A History of Nebraska 8-Man Football - 2002 Class D-1/D-2 Playoffs, All-State Teams and Final Ratings

Now that current high school football and basketball seasons have come to a conclusion, the History of Nebraska 8-Man football can resume. We left off with the 2001 season in the books, so let’s review the 2002 season.

2002 Class D-1 (Eight-Man 1)

**129 Teams played 8-Man football in 2002.

2002 Final Class D-1 Top 10 (Stu Pospisil- Omaha World Herald)

1 Howells - 13-0, (628-127)

2 Greeley-Wolbach - 12-1, (606-192)

3. Friend - 11-1, (609-144)

4. Eustis-Farnam- 8-4, (374-225)

5. Bloomfield - 10-1, (446-185)

6. Falls City Sacred Heart - 8-2, (469-124)

7. Cedar Bluffs- 9-1, (454-50)

8. Rushville - 9-1, (414-108)

9. Crawford - 9-2, (402-78)

10 Indianola Republican Valley - 9-1, (458-109)

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*Playoffs*

2002 Class D-1 (Eight-Man 1)

First Round

(8-0) Friend 52, Palmer 0 (4-4)

(7-1) Falls City Sacred Heart 58, High Plains 24 (5-3)

(7-1) Diller-Odell 16, Deshler 12 (5-3)

(7-1) Shelby 56, Lourdes Central Catholic 6 (6-2)

(8-0) Howells 56, Newman Grove 0 (4-4)

(8-0) Cedar Bluffs 50, Waterloo/Concordia 0 (5-3)

(6-2) Humphrey St. Francis 26, Osmond 22 (5-3)

(8-0) Bloomfield 48, Leigh 0 (4-4)

(8-0) Greeley/Wolbach 47, Amherst 0 (4-4)

(7-1) Anselmo-Merna 46, Arapahoe 0 (6-2)

(7-1) Overton 41, Silver Lake 19 (5-3)

(7-1) Blue Hill 58, Spalding/Spalding Academy 20 (5-3)

(8-0) Rushville 42, Wauneta-Palisade 14 (3-5)

(5-3) Eustis-Farnam 44, Medicine Valley 14 (5-3)

(7-1) Crawford 30, Arnold 8 (4-4)

(8-0) Republican Valley 50, South Platte 0 (3-5)

Second Round

(9-0) Friend 28, Falls City Sacred Heart 22 (8-1)

(8-1) Shelby 28, Diller-Odell 20 (8-1)

(9-0) Howells 44, Cedar Bluffs 21 (9-0)

(9-0) Bloomfield 8, Humphrey St. Francis 6 (7-2)

(9-0) Greeley/Wolbach 44, Anselmo-Merna 30 (8-1)

(8-1) Overton 41, Blue Hill 40 (8-1)

(6-3) Eustis-Farnam 22, Rushville 14 (9-0)

(8-1) Crawford 20, Republican Valley 14 (9-0)

Quarterfinals:

(10-0) Friend 56, Shelby 12 (9-1)

(10-0) Howells 60, Bloomfield 14 (10-0)

(10-0) Greeley/Wolbach 40, Overton 21 (9-1)

(7-3) Eustis-Farnam 16, Crawford 0 (9-1)

Semifinals

(11-0) Howells 56, Friend 14 (11-0)

(11-0) Greeley/Wolbach 48, Eustis-Farnam 20 (8-3)

Championship Finals

(12-0) Howells 24, Greeley/Wolbach 14 (12-0)

Championship Coach: Mike Speirs

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2002 Class D-1 All-State Offense

QB--Mitch Holt-North Loup-Scotia, 6-0, 175, Junior

RB--Chase Rohrer-Bloomfield, 5-11, 100, Senior

RB--Jordan Stutzman-Friend, 5-10, 180, Junior

RB--Randy Jakubowski-Howells, 6-0, 190, Senior

End-Chris Williams-Greeley-Wolbach, 6-3, 180, Senior

OL--Chris Ellis-Friend, 6-3, 265, Senior

OL--Justin Mastney-Howells, 6-0, 189, Senior

OL--Scott Crook-Shelby, 6-1, 225, Senior

Kicker-Bobby Musil-Pawnee City, 6-7, 215, Senior

2002 Class D-1 All-State Defense

DL--Michael Bayer-Howells, 6-4, 220, Junior

DL--Jared Stutzman-Friend, 6-4, 215, Senior

DL--Brandon Johnson-Rushville, 6-4, 260, Junior

LB--Eric Wiemann-Howells, 6-4, 211, Senior

LB--Andrew Crees-Friend, 6-1, 225, Junior

DB--Derek Stinette-Cedar Bluffs, 5-9, 155, Senior

DB--Mat Eikmeier-Howells, 6-3, 183, Junior

DB--Matt Sells-Falls City Sacred Heart, 6-2, 192, Junior

Punter-Tom Hoyt-Anselmo-Merno, 6-1, 180, Senior

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2002 Final Class D-2 Top 10 (Stu Pospisil- Omaha World Herald)

