Week Nine Friday Night Lights football Heroes - Part 1

The Millard West offense starts with these gentlemen (L to R), #5-Giovanni Guido(QB)and two time 1000 yard rusher #3-Brody Belt(RB) *(photo by Bobby Mills)

This will not be the last regular season installments of Friday Night Lights football Heroes. We will continue with these blogs through the first few rounds of the playoffs, but as the rounds progress, there will be fewer and fewer players to choose from.

We now present our first group of Week 9 stars, beginning with two outstanding athletes and young men from Millard West. Tomorrow, we will highlight that crushing Gretna defense.

*Brody Belt (RB), Giovanni Guido (QB) - Millard West - Wildcats dynamic duo was good as gold in Millard West’s 28-17 triumph over previously unbeaten Lincoln High. The masterful Guido completed 9 of his 17 passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns, beating Lincoln High at their own game.

The lightning quick, two time 1000 yard rusher Brody Belt played like a 1000 yard receiver instead against the Links, grabbing 3 Guido aerials for 150 yards and two long distance TD catches covering 44 and 82 yards

Both Guido and Belt were also very efficient on the ground. Giovanni led Wildcat runners with 74 yards on 16 carries, while Belt ran 18 times for 68 yards and a score. Big Jacob Harmdierks caught 4 passes from Guido, good for 70 yards.

On defense, both Matt Sorich and hard nosed Ryan Lasauskas picked off Cedric Case passes in the opening quarter to set the tone for the game. Sure-fire All-State punter Tyler Bandiera was also a force in the game, as usual, getting two of his boots inside the Lincoln High 20 on a high wind evening.

After witnessing Millard West’s sideline for the 2nd time this season, it would be difficult to pick against Kirk Peterson’s football team when forecasting a Class A champion in the upcoming 2017 playoffs. These guys have it together.

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

***2000 Yard Rusher Alert***

*Drake Gilliland - Mitchell - Senior capped off a fabulous career by rushing for 227 yards on 22 carries and 4 TDs in a wild 51-40 win over Ogallala. That yardage lifted Gilliland over the 2,000 yard mark, leaving his 2017 final rushing total at 2,095 yards (19 TDs)

This young man crammed a whole bunch of rushing real estate into the last two years. The 5-8, 185 pound senior speedster ran for 3,914 yards during the past two seasons. As a sophomore, Drake Gilliland played in the shadow of his older bro, Drew Gilliland, who rushed for 1,251 yards in 2015. Even then, Drake still managed 719 yards that 2015 season, giving him a 29 game career rushing total of 4,633 yards with 44 TDs.

This past season, Gilliland was held under 200 yards rushing only twice. Drake had two games over 300 yards and was held under a 100 yards rushing only Once in his last 18 games.

Drake Gilliland ends his brilliant Mitchell Tiger career on a 13 game 100+ rushing yards streak.

*Schuyler Football - Snapped the state’s longest 11-Man football losing streak at 45 games when they beat South Sioux City 21-18 last week. How good must that have felt to the seniors, who had never experienced a win in their four years of beating their brains out every single day on the practice field, and on Game Day?

The last time the Warriors had won a football game was October 12, 2012 when they beat Bennington, 21-17. Senior QB Kevin Contreras, teammates Jackson Settles and Mason Kovar said it was about as good as it gets and that it gave hope to underclassman who would love to repeat the feeling often in 2018 and beyond.

Last, but not least, high props to Schuyler head coach Aaron Thumann, who was with this current seniors all the way through their Warrior careers.

*Ponca Defense, Connor Day, Andrew McLean, Dalton Tremayne - Indians defense grounded the high flying Hartington Cedar Catholic running game to the tune of a meager 147 yards in Ponca’s 20-0 win over the Trojans.

Conner Day pirated two Matthew Schaefer passes, taking one back 85 yards for a Ponca score. McLean picked off the other Schaefer aerial, while Dalton Tremayne added a 13 yard touchdown run for the Indians.

Ponca grabbed the #1 seed in the Class C-2 playoff field which gets underway this Friday in all 11-Man classes. The Omaha World-Herald’s fine prep rater Stu Pospisil, has the Indians rated #2 behind season leader Centennial, going into the postseason.

