Week 9 Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - 11-Man Football

*5000 Yard Career Rusher Alert*

Eli Larson-St. Paul - The St. Paul All-Stater that excels on both sides of the ball, surpassed the coveted 5000 yard career rushing mark in the Wildcats 69-6 victory over Twin River last week. Eli ran for 137 yards on just 7 carries to raise his career rushing total to 5,109 yards.

According to my research, Eli Larson became just the 52nd back in history to crack that five thousand yard mark and he nearly accomplished that the past three seasons, gaining 4,910 yards in 32 games. Larson rushed for just 199 yard his freshman year, so it is apparent what an accomplishment this is and of course it would have been difficult to do this without a superior blocking offensive line.

Larson currently ranks 45th on the list of 5000 yard career rushers with his 5,109 yards,

Larson, one of the most feared players in the state on both offense and defense, has rushed for 100 plus yards in 27 of his 32 games the past three seasons, scored at least one rushing touchdown in his last 33 consecutive games, and has scored a touchdown from nearly every conceivable position on a football field.

Eli’s career stats to date (41 games);

*Rushing, 5,109 yards-572 carries (8.9/per), 77 TDs.

*Receiving, 569 yards-26 receptions, 6 TDs

*All-Purpose Yards (Rushing, receiving, kick and punt returns, interception returns-6,567 yards, 89 TDs. (77 rushing TDs, 6 pass receiving TDs, 1 fumble TD, 1 Pick 6 TD, 1 punt return TD, 3 kick return TDs).

*Tackles, 222 Total (135 solo/87 assists) 37.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, 4 interceptions, 4 fumble recoveries.

*Points scored - 538

***1000 Yard Rusher Alert- Third Time Around***

*Dex Larsen-Blair - The Blair juggernaut rambled for 196 yards on only 13 touches and scored touchdown runs covering 64, 12, 40, and 18 yards in the Bears 64-24 romp over South Sioux City. This elevates Larsen’s 2020 rushing total to 1,075 yards (21 TDs) and marks the third consecutive season Dex has broken the 1000 yard rushing barrier.

Larsen ran for 1,355 yards as a sophomore, 1,329 last season and his 1,075 yards to date in 2020 give him 3,759 career rushing yards with 46 touchdowns. The Blair standout also has 135 career tackles and it’s safe to say they all 135 hurt.

*Jarrett Synek, Zaide Weidner, Carson Shoemaker, Landon Jacobus-Hastings - All-State QB candidate Jarrett Synek was a nightmare for GI Northwest in the Tigers 30-19 win over the Vikings last Friday. Synek completed 15 of 30 passes for 271 yards and a pair of touchdowns and also rushed 16 times for 99 yards and two more critical touchdowns in the late going of the game.

Zaide Weidner was instrumental in keeping Hastings drives alive with his 118 yards on 17 carries. Jet shoes Carson Shoemaker caught 6 passes for 131 yards and latched on to an 80 yard Jarrett Synek touchdown bomb that absolutely changed the momentum in this Class B showdown.

On the defensive side for Hastings, Landon Jacobus was a monster, recording 10 tackles (7 solos), while DB Austin Nauert was everywhere, totalling 8 tackles, all open field stops.

Jacobus, along with Jacob Kiiker and Jett Samuelson, recovered fumbles while Beau Dreher and Braden Kalvelage pirated Sam Hartman passes.

Kalvelage also kept Northwest pinned back with his 3 punts which averaged 38.7 yards a boot.

*Colin Ludvig-Wahoo - The 5-6, 150 pound junior rushed 14 times for 228 yards and scoring runs of 4, 35 and 20 yards in the Warriors 47-0 shutout of Malcolm. The spirited junior also caught a pair of touchdown passes (6, 52 yards) from QB Tate Nelson.

Ludvig’s 2020 rushing total is now at 1,258 yards (12 TDs). He has also made 29 stops on defense.

*1000 Yard Rusher Alert*

*Jimmy Quaintance-Millard North - Mustang quarterback helped make quick work of Norfolk in the 1st Round of the Class A playoffs. Jimmy rushed just 7 times but managed 114 yards and TD dashes of 16 and 80 yards. Quaintance was also 3 of 6 passing for 113 yards which included touchdown tosses of 46 yards to Charlie Quaintance (bro?) and 50 yards to Isaih McMorris.

Jimmy Quaintance becomes the 33rd Millard North back to eclipse the 1000 yard rushing mark. He currently has 1,064 yards.

*Kale Bird-Bennington - Badgers outstanding, Dual-Threat QB completed 14 of 21 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns in Bennington’s 35-21 victory over playoff bound Omaha Gross. Bird also rambled for 101 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown in the Badgers regular season finale. For the season Bird has 1,830 yards through the air with 19 TDs, plus 846 rushing yards with an additional 13 touchdowns.

That gives the Bennington senior 2,676 Total Yards (297.3/per) in 9 games, which puts him at the top of that statistical category in Class B.

**1000 Yard Rusher Alert*

*Micah Moore, Carter Sintek-Fremont - Micah Moore’s 80 yards on 20 carries (2 TDs) in Fremont's 48-28 1st Round Class A playoff win over Papillion LV, elevated the junior over the 1000 yard rushing mark for the 2020 season. His 1,012 yards may not have been a great surprise considering the tough running Tiger back churned out 799 yards as a sophomore in 2019.

Fremont quarterback Carter Sintek also was a standout in the playoff win, completing 11 of 17 passes for 257 yards and 3 touchdowns. Sintek, a junior classmate of Micah Moore, has completed 63.6% of his 181 pass attempts for a whopping 1,860 yards and 20 touchdowns with only three picks.

The win over Papio was also Fremont’s first postseason win in 23 years, with the Tigers last playoff victory coming in 1998 when they eliminated Bellevue West, 25-9.

*Rylan Aguallo-Mitchell - Jet propelled Tiger flyer punished Sidney with his 279 yards on 25 carries and 5 touchdowns in Mitchell’s 41-14 victory over the Red Raiders. Aguallo currently averages 201.7 yards a game, with a 9 game total of 1,815 yards (22 TDs) heading into the Tigers 1st Round Class C-1 playoff game this Friday at Wahoo (2:00 CT)

*Jackson Clausen-Norfolk Catholic - Sophomore speed merchant ran for 169 yards on 16 carries and TD sprints of 36 and 60 yards in Catholic’s exciting 14-10 win over tough Hartington Cedar Catholic.

*Deegan Nelson-Beatrice - Erupted for 222 yards on just 15 carries and 5 touchdown runs covering 5, 2, 52, 55 and 42 yards in the Orangemen’s 70-12 shellacking of Crete.

*Brody Darnell-Auburn - Speedy quarterback, who has a habit of breaking long distance touchdown runs, sped for 146 yards on 18 touches and shorter scoring gallops of 8 and 15 yards in Auburn’s 41-8 win over Falls City. Hey, you can’t break the long one every time.

*Reece Bode-Battle Creek - Bode’s 176 yards on 17 carries and 3 TDs in the Braves 46-20 win over North Bend Central lifted the senior runner's 2020 rushing total to 1,445 yards (20 TDs)

*Sam Hartman-G.I. Northwest - Another Dual-Threat QB, the junior piled up 286 total yards in the Vikings 30-19 loss to Hastings. Hartman hit 19 of 30 aerials for 209 yards and a TD in the game and added 77 yards rushing on 20 tries and an additional touchdown

*Braden Thompson-Nebraska City - 6-4, 220 pound, junior tight end scored all three touchdowns in the Pioneers 54-21 season ending loss to Falls City on October 16th. The incredibly talented Thompson had 6 receptions for 166 yards and scoring catches covering 18, 52 and 55 yards from QB MJ Nelson.

Thompson’s 8 game receiving yards total was an amazing 891 yards on 47 receptions, considering the Pioneers won just two games. Nebraska City’s regular season finale last week against Lincoln Christian was cancelled due to COVID issues, robbing Thompson a shot at a thousand yard receiving season. Thank goodness the lad is just a junior and has classmate MJ Nelson returning next season at quarterback.