By Scott Hansen
MaxPreps.com
MaxPreps Nebraska Game of the Week
#6 Boys Town at #5 Wahoo Bishop Neumann
Boys Town enters a huge Class C-1 rankings battle in Wahoo featuring one of the best defensive units in the state. Last week, the Cowboys allowed their first points of the season in a 40-14 victory over Douglas County West.
KD McCoy has been outstanding while leading a Boys Town offense that averages over 33 points per game. In a 20-0 victory over Lincoln Christian in week two, McCoy rushed for 209 yards and a touchdown. In the victory over Douglas County West, McCoy rushed for 227 yards and two touchdowns.
Junior running back Tyler Benal and quarterback Dylan McGill are the leaders for the tradition-rich Cavaliers. Both are capable of eclipsing the century mark on the ground, and have done so plenty of times already this season. McGill is an efficient passer, as evident by his 7-of-11 passing for 108 yards and a touchdown in a 39-18 victory over Syracuse.
The two teams have built a mini-rivalry in the 21st Century. They have faced each other three times in the state playoffs since 2001, with Boys Town winning two of the meetings. Neumann's last state title came in 2003.
Huge Week in Eight-Man
Clarkson travels to High Plains Community on Friday night in a battle between the second and third ranked teams in eight-man.
Both enter the premier match-up battle tested. Clarkson lost 8-6 to Dodge on Sept. 14 in a defensive struggle in eight-man standards. Last week, High Plains was expecting a fight with Humphrey St. Francis, but hammered them 50-20.
Last week Clarkson won 78-0 over Leigh and has allowed 11 points or less in three straight games. Against an offensive arsenal like High Plains, the Red Devils will need all the defense they can get. High Plains enters the game averaging 56.8 points per game.
Top-ranked Dodge faces unbeaten Elgin. Elgin will pose some problems for Dodge's outstanding defense, entering the game with a scoring average of 54.8 points per contest. Dodge allows just 11 points per game and has already defeated two teams ranked in the eight-man top five this season.
Bancroft-Rosalie has another battle on their hands as it travels to unbeaten Hartington. Bancroft-Rosalie's only loss this season was a 26-24 loss to Dodge. Last week, Bancroft-Rosalie hammered Winnebago, 82-36.
Random Observations
Today, we tackle the directional schools pointing north. They go as follows: Grand Island Northwest, Lincoln Northeast, Lutheran High Northeast, Lyons-Decatur Northeast, Millard North, Lincoln North Star, Omaha North, and Omaha Northwest.
What is in a nickname? There are more Tigers than any other nickname in the state, checking in at 17. The most confusing of all Tigers is Fremont, who were sitting on a potential goldmine and could have named themselves the Pathfinders (much like Fremont High School in Los Angeles, CA). Instead, they opted for the overused Tigers.
The Breakdown
17 Tigers
16 Bulldogs
14 Wildcats
13 Warriors
12 Knights (one Blue Knight in South Platte)
11 Mustangs
10 Indians
Best Nebraska Nicknames
Cairo Centura Centurions
Columbus Discoverers
Columbus Scotus Shamrocks
Cozad Haymakers
Creighton Prep Junior Jays
Fairbury Jeffs
Gothenburg Swedes
Grand Island Islanders
Hastings St. Cecilia Bluehawks
Holdrege Dusters
Lexington Minutemen
Lincoln North Star Navigators
Lincoln Southwest Silver Hawks
Minden Whippets
Omaha Benson Bunnies
Omaha Roncalli Crimson Pride
Omaha Skutt SkyHawks
Ord Chanticleers
Pender Pendragons
West Point-Beemer Cadets
York Dukes
Week 5 Predictions by Scott Hansen
Week 4: 78-16 (.829)
Self-Prognosis: By far the best output of the year. Whatever I did last week, do it again.
