Week Three Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - Part One

St. Paul RB/LB Eli Larson, an All-Stater and 2,000 yard rusher in 2019, is off and running again in 2020.

*Eli Larson-St. Paul - The 6’0, 225 pound senior made life tough for Kearney Catholic, especially when he had a football in his hands. Larson exploded for two long distance 4th quarter touchdowns to seal a victory over the Stars.

Larson broke loose for 250 yards on 19 carries with touchdown runs of 3, 50 and 67 yards in the Wildcats 33-7 win over Kearney Catholic. The 200 yard plus rushing game marked the 7th time Eli has eclipsed the two hundred plateau in a single game and the 20th time the St. Paul star has gone over a hundred ground yards in a contest.

Wildcat QB Brenden Knapp completed 5 of 10 passes for 89 yards which included a 45 yard scoring strike to All-State Tommy Wroblewski. Tommy had 3 receptions for 81 yards and made 6 tackles on defense, to aid the St. Paul win.

Now, Eli Larsen’s big night boosted his three game 2020 season total to 541 yards with 8 rushing TDs. If you’re talking Career stats, Eli’s 35 game career rushing total swelled to 4,157 yards with 63 touchdowns. Larson has also accumulated 506 receiving yards with 4 TDs, 839 return yards and 5,552 All-Purpose Yards to date during his ongoing career.

The All-State senior is also a standout linebacker, recording 184 tackles, 112 of which have been solos, and 31.5 tackles for losses. On special teams and defense, Eli has scored from every conceivable place on the field including those 63 rushing scores, a quartet of TD receptions, three kick return scores, 1 punt return touchdown, a fumble return TD and a Pick 6.

You couldn’t ask much more from a football player over three plus years time but there’s one more thing Coach Rusty Fuller would like Eli to do as a football player, and that’s hoist that Class C-1 State Championship trophy at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on a late Tuesday, November 24th afternoon.

*Noah Walters-Lincoln East - Unofficially became the first quarterback in the state to pass for over a 1000 yards in just three games this season. Well, actually two and a half games considering the fact Walters sat out the second half of the 55-13 win over Norfolk last week after the Spartans had built a 49-6 lead over the Panthers at the intermission.

The other QB to reach the thousand yard passing mark this season is naturally Hastings rifle-armed Jarret Synek, and he reached that plateau during game four.

Walters, the 5-11, 175, junior, had previous games of 319 yards in East’s 40-20 win over Pius X and a monster 409 yard output in the Spartans 37-32 come from behind victory over Papillion LaVista South.

Noah’s 13 of 16 passing for 282 first half yards (4 TDs) against Norfolk put him at 1,010 yards with 12 TDs (2 INTs) for the young season. Walters also ran 3 yards for an additional score in the contest.

Walter’s TD passes in the Norfolk win were gathered in by Carter Glenn, who had a pair of scores covering 38, 47 yards, Austin Schneider (17 yards) and DeKendrick McCray, who caught a 27 yard TD strike.

Thus far in 2020, Noah Walters favorite target has been senior Carter Glenn, who has gathered in 9 passes for 395 yards and 6 touchdowns. The unbeaten and 3-0 Spartans will take a Thursday night trip to Buell Field where they meet Millard North before returning to Seacrest Field next Friday for a huge showdown with Lincoln Southeast.

*Jacob Diessner-Spalding Academy - Senior Six-Man quarterback accounted for 652 all-purpose yards in the Shamrocks 66-62 loss to SEM last week. The 5-9, 140 pound Diessner rushed 38 times for 329 yards with 6 TD runs covering 38, 7, 45, 15, 3 and 2 yards, completed 9 of 22 passes for another 227 yards and 4 touchdowns, returned a kickoff 33 yards and made 11 tackles on defense.

Diessner now has 772 yards rushing with 15 TDs, 528 passing with 8 TDs and 37 tackles on defense with 29 solo stops.

*Caleb Busch, Longhorn Offensive-Line-Burwell - Six foot, 180 pound junior back raced for 179 yards on 20 carries and scoring dashes of 3, 31 and 7 yards in the powerhouse Longhorns big 43-28 win over 7th rated (D-1) Neligh-Oakdale last Friday afternoon. Busch raised his three game, 2020 rushing total to 536 yards with 11 touchdowns.

Now, as usual, there has to be some Longhorn beef upfront opening those holes for Busch, and once again Burwell fields one of the best O-Lines in 8-Man football. TE Alex Gideon (6-3, 200, Jr.), Tyler Dawe (6-2, 210, Jr.), Center Carter Mann (6-4, 230, Jr.) Cash Gurney (6-1,180, Jr.) Levi Bode (6-4, 180, Sr.) can flat out get after it and all but one of these guys will be back next year.

*Sean Hampton-Gibbon - 5-8, 170 pound senior has been a mainstay for this Gibbon team, who suffered through a pair of one win seasons the past two years. Despite that, the hard running Hampton ran for 1,197 yards his sophomore season, 923 a year ago and is already up to 481 yards after three games this fall.

In Gibbon’s 20-6 win at Hershey, Hampton rambled for 196 yards on 28 touches and a touchdown. Hampton was also a force on defense, logging 15 tackles and picking off a Hershey pass.

