It was another fun week of Nebraska high school football around the state. Hail Varsity was out at a handful of games during the action on Thursday and Friday night. Thursday night saw the Noah Walters and Malachi Coleman show for Lincoln East in their rout of Lincoln Southeast. As we get deeper into the season the stakes are getting higher.
Here are my five thoughts on the fifth week of Nebraska preps games.
Favorites took care of business
The first game I took in on Friday night was the homecoming game for Gretna. The team was talking on Bellevue East. The Dragons jumped out to an early 35-0 lead after the first quarter. Gretna quarterback Zane Flores was impressive early on. He tossed three touchdowns in the first quarter. They ended up taking that game 77-0. I popped over to Ashland-Greenwood and they beat Raymond Central 42-7. The two games I saw weren’t the only two games that the favorites won.
Elkhorn South won its game 45-17 over Papillion-La Vista. Omaha Westside took down Grand Island 41-9.
Sweet revenge
Bellevue West took down Kearney 49-13 in the only top-10 matchup of Friday night. The No. 2 ranked Thunderbirds also got revenge for Kearney ending their undefeated season last year with this road win. Bellevue West started the season witha two-quarterback system. Coach Mike Huffman has settled on senior Luke Johannsen for the quarterback job. The Thunderbirds seemed to fix the defensive woes after the loss to Millard South last week. They only gave up one touchdown this week after surrendering 42 points a week ago.
Columbus making a move
Don’t look now but Columbus seems to be figuring things out on the fly. The Discoverers had to replace a lot of veteran players in the trenches. That was a concern for the coaching staff coming into the season. The team took a loss in the first game of the season to Omaha Central but have hit their stride. Columbus went to Lincoln High and beat a solid Links team 28-23 Friday night. The Discoverers are now 4-1 on the season. A date with Bellevue West looms on Oct. 15.
Cream of Class B crop is loaded
We are setting up for a fun finish to the regular season in Class B. Beatrice won over Norris 35-21 to move to 5-0. Benning stayed undefeated with a 28-0 win over Blair. Elkhorn High also stayed undefeated by beating Ralston 34-6. Omaha Skutt’s only loss has come to Bennington. They won again to set up a huge crossover matchup with Gretna next week. Plattsmouth beat Crete 55-0 to stay unbeaten. Seward beat Hastings 30-7 to move to 5-0.
A lot of these teams match up in the coming weeks. The jockeying for playoff positioning will be a lot of fun.
Omaha Burke hitting stride
One of the key storylines to Class A this year was how the teams in OPS that didn’t play football last season would bounce back. Most were rusty to start the season which is understandable. That included Omaha Burke which lost its first game of the season to Bellevue West 58-14. Since they the Bulldogs have reeled off four wins in a row. Four-star 2022 recruit Devon Jackson has settled in and is playing well lately. Burke’s schedule softens for the next few weeks. Then they’ll have a regular season finale with No. 1 Millard South.
Greg is the Recruiting Analyst for Hail Varsity and has covered Husker athletics since 2013. He has always had a passion for sports while growing up in the Chicago area. As he got older and had to hang up his cleats and sneakers, he realized his passion for sports went beyond just watching and attending games. He has covered many events from the Rose Bowl to championship boxing matches. If he’s not talking sports, he’s hovering over his grill. He is married to an amazing woman, Kim, and they have a dog that barks when Greg yells at the TV during games.
