In a tight race for the top spot, Humphrey St. Francis' consistency fell just short of the state championship hardware of Howells-Dodge, allowing the Jaguars to edge Eric Kessler's Flyers 422-407 in becoming MaxPreps' most dominant 6/8-Man football program since 2004 in Nebraska.
The former Cornhusker Conference rivals battled many times over the years when Howells and Dodge played as separate entities, and there was always a lot on the line in terms of conference and state championship hardware.
Howells and Dodge have combined to win six state football titles and earn a runner-up finish since 2004. They have since consolidated to form Howells-Dodge. The Flyers, on the other hand, have three state titles and two second place finishes during that same time span.
St. Francis drew separation from Howells-Dodge by finishing in the Top 25 of all 18 of MaxPreps' Nebraska 6/8-Man football rankings over the years. The Flyers finished on top twice, second four times and in the Top 5 10 times. Howells and Dodge played their way into the season-ending Top 25 16 times, finished on top five times and in the Top 5 eight times collectively.
St. Francis, the only Cornhusker State school to find its way into all 18 MaxPreps polls, outscored Howells-Dodge 327-292 in points accumulated from the Top 25 rankings while Howells-Dodge had a strong 130-80 edge in state championship points.
Sitting third with 297 points is Bruning-Davenport/Shickley. The Eagles claimed four state titles and finished as runner-up once in the last 18 years, landing in the top spot once, second twice and in the Top 5 six times. Falls City Sacred Heart and Burwell grab the fourth and fifth spots after finishing with 250 and 225 points, respectively. The two powerhouses have won three state football championships between them since 2004.
Arthur County, Nebraska's top 6-Man program since 2004, just missed the Top 10 after securing 153 points and a No. 14 finish.
Since many of Nebraska's smaller schools have consolidated over the years, we had to resort to using a little extra math in calculating a fair and accurate Top 10. All of the calculations made for this week were based on a school's 2022 name. For example, Howells and Dodge now go by Howells-Dodge, so that's how they are listed in this Top 10. However, from 2004-2011 both schools competed separately before joining forces in 2012.
MaxPreps has developed its own system in determining which football programs compete at the highest level over an extended period of time. Here is how points are accumulated:
1. 20 points for a state title
2. 10 points for finishing as a state runner-up
3. Other points are based