*Reid Korth-Wayne - 2019 thousand yard rusher was instrumental in keeping the Class C-1, Top rated Blue Devils undefeated last Friday. Korth blasted his way to 126 hard earned yards on 26 carries and scored both of Wayne’s touchdowns (1, 18 yards) in their 14-11 victory over a fine Columbus Lakeview team.

*Telo Arsiaga-Lincoln Southwest - The fast and durable 185 pound senior running back rushed for 151 yards on 21 totes with touchdown runs of 1, 2 and 47 yards in the SilverHawks 48-7 trouncing of Lincoln NE. Telo also had 4 receptions for 54 yards while increasing his 2020 rushing yards total to 252 big ones

The victory puts Southwest in the win column for the first time this season and gives the SilverHawks some momentum going into this week’s fray against a tough Elkhorn South team

*Dominic Rezac-Omaha Westside - The 6-1, 175 pound junior continues to sparkle as Westside’s featured back. Rezac broke loose for 156 yards on 26 carries and touchdown scampers of 4, 13 and 2 yards in the top ranked Warriors 42-9 win over Papillion LV.

After being turned loose for 256 yards in Westside’s win at Kearney, the Warriors junior back seems to have found his stride……..to the tune of 430 yards and 8 touchdowns after three games.

Omaha Westside will bring their powerhouse football team to Grand Island’s new state-of-the-art facility in two weeks and the 1000 Yard Guy is going to see the Warriors up close and personal that night.

*Kyle Napier, Michael Andel-David City Aquinas - 2019 All-State Kyle Napier ran for 143 yards on 12 carries with touchdown runs of 16 and 61 yards in the Monarchs 21-6 win over forever rival Columbus Scotus last week. Junior fullback Michael Andel (5-10, 170) added 115 yards on 21 touches and a 39 yard TD scamper in the win. The Monarchs are currently rated #2 in Stu Pospisil’s OWH Class C-2 ratings.

*Jimmy Allen-Crofton - Senior RB ran for 141 yards on 32 carries and scored both Crofton touchdowns in the 30-13 loss to C-2’s #1 Oakland-Craig. Allen and the Warrior offense actually led the defending C-2 champs 7-0 after one quarter, and ended up with more total yards when the game ended (277-265). The tough running Allen, who rushed for 1,052 yards a year ago, has accumulated 335 yards on the ground and three TDs after two games this Fall.

*Carter Bose, Clayton Berry-Southern Valley - Eagle quarterbacks combined for 357 passing yards and 4 touchdowns in Southern Valley’s big 36-26 win over Cambridge. Senior Carter Bose completed 12 of 20 passes for 240 yards and a pair of TD tosses, while his classmate, All-State basketballer Clayton Berry, hit 7 of his 9 pass attempts for an additional 117 yards and two touchdowns.

All four scoring passes were fielded by senior Brody Yant, who caught 9 aerials for a gigantic 250 yards. Yant’s 38 and 53 yard TD catches were thrown by Bose, while the 10 and 60 yard TD receptions were tossed by Berry.

Southern Valley’s 2020 Eight-Man football success, they are currently 1-1, is in sharp contrast to a year ago when the Eagles were forced to forfeit their final 6 games competing in the Class C-2, 11-Man football ranks. You may also recall that the 2019/2020 Eagles basketball team made a surprise appearance in the Class D-1 State Finals, losing to Laurel-Concord-Coleridge.

Carter Bose has thrown for 365 yards and 4 TDs in hi first two games this season, as Southern Valley will travel to Elm Creek next Friday to take on an angry group who just suffered their first loss of the 2020 season to Amherst, 28-6.

*Hyatt Collins-Adams Central - Sophomore sensation continued his rushing laurels with 149 yards on 13 carries and TD bursts of 10, 21 and 45 yards, in the Patriots 49-14 win over Minden. Hyatt had 131 yards by halftime. Collins 149 yard output comes one week after a 173 yard/2 TD outburst in AC’s 24-7 win over then #1 rated Wahoo (C-1). The sophomore already has 379 yards rushing and 7 touchdowns after three games.

The Adams Central defense also continues to dominate, as witnessed by the Patriots 9-0 lead against Minden before their offense even hit the field. On Minden’s first play from scrimmage, Tyler Slechta stripped the football from Minden back Gabe Fries and raced 30 yards for the score. Adams Central then registered a safety on the Whippets ensuing possession when the center center snap sailed over the punter’s head and out of the end zone for the 2 pointer.

You want to know how stingy this Adams Central defense has been through three games this season? They allowed Holdrege 88 yards rushing and 69 passing, Wahoo 105 yards rushing and 100 passing, and Minden 123 on the ground and 67 though the air. That’s an average of 105 yards rushing per game and 78 passing. Pretty impressive.

*Alex Ramos-Lexington - After rushing for 33 yards against Seward and 4 against Beatrice, the 5-9, 180 pound senior found another gear in the Minutemen's 45-25 win over South Sioux City. Ramos cut loose for 191 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns while defensive buddies Julio Rodriquez (INT), Shane Callahan (INT), Shane Pineda (INT), Hunter Stewert (INT), Cristian Loarca (recovered fumble) and Caden Neben (recovered fumble), were forcing half a dozen turnovers on defense.