. Of course there is also Nolan Plagge and his 1,002 yards.

Man, do the Bluejays have a monster on defense. The dude's name is Connor Klitz. The 170 pound senior linebacker has recorded an unreal 147 tackles. 79 of those were solo stops.

To illustrate how heavy duty Klitz brings the wood, the nearest teammate to him in tackles is Noan Plagge, who has 79 total tackles.

This West Point GACC defense is brutal to say the least. 66 tackles for losses, 23 sacks, 16 interceptions, 8 recovered fumbles and 53 passes defended. These numbers could cause an opposing coach some sleepless nights, but the fact remains GACC gave up a lot of points the past few games.

My Take: Burwell is coming on strong at the right time. Guardian Angels has never seemed let up. A cause for concern may be that Jared Minnick got a little banged up in the Humphrey/LHF quarterfinal game, but seems to be healing well.

The Longhorns will have to quell the holding calls a bit, but certainly have the luxury of being on the Nebraska's biggest gridiron stage just a year ago.

The aerial games will not be affected Monday with temps expected to hit close to 60 degrees with moderate south winds.

That being said, it still appears the Bluejays will face their toughest defensive test since facing Nebraska City Lourdes, a game they won 22-16 back on September 16th. In that win, Plagge suffered 2 interceptions, and the Bluejay ground game was held to 158 yards.

Could this D-1 Championship be a low scoring game? Could be.

West Point GACC (12-0)................................Burwell (10-2)

28 Nebraska Christian 14...................................62 Elgin Public/Pope John 0

64 Clarkson-Leigh 20..........................................38 Palmer 42 (Loss)_

58 Plainview 14...................................................71 Amherst 32_

22 Nebraska City Lourdes 16.............................28 CWCE 52 (Loss)_

50 Omaha Nation (Macy) 6................................36 Atkinson West Holt 26

63 Homer 14.........................................................55 Clearwater/Orchard 12

67 Winnebago 34.................................................62 Ainsworth 8_

48 Pender 26........................................................49 Boyd County 8_

60 Clearwater/Orchard 18.................................55 South Loup 7_

53 Humphrey/LHF 18..........................................33 Perkins County 30____

56 Henderson Heartland 34...............................28 Elm Creek 0_

48 Creighton 44...................................................26 Palmer 24_