Week Four Friday Night Lights Football Heroes - Part One

Wayne Sophomore QB Kaden Keller (shown above) had a breakout game in the Blue Devils 27-26 win over Raymond Central last week. *(photo courtesy of the very talented “Michael Carnes / Mikey C Productions”)

*Kaden Keller-Wayne - The 6-1, 165 pound sophomore had a breakout night in the Blue Devils 27-26 win over Raymond Central. Keller completed 13 of 15 passes for 271 yards and 4 touchdowns, 3 of which were long distance.

WR Alex Phelps, who caught 6 passes for 145 yards, grabbed two TD passes covering 59 and 65 yards. The beauty of both scoring receptions is that they were flair passes behind the line of scrimmage so there were some key blocks and great speed and shifty moves displayed by Phelps on both plays.

WR Sam Junck also caught a touchdown pass covering 60 yards and TE Daniel Judd grabbed the final scoring reception from 17 yards away.

Young Kaden Keller has now racked up 575 yards passing through 4 games for Wayne, coached by the very fine Hayden DeLano.

*Aric Thomas-Omaha South - Tied the Class A record for Most Receiving Yards in a Game when he caught 13 passes for 282 yards and 4 TDs in Omaha South’s 67-60 loss to South Sioux City. Thomas also threw an 80 yard touchdown pass himself in the game. Omaha South, by the way, LED at halftime in the crazy football game, 41-20.

Teammate Dylan Sheard also had a monster night, catching 7 passes for 219 yards with scoring receptions covering 59 and 28 yards. For the year, Thomas has 571 receiving yards with Sheard checking in with 447 yards in receiving yardage.

And the man delivering all these passes? It’s 6-1, 235 pound gunslinger Daeshawn Tolbert, who has now completed 53% of his 92 passes for 1,083 yards with 12 TDs and 4 INTs. Tolbert was 23 of 42 for 497 yards and 6 TDs in the South Sioux City game.

*Derek Helm, Tony Palmer, Christian Barajas, Richard Stewart-South Sioux City - One could only assume that South Sioux City’s QB had a ton of passing yards in the 67-60 win over Omaha South and that would be correct. Cardinals QB Derek Helm completed 23 of 33 passes for 427 yards with FIVE touchdowns.

Christian Barajas caught a pair of Helms TD passes (12, 55 yards), as did Richard Stewart (32, 27 yards)

The difference here may have been the ground game for South Sioux and it was Tony Palmer was the man to help balance that Cardinal attack with his 125 yards on 17 totes and three TDs. (Palmer now has 409 rushing yards with 10 TDs to date)

*Breckan Schluter-Exeter/Milligan/Friend - Talk about exploding! In EMF’s wild 74-61 win over Freeman, Schluter carried 36 times for an unimaginable 460 yards and EIGHT touchdowns. The powerful senior scored rushing TDs from 39, 9 63, 1, 21, 19 and 21 yards out and returned a punt 68 yards for another.

Schluter now has 987 yards after 4 games. Incredible.

*Trevor Ehrlich-Wahoo - 5-11, 180 pound Sophomore rambled for 161 yards on 19 carries with TD runs covering 5, 7 and 14 yards in the Warriors 37-0 whitewashing of Nebraska City. Ehrlich has gained 329 yards thus far (4 games) in 2022.

*Keenan Valverde, Abram Scholting-Pierce - In one of Class C-1’s top matchups of 2022, Pierce turned back Omaha Roncalli 57-35 and Keenan Valverde put ‘em in the aisles with his 202 yards rushing on 24 carries (2 TDs), 29 yards receiving (1 catch/1 TD) and 65 yard Kick Return for another score.

That’s 296 total yards with 4 TDs. Keenan now has 423 rushing yards in 2022)

Two time All-State Quarterback Abram Scholting was a standout as usual, hit 10 of 20 passes for 192 yards (4 TDs) and ran for another 78 yards on 9 touches.

Scholting’s touchdown passes were gathered in by Valverde (29 yards), Jacksen Wacholtz (28 yards), Tristan Kuehler (7 yards) and Addison Crogan (28 yards).

And, here is what a 3 time All-State Quarterback’s Career statline looks like at the halfway point of his senior regular season (40 games);

Abram Scholting-Passing, 244-402 (60%) for 4,753 yards, 70 TDs/19 INTs, Rushing, 1,148 yards/8 TDs, 5,901 Total Yards. 96 Tackles.

Scholting has 70 passing touchdowns, 8 rushing TDs, 1 Pick 6 and 1 Kick Return TD during his illustrious career.

*Devyn Jones-Papillion LV South - The 6-0, 215 pound senior rushed 16 times for 151 yards and 2 TDs in the Titans 51-14 win over Omaha Burke. Jones’ rushing total is 593 yards (9 TDs) after 4 outings.

*Austin Payne-Grand Island Northwest - Filled the Friday afternoon sunny skies with footballs as the senior completed 30 of 56 passes for 274 yards in the Vikings incredible come from behind 24-20 win over previously unbeaten Elkhorn North. Despite being picked off 3 times, Austin Payne remained calm, rushed for a pair of 4th quarter touchdowns and led his 0-3 team to a much needed victory. Payne also rushed 16 times for 79 yards with those 2 TDs.

*William Shaw, Rafe Hill, Trenton Roskop-Arapahoe - These three underclassmen made life a little uncomfortable for the Alma Cardinals last week. In Arapahoe’s 52-48 basketball score-type victory of Alma, sophomore William Shaw escaped for 171 yards and 5 touchdowns on 26 carries. Junior Rafe Hill also cracked the century mark on the ground with his 133 yards on 16 totes with a pair of scores, while Shaw’s sophomore classmate, Trenton Roskop added 89 yards on 12 touches with two touchdowns, part of a 393 team rushing barrage by the Warriors.

*Treyven Beckman, Quinn Foster, Zander Reuling-Kearney Bearcats - Senior QB Treyven Beckman completed 13-26 passes for 329 yards with back-breaking, demoralizing, long distance touchdowns passes to Karter Lee (79 yards, Kearney’s opening score), a 76 yarder to Ben Cumpston to square the game up at 14 each and the killer, a 69 yard dagger to Zander Reuling, to complete the shocking 35-34 victory over Bellevue West at Faimon Field in Bellevue. And then there was Quinn Foster, the Bearcat destroyer, who logged 15 tackles on defense and Zander Reuling, Karter Lee, Aidan Poppe and Sophomore Sawyer Schilke, who ALL have fumble recoveries in the game, Lee with a pair.

It was a repeat performance of the ‘Cats 41-40 upset over the Thunderbirds in the 2020 Class A Quarterfinals.

*Cael Peters, Hayden Umble-Mitchell - Peters, the 5-10, 190 pound junior quarterback, rambled for 148 yards on 18 totes and a touchdown, completed 4 of 8 throws for 45 yards and made 9 tackles on defense for the Tigers in their 44-20 win over Sidney. Backfield mate Hayden Umble was right behind with 141 yards on 16 carries with FOUR TDs and 5 stops defensively.

These two Mitchell studs are tough to handle with Cael Peters playing at 190 pounds, and Hayden Umble checking in at 5-11, 200 pounds.

Mitchell is currently 4-0 right now.

*Tanner Frahm-Plainview - Man, this dude is something else! In the Pirates 70-32 win over North Central, the quarterback completed 16 of 19 passes for 311 yards and FIVE scores, rushed 10 times for 110 yards and FOUR more TDs, and made 10 tackles on defense.

Frahm’s touchdown runs covered 18, 39, 1, and 8 yards, while his 5 touchdown passes were caught by Brendan Weber (11, 39 yds) Spencer Hile (28, 25 yds) and Karter Linglefelter (19 yds).

For the season, Frahm has 736 yards rushing and 736 yards through the air. Can you say Dual-Threat?

*Corbin Horner, Maurice Diaz, Dante Horner, Ethan Latta-Dundy County/Stratton - In the Tigers 66-20 win over Bertrand last Thursday, the great Corbin Horner rushed 6 times for 86 yards and 3 TDs, Maurico Diaz added 84 yards on half a dozen carries/3 TDs, Dante Horner chipped in 83 yards on 8 carries and a touchdown, and freshman Ethan Latta was given the ball one time and he rambled 65 yards for a TD.

The All-State Horner, who has 613 yards and 12 TDs thus far in 2022, also made 15 tackles in the Bertrand game.

*Jordan Mariska, Sam Souerdyke-Thayer Central - The dynamic rushing machine of Jordan Mariska and Sam Souerdyke was too much for the Palmyra Aerial Show. Mariska shot through the Palmyra defense to the tune of 249 yards on 21 carries and 3 touchdowns, while Sam Souerdyke added 179 yards on 25 totes and another three scores. Give Jordan Mariska 671 yards rushing thus far and “Slammin Sophomore Sam” 580 yards with 11 TDs through 4 games.

AND….there may not be too many Offensive Lines better than Thayer Central’s All-Star lineup of #42 OL Cameron Schulte (5-11, 210, Sr.), #43 TE Cole Vorderstrasse (6-1, 215, FRESHMAN), #60 TE Jayden Hissong (6-2, 185, Jr.), #72 OL Gunner “The Terminator” Mumford (5-11, 185, Sr.) and #81 WR Grant “I Care About My Hair” Wiedel (6-1, 160, Sr.)

*Josh Wattier, Jaxon Claussen-Wausa - In an impressive 34-0 shutout of Creighton, Wattier rushed for 133 yards on 23 carries with touchdown runs of 51 and 42 yards while Jaxon Claussen was more impressive yet, toting the ball just SIX times for 184 yards, THREE of which were TDs covering 56, 65 and 68 yards. Wattier has 557 rushing yards thus far in 2022.

*Karter Kerkman, Kanyon Talton, Mason Timmerman-Norfolk Catholic - Another short night of work for the #1 Knights First Unit. In Catholic’s 49-7 win over Louisville, Karter Kerkman racked up 148 yards on 5 carries and two touchdowns, Kanyon Talton had a pair of rushing touchdowns and one receiving, while Mason Timmerman recorded a Pick 6 against the Lions.

In my humble opinion, this Norfolk Catholic squad is going to be tough to beat as far as a 2022 Class C-2 State Championship is concerned.

*Te’Shaun Porter, Sebastian Circo-Omaha North - Looks like Mr. Porter may be on his way to another 1,00+ yard rushing season in 2022. In the Vikings 42-10 win over Omaha Benson, Te’Shaun bolted for 268 yards on 30 carries and touchdown jaunts of 7, 21, 4 and 37 yards. Vikings QB Sebastian Circo completed 11 of 21 aerials for 142 yards, which included a TD strike of 24 yards to Armani Levering.

*Parker Borer_Boone Central - Exploded for 188 yards on 23 carries and TD runs of 18, 10, 2 and 41 yards in the Cardinals 41-6 win over Douglas County West