This Ponca football team, which features the athletic Kingsbury brothers, Logan and Carter, are playing at a pace that looks pretty tough right now. No stars on this team, are just solid players from top to bottom. They have taken down C-2 toughies Oakland-Craig, Battle Creek and now Hartington Cedar Catholic without the blink of an eye.

Stay tuned, because this group could well win a Class C-2 football and basketball title in 2017.

*Joe Dolincheck (QB), Jeyvon Ducker (RB), Thunderbird defense - That’s right, the Bellevue West defense. With the Thunderbirds leading 35-28, Omaha Burke drove the ball from their own 20, all the way to the Bellevue West 9 yard line. But on the very next play, in what appeared to have been an Omaha Burke 1st down, a Thunderbird defender recovered a Bulldog fumble at the Bellevue West 9 yard line to preserve the win. How do you like that?

Joe Dolincheck went 13-22 passing for 167 yards and three TDS in the big win. Shane Smith hauled in two of the scoring tosses, covering 14 and 25 yards. Jayvon Ducker, who ran 26 times for 159 yards and a 13 yard score, caught the other Dolincheck TD pass that spanned 25 yards.

*Dillon Buss (WR/S) - Beatrice - Was the money man for the Orangemen after Husker pledge Cam Jurgens went down with a season-ending left ankle injury.

Trailing Norris 17-14 entering the 4th quarter, Buss scooped up a Titans fumble and returned it 56 yards for a score, then added some insurance points by catching a 58 yard TD pass from Beatrice quarterback Trevor Schmale.

Beatrice went on to defeat Norris 27-17, finishing the regular season 8-1 to earn a 7th seed and home game against Elkhorn. The Antlers are the only team to defeat Beatrice this season.

Dillon Buss does have 292 receiving yards a 3 TDs, but also is a valuable asse on defense, where he’s logged 48 tackles, including an interception and a fumble recovery.

*Bryson Krull (WR) - North Platte - Had three touchdown catches (26, 33, 5 yards) among his 6 receptions for 99 yards, in the Bulldogs regular season finale 35-6 win over Omaha Bryan.

North Platte QB Caden Comer did the honors with the scoring passes to the talented Krull. The big 6-5, 220 pound senior WR ended his career with a massive 1,035 receiving yards with 11 touchdowns this fall.

In just two full seasons for the Bulldogs, Bryson caught 90 passes for 1,537 yards and 16 TDs.

A 6-5, 200 pound wide receiver? You think this dude can’t pick ’em up and lay ‘em down after he catches a pass? Think again. Also a strong candidate for the All-State punter slot in Class A, with his 40.7 yards per boot.

Also remember, Bryson Krull plays for a team that has won only 4 games the past two seasons. That makes things even more impressive.

*Baylor Scheierman (QB) - Aurora - Kept the pressure on Seward until it was over in the Huskies 48-39 win over the Bluejays. The mobile, rifle-armed Aurora fireballer connected on 21 of 27 passes for 281 yards and 5 touchdowns in that regular season finale.

Jordan Stevenson was on the receiving end of three Scheierman tosses, covering 5, 5 and 68 yards. Cade Reichardt caught a 17 yard TD pass from Baylor, while Grant Bonifas hauled in the 5th scoring toss.

Scheierman piled up some top notch statistics in his maiden voyage at starting QB for Aurora in 2017. The junior, who rarely gets sacked, has connected on 59.3% of his 295 passes for a whopping 2,258 yards and 28 TDs. Cade Reichardt appears to have gone over the 1000 yard receiving mark, having piled up 980 yards entering the Seward contest.

The 5-4 Huskies open the playoff season with a road game at 7-2 Omaha Skutt Friday.

***4,000 Yard Career Rusher Alert***

*Dylan Kautz (RB/DB) - Norfolk Catholic - Nebraska’s fastest human rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns in the Knights 49-21 conquering of previously unbeaten West Point-Beemer. Kautz scored TDs on runs of 7, 13 and 70 yards.

