Nebraska High Football Championship Previews - Class C-2.

Nebraska High Football Championship Previews

Class C-2

Tuesday, November 22nd, 10:45 am @ Memorial Stadium, Lincoln

Crofton (10-2) vs. Wilber-Clatonia (12-0)

It is a given fact that most prep football-wise folks around our fine state predicted Wilber-Clatonia would be playing for the Class C-2 championship this fall. After all, the Wolverines made it to the rugged C-1 semis in 2015 before dropping a 42-7 decision to eventual state champion Columbus Scotus.

The Wolverines also brought back their entire line and those dudes were huge, and even bigger this fall. The defense was in even better shape with 7 players returning.

But I wonder if anyone remembered that Crofton returned Ten starters on both sides of the football? Sprinkle in a potential big time RB named Tanner Crosley, and you have a football squad that deserves some deep playoff run conversation.

What concerned me was the fact Crofton was in the most brutal football district in 11-Man football. Battle Creek, Hartington CC, Stanton, Lutheran High NE and Ponca made up a group of teams were top notch, but raised concerns they would beat up on each other with nobody emerging from the pack. Crofton ended those worries.

Coach Lynn Jurgens Wilber-Clatonia team breezed through the regular season without a serious test, outscoring opponents 434-43 while pitching 5 shutouts. That's pummeling everybody by a 42 per game to around 5 ppg.

What impresses me even more is the way the Wolverines handled the toughies from Crofton's Magic Circle C-2, District 4 bunch. The Wolverines proved that point by besting Stanton (21-6) and Hartington CC (27-0) in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

That fabled Offensive line from Wilber-Clatonia has the steamrolling nucleus that includes Riley Holomka (6-3, 260), Zach Keller (6-4, 240), and Gavin Oliver (6-1, 285). These gentlemen enable players like QB Tanner Sand, RB Coltin Rezabek, and WR Brice Broz to do their thing on offense.

Sand, the 6 foot, 160 pound senior, has really done a great job filling the shoes of the graduated Connor O'Toole, who could do it all. Sand is a true dual-threat quarterback, although he has thrown only 73 times But the kids was on target 67% of the time for 719 yards/11 TDs. Tanner is also the 2nd leading rusher for the Wolverines with 709 yards and 17 TDs.

The W/C ground attack is paced by 6-0, 160 pound sophomore, Coltin Rezabek, who has run for 880 yards and 10 Scores. Rezabek is also a pass catching threat out of the Wolverine backfield, hauling in 11 passes for 112 yards and touchdown.

Coltin proved his worth as a pass receiver in the semifinal clash with Yutan. Rezabek caught 5 passes, nearly half of his entire season total, good for 43 yards and an important score in the 19-7 win.

My favorite player on this team has to be Brice Broz. Every team has a big time player who shines when it counts......Broz would be that guy.

The 5-11, 175 pound WR/DB not only leads the receiving corps with 488 yards and 8 TDS, but is a sharp thorn in the side of opposing defenses when he runs the football. The do-it-all senior has rushed for 492 yards on 56 touches (8.8) and hit paydirt 11 times.

On the defensive side, the Wolverines have amassed a gaudy number of tackles for losses this fall. You read that right. And you know darn well who leads that TFL category, don't you? If you guessed Riley Homolka, you would be right.

Big Riley has spilled backs behind the line 14 times and you know as well as I, that he is being double-teamed a good portion of the time. Besides that, out of Homolka's 47 tackles for the year, 32 have been solos.

5-9, 215 pound senior LB Dustin Jelinek leads the well balanced tackles category with 59 stops. Junior DB Cooper Bates follows with 54 tackles, then Zack Keller with 53.

And last but not least, Mr. Renaissance Man, Brice Broz has been monster with 12 interceptions in that Wilber-Clatonia defensive backfield.

You think Broz didn't come up big in that semifinal game with Yutan? How does 3 picks grab you? Brice also had a Pick-6 in the opening round playoff game vs. Freeman and brought a kickoff back to the house against Palmyra earlier in the year.

After all those accolades for Wilber-Clatonia, you think maybe Crofton should stay home?

I think they'll probably show up and do a lot more.

You may recall the Warriors have operated out of that tight double-wing offense for years. Well, they still do, and run it well. Leading the way is one of Class C-2's finest running backs, Tanner Crosley. This guy is good, man.

The 6-1, 185 pound senior with the sweet 400 meter track stride, has run for 1,551 yards and 23 TDs this season. FB Ethan Poppe follows with 680 yards and 6 scores.

The Warriors will run 85% of the time, but when they do throw, junior QB Jaden Janssen has been efficient enough to hit half of those aerials for 841 yards a 6 TDs. Janssen's top target this fall has been 6-2, 180 pound senior Grant Wragge. Number 27 has latched on to exactly half of Janssen's 48 completions, good for 504 yards and 4 TDs.

Crofton has a sure-fire All-State man on defense by the name of Dylan Potts. The 6-2, 215 pound senior DE has been in on 114 stops this season for the Warriors. Potts has been an unwelcome guest in opposing backfields for crunches 21.5 times, 7 of which were QB sacks.

Jaden Janssen, a linebacker on defense, with 73 stops is next, while the other DE Chase Zimmerman, has 70 tackles (11 TFL).

In that Crofton defensive secondary, Janssen has picked off 4 passes this season while senior safety Noah McFarland has pounced on 3 fumbles.

Finally, here is the scoop on both teams including Points scored, Rushing, Passing and Total Offense statistics.....These are per game averages:

..................................PTS Scored....Rushing Yards....Passing Yards...Total Offense

Wilber-Clatonia..........41.7..................260.0.................. 73.0...................332.5

Opponents....................4.6....................38.5...................78.3...................116.8

...............................PTS Scored....Rushing Yards....Passing Yards...Total Offense

Crofton.......................29.3...................254.0..................77.0..................331.0

Opponents................14.8......................74.7................137.0.................211.6

Crofton (10-2)..........................................Wilber-Clatonia(12-0)

28 Wisner-Pilger 6..............................................59 Sandy Creek 0_

37 BRLD 20..........................................................42 Hastings St. Cecilia 0___

22 Oakland-Craig 28 (Loss)...............................49 Elmwood-Murdock 0__

50 Twin River 6...................................................49 Shelby/Rising City 14__

28 Ponca 6...........................................................49 Humboldt-TRS 0_

21 Stanton 14.....................................................53 Palmyra 14_

28 Hartington CC 20...........................................35 Yutan 15_

0 Pender 14 (loss).......................................... 42 Johnson Co. Central 0_

41 Lutheran High NE 7........................................56 Freeman _

51 Central City 7..................................................21 Stanton 6_

27 Valentine 20...................................................27 Hartington CC 0_

19 Battle Creek 14..............................................19 Yutan 6_