Season: 233-66 (.779)
Class A
#4 Bellevue West 28, Papillion-LV South 20
#9 Grand Island 28, Lincoln North Star 20
#2 Kearney 45, Lincoln Southeast 7
#8 Lincoln East 21, Lincoln Northeast 13
Lincoln Southwest 48, Lincoln High 6
#7 Millard North 27, Omaha Creighton Prep 22
Millard West 42, Omaha South 7
Norfolk 27, Columbus 24
North Platte 35, Fremont 7
Omaha Burke 21, Omaha Northwest 13
Omaha Bryan 14, Bellevue East 13
#3 Omaha Central 28, #6 Millard South 21
#10 Omaha North 35, Papillion-LaVista 13
#1 Omaha Westside 49, Omaha Benson 7
Class B
#6 Beatrice 28, Lincoln Pius X 14
Blair 20, Elkhorn Mount Michael 6
Cozad 15, Holdrege 14
#2 Crete 41, Nebraska City 7
#4 Elkhorn 44, Omaha Roncalli 7
#10 Fairbury 28, Seward 20
GI Northwest 14, Lexington 13
#8 Hastings 27, Aurora 14
#1 McCook 50, Sidney 0
#7 Norris 21, #9 Waverly 20
Ogallala 21, Alliance 19
#5 Omaha Gross 42, Platteview 0
#3 Omaha Skutt 34, Gretna 12
Ralston 26, Plattsmouth 20
Schuyler 28, South Sioux City 8
Scottsbluff 21, Gering 13
Class C-1
#7 Auburn 48, Syracuse 7
Bennington 28, Fort Calhoun 14
#5 Bishop Neumann 21, #6 Boys Town 14
#9 Boone Central 42, St. Paul 7
Broken Bow 27, Gothenburg 14
Central City 42, Cairo Centura 6
#4 Chadron 27, Chase County 12
Columbus Lakeview 46, Wisner-Pilger 6
Falls City 27, Murray Conestoga 13
Fillmore Central 21, David City 14
Gordon-Rushville 21, Kimball 7
Grand Island Central Catholic 34, Ord 21
#8 Hastings Adams Central 33, Wood River 13
#1 Hastings St. Cecilia 56, Gibbon 0
Lincoln Lutheran 27, Lincoln Christian 21
Logan View 14, Tekamah-Herman 7
Milford 20, Raymond Central 13
Minden 27, Southern Valley 12
North Bend Central 28, Twin River 7
Madison 28, Columbus Scotus 21
Mitchell 28, Bridgeport 6
#2 Norfolk Catholic 33, #10 Crofton 24
O'Neill 14, Ainsworth 6
#3 Pierce 54, Utica Centennial 0
Valentine 14, Hershey 7
Wahoo 28, Douglas County West 14
Wayne 22, Battle Creek 14
West Point-Beemer 37, Arlington 7
Yutan 30, Ashland-Greenwood 7
Class C-2
#3 Archbishop Bergan 34, Osceola 7
Blue Hill 35, Sutton 0
Burwell 12, Ravenna 7
#7 Cambridge 41, Southwest 6
Creighton 33, West Holt 0
Cross County 21, #8 East Butler 14
#10 David City Aquinas 34, Scribner-Snyder 6
Doniphan-Trumbull 13, Loup City 12
Franklin 21, Superior 14
Hartington Cedar Catholic 20, Randolph 7
Heartland 42, Sandy Creek 0
Homer 20, Ponca 6
#1 Howells 36, West Point Central Catholic 7
Kearney Catholic 34, Fullerton 0
#5 Laurel-Concord 28, #9 Pender 25
Morrill 16, Hemingford 8
Neligh-Oakdale 27, Plainview 14
North Platte St. Patrick's 22, Elm Creek 8
Oakland-Craig 44, Lyons-Decatur Northeast 0
Palmyra 21, Malcolm 7
#4 Perkins County 22, Garden County 20
Stanton 28, Lutheran High Northeast 8
Sutherland 26, Amherst 13
Thayer Central 33, Johnson County Central 7
Tri County 21, Southern 20
#2 Wakefield 55, Emerson-Hubbard 6
Weeping Water 16, Louisville 7
Wilber-Clatonia 27, Friend 7
#6 Elmwood-Murdock: Idle
Eight-Man
#1 Dodge 22, Elgin 20
#2 Clarkson 28, #3 High Plains 26
#4 Elwood 70, Loomis 20
#5 Bancroft-Rosalie 38, Hartington 24
#6 Nebraska City Lourdes 48, Omaha Brownell-Talbot 20
#7 Wauenta-Palisade 22, Hayes Center 20
#8 Parkview Christian 32, Southeast Consolidated 14
#9 Pleasanton 50, North Loup-Scotia 12
#10 Elgin Pope John 56, Orchard 20
Have any questions or comments about Nebraska high school football? Email them to maxprepsok@sbcglobal.net. I respond to all email and will even put the good questions and comments in my weekly previews.