Kautz concluded the regular season with 1,709 rushing yards and 18 TDs for the #1 seed Norfolk Catholic Knights. It also raises his career rushing yard total to 4,048 yards. Rugged fullback Payton Love added 97 yards on just 5 carries in the game, which also included a sparkling 70 yard touchdown run of his own. Not the first time I’ve seen Payton Love reel of a long run.

Catholic will open their Class C-1 playoff journey with a home tilt at Memorial Field in Norfolk, hosting dangerous Wahoo Neumann, a team they defeated 24-6 on opening Thursday night back in August.

*Austin Schultz (RB) - Norris - Put a stamp on a marvelous two year career at Norris with a 187 yards on 22 carries night against Beatrice. The Titans came up on the short end of a 27-17 score, but the blazing Schultz scored both Norris touchdowns on short 2 yard bursts.

In just two seasons and 20 games, 5-10, 180 pound baseball specialist rushed for an amazing 3,062 yards and 43 TDs. This season, Norris finished 4-5 and will be absent from the Class B playoff field, but Austin Schultz never lost a step, despite losing a lot of up-front blocking he enjoyed in 2016.

Schultz was just one, in a long line of terrific Norris running backs and top notch baseball talent to go through that school in recent years.

*Noah Mick (FB), Cade Elwood (QB) - Millard North - Pile driving senior back punished Millard South with 165 yards on 25 carries and touchdown blasts of 2 and 6 yards in the Mustangs convincing 34-13 win over a resurgent Millard South team.

Backfield buddy Cade Elwood scooted for 140 yards on 30 touches, and hit paydirt with three one yard runs. Elwood, a 2 time 1000 yard rusher, is now at 1,192 yards (23 TDs) for 2017.

Noah Mick now sits at 861 yards (10 TDs) as Fred Petito’s Mustangs enter the Class A playoffs with an away game vs Omaha Burke. Who wants to face a 5-4 Fred Petito Millard North team in the first round?

History would indicate…..not many.

*Garrett Seagren (WR) - Oakland-Craig - All-State wide receiver caught two passes for two touchdowns in the Knights 31-0 win over Fremont Bergan. Seagren’s TD receptions were from 39 and 9 yards away.

This season, the slippery Seagren has caught 48 balls for 851 yards and 10 TDs for the once beaten Oakland-Craig team. For his career, Seagren has hauled in a mind blowing 108 passes, good for 2,227 yards and 26 TDS. Even more amazing is the fact that Garrett has averaged 20.6 yards per catch during his stellar career for the Knights.

Oakland-Craig has drawn the No. 6 seen in the Class C-2 playoffs and have a home contest Friday against a very dangerous Yutan team.

*Connor Pohlmeier (RB) - Plattsmouth - 5-6, 131 pound sophomore decided to unleash some fury just when the Blue Devils needed it most. Pohlmeier exploded for 269 yards on 25 carries and three TDs in Plattsmouth’s 46-34 win over Platteview. The win vaulted the Devils into the Class B playoffs.

Connor shook loose for touchdown scampers of 71, 3 and 58 yards in the game, increasing his 2017 total to an unofficial 922 yards. Plattsmouth quarterback Kirkland Haswell and wideout Hunter Adkins also played huge roles in the critical District win. Haswell found Adkins three times for touchdowns, covering 25, 19 and 7 yards.

Mr. Pohlmeier may have served notice a week ago when he bolted for 223 yards in a 46-7 win over Nebraska City.

The win sends the Blue Devils into the Class B playoffs as the #16 seed, which means a road game at No. 1 seeded Gretna.

**1000 Yard Rusher Alert**

*Dylon Zink (RB) - Ogallala - 5-8, 155 pound sophomore cracked the thousand yard rushing plateau with his 121 yards on 15 carries in Ogallala’s 51-40 loss to Mitchell. The speedy Zink ended the season with 1,071 yards and 9 TDs for the 4-5 Indians.

*Jacob Pickering (RB/CB) - Elkhorn - 5-10, 170 pound senior gave Mount Michael nightmares during the Antler’s 56-0 win over the Knights. Pickering only required 7 touches to ramble for touchdown runs of 52 and 80 yards, on his way to 162 yard rushing evening. That raises Pickering’s 2017 rushing total to 623 yards and 8 TDs.