Cross County Offense flirting with National Prominence.

Cross County running backs Isaac Noyd (#7/L) aand Carter Seim (#10/R) lead one of the most prolific rushing offenses in the history of 8-Man football in America.

Cross County head coach Hayden Delano knows he’s directing one of the most prolific backfields in Nebraska Eight-Man football history. That Cougar backfield currently leads the entire nation, regardless of number of players of the field (11-Man, 9-Man, 8-Man, 6-Man football), and you can bet DeLano knows what he’s sitting on.

That’s right. As of today, according to Max Preps, who describes themselves as “a level playing field where every team in the nation shares schedules, results, rosters, and detailed player stats”, lists Cross County high school in Stromsburg NE, as the overall National Leader in Team Rushing Yards, having compiled a staggering 4,988 yards in 11 games (453.5/per)

The 11-0 Cougars boast a pair of running backs that have accounted for an even-steven 4,000 of those 4,988 rushing yards. Senior Isaac Noyd leads the way with his 2,065 yards on just 158 carries. The 145 pound senior speedster has scored 28 rushing touchdowns while averaging 13.1 yards every time he touches the football.

Junior Carter Seim, who sat out the Nebraska Christian game as a precautionary measure, has run for 1,935 yards on 126 carries and 36 touchdowns, averaging a fat 15.4 yards a pop.

The team ranked 2nd in team rushing yardage is Beaver, Utah, a school ranked #1 in Utah’s smallest 11-Man Class (2A). Beaver, who lists 72 players on their current roster, has rushed for 4,398 yards, a wide-gapped 590 yards behind Cross County.

Now, to the “National prominence” I referred to in the headline. A recent check (about 10 minutes ago) on the The National Federation of State High School Associations Record Book site, reveals that the current Cross County team rushing total of 4,988 yards is already ranked #7 on the All-Time list of “Eight player (man) football Most Team Rushing Yards in a Single Season category.

Even more impressive at this point in time, is Cross County already holding down the #3 spot on the All-Time Team Rushing Yards per Game average list.

Now, I had to do some further research after looking at the original list. The 8-Man National Records needed some further updating, so here is the list I came up with after finding some teams that needed to be included on the list.

8-MAN FOOTBALL NATIONAL RECORD-MOST RUSHING YARDS IN A SEASON

Yards...Team

5388 - Lowell, Oregon, (2013), (13 games)

5346 - Luck, Wisconsin, (2015), (10)

5301 - St. Paul, Oregon, (2009) (14)

5210 - Liberty Christian, Wash., (2015), (13)

5201 - Jefferson Davis Academy (SC), (2018). (12)

5121 - Idaho City, ID, (2000) (11)

4988 - Cross County, NE, (2020), (11) (Still Active)

4870 - Alex, OK, (2018), (13)

4843 - Corona Centennial, CA, (2013), (15)

4790 - Osceola/High Plains, NE, (2019) (13)

4731 - Bloomfield, NE, (2016), (11)

8-MAN NATIONAL RECORD-MOST RUSHING YARDS PER GAME-SEASON

534.6 - Luck, WI, (2015) (5,346/10)

465.5 - Idaho City, ID, (2000) (5,121/11)

*453.5 - Cross County, NE, (2020), (4988/11) *(Still Active)

Right now, Cross County is 400 yards away from what is listed as the National Record for 8-Man team rushing yards in a single season. Probably safe to say that the per game average of 534.6 isn’t going to happen, and the 465.5 directly above may be very difficult considering they play a strong Burwell team in the semifinals and should they advance, either Tri-County or Dundy County/Stratton in the Final.

But the National Record of 5,388 yards is well withing reach if the Cougars come close to their per game rushing yards average.

The fact Cross County is rubbing elbows with some of the top 8-Man rushing teams in history in this country is impressive, but is probably not first and foremost on the mind of the Cougar players or coaching staff.

Two more playoff wins come first, the rest is gravy.

Here is a statistical fact about both Isaac Noyd and Carter Seim I found to be very extraordinary. Check out the distance on each of Noyd’s 28 touchdown runs:

*Isaac Noyd Game by Game rushing yards/carries and TD runs*:

Blue Hill - 140 yards-15 carries (39 run TD run)

Clarkson-Leigh - 175-20, (34, 58, 2 runs)

Howells-Dodge - 205-12, (62, 34, 55 runs)

Nebraska Christian - 357-25, (71, 5, 19, 70, 50 runs)

Shelby/Rising City - 154-3, (64, 13, 55 runs)

East Butler - 231-16, (33, 29, 59 runs)

Humphrey/LHF - 68-5, (65 run)

*Clarkson-Leigh - 204-16, (34, 18, 44 runs)

*Cambridge - 210-12, (72, 43 runs)

*Elm Creek - 175-16, (68 run)

...Isaac Noyd has 1,181 yards in touchdown runs alone.

*Carter Seim Game by Game rushing yards/carries and TD runs*:

Blue Hill - 254 yards-14 carries (39, 66, 5, 37, 37 TD runs)

Clarkson-Leigh - 187-20, (11, 20, 76 runs)

Howells-Dodge - 148-15, (32 run)

Nebraska Christian - Did Not Play

Shelby/Rising City - 182-4, (60, 30, 44, ? runs)

East Butler - 126-13 - (28, 18, 49, ? runs)

Humphrey/LHF - 305-17, (34, 65, 62, 9, 52, 49 runs)

*Clarkson-Leigh - 78-4, (38, 19 runs)

*Cambridge - 207-10, (61, 46, 75 runs)

*Elm Creek - 270-18, (66, 46, 3, 39, 36 runs)

...Even with two TD runs missing, Carter Seim has 1,278 yards in touchdown runs alone.

And now, let’s meet the boys up front leading the way for Isaac Noyd and Carter Seim. Without these gentlemen, they go nowhere.

(#22) TE-Cory Hollinger, 6-6, 210, Jr., (#55) Guard-Lincoln Kelly, 5-10, 200, Sr. Captain, (#65) Center-Alex Noyd, 5-10, 200, Freshman, (#63) Guard-Colby Bolton, 5-10, 195, Jr., (#23) TE-Damon Mickey, 5-11, 225, Jr.

You can also add these young men, who are in those Cross County offensive alignments a good majority of the time: (#15) RB-Christian Rystrom, 5-11, 170, Sr., (#1) RB-Cameron Graham, 5-11, 170, Jr., (#5) RB-Shayden Lundstrom-6-2, 160, Jr., (#34) FB-Zachary Haug, 6-0, 195, Sr.

And the Cross County coaching staff, who fashioned this extraordinary 2020 football team: Head Coach: Hayden DeLano, Assistants: Matt Carroll, Mitch Boshart, Todd Connelly, Quinn Peterson (Yes, THAT Quinn Peterson!)

Next action for Cross County is Friday, November 14th versus the mighty Burwell. Kickoff slated for 6:00 PM. The stadium is located about 3 miles south of Stromsburg and is one of the finest facilities in all of Nebraska 8-Man football.

Fasten your seat belts for this Classic matchup of two smash mouth, run the ball football powers.