1. O’Neill St. Marys - 13-0 (617-72)

2. Lindsay Holy Family - 11-2 (467-147)

3. Elgin Pope John - 10-2 (468-175)

4. Bruning-Davenport - 9-1 (441-56)

5. Clearwater - 8-3 (450-233)

6. Coleridge - 9-1 (484-108)

7. Mullen - 9-2 (476-276)

8. Sargent - 9-2 (430-194)

9. Stapleton - 8-2 (435-104)

10 Bartley Twin Valley - 8-2 (377-234)

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*Playoffs*

2002 Class D-2 (Eight-Man-2)

First Round

(7-1) Lindsay Holy Family 48, Shickley 0 (5-3)

(8-0) Bruning-Davenport 46, Prague 0 (6-2)

(6-2) Dodge 42, Sterling 8 (6-2)

(5-3) Nemaha Valley 40, Lewiston 34 (3OT) (8-0)

(8-0) Coleridge 48, Newcastle 0 (4-4)

(6-2) Clearwater 43, Wynot 34 (6-2)

(5-3) Lynch 20, Verdigre 6 (6-2)

(7-1) Elgin Pope John 50, Wausa 0 (4-4)

(8-0) O’Neill St. Mary’s 46, Sumner-Eddyville-Miller 8 (4-4)

(8-0) Twin Valley 44, Kenesaw 26 (7-1)

(7-1) Sargent 30, Stuart 14 (5-3)

(7-1) Stapleton 49, Sandhills 0 (4-4)

(7-1) Mullen 52, Minatare 24 (5-3)

(6-2) Wallace 26, Hayes Center 20 (OT) (5-3)

(5-3) Culbertson 76, Banner County 44 (5-3)

(3-5) Cody-Kilgore 38-Chappell 36 (7-1)

Second Round:

(8-1) Lindsay Holy Family 22, Bruning-Davenport 20 (9-0)

(7-2) Dodge 44, Nemaha Valley 22 (6-3)

(7-2) Clearwater 27, Coleridge 26 (9-0)

(8-1) Elgin Pope John 49, Lynch 24 (6-3)

(9-0) O’Neill St. Mary’s 46, Twin Valley 14 (9-0)

(8-1) Sargent 28, Stapleton 22 (8-1)

(8-1) Mullen 46, Wallace 0 (7-2)

(4-5) Cody-Kilgore 44, Culbertson 34 (6-3)

Quarterfinals

(9-1) Lindsay Holy Family 42, Dodge 6 (8-2)

(9-1) Elgin Pope John 35, Clearwater 34 (8-2)

(10-0) O’Neill St. Mary’s 46, Sargent 0 (8-2)

(9-1) Mullen 28, Cody-Kilgore 26 (5-5)

Semifinals

(10-1) Lindsay Holy Family 30, Elgin Pope John 21 (10-1)

(11-0) O’Neill St. Mary’s 56, Mullen 6 (10-1)

Championship Final

(12-0) O’Neill St. Mary’s 22, Lindsay Holy Family 8 (11-1)

Championship Coach: Tony Allen

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2002 Class D-2 All-State Offense

QB--Mike Simons-O’Neill St. Marys, 6-1, 176, Senior

RB--Layne Ford-Cody-Kilgore, 5-9, 150, Senior

RB--Ben Eisenhart-Culbertson, 6-0, 175, Senior

RB--Steven Dent-Mullen, 5-10, 165, Sophomore

OL--Isaac Hoesing-Clearwater, 6-4, 220, Senior

WR-Dan Haggerty-O’Neill St. Marys, 6-1, 155, Senior

OL--Jeff Bender-Lindsay Holy Family, 6-2, 235, Junior

OL--Kiel Neumann-O’Neill St. Marys, 6-0, 210, Senior

Kicker-Tom Wemhoff-Coleridge, 6-0, 185, Senior

2002 Class D-2 All-State Defense

DL--Adam Koenig-O’Neill St. Marys, 6-3, 210, Senior

DL--Ben Gossman-Elgin Pope John, 6-0, 186, Senior

DL--Bryan Schurman-Coleridge, 6-4, 205, Senior

LB--T.J. Bond-Shickley, 5-8, 180, Senior

LB--Matt Jarecki-Lindsay Holy Family, 5-8, 185, Senior

LB--Trevor Cox-Dunning Sandhills, 6-1, 185, Senior

DB--Nick Kurtenbach-Lindsay Holy Family, 5-10, 180, Senior

DB--Dan Pelster-Elgin Pope John, 5-10, 160, Senior

Punter-Tyler Kester, 6-2 , 190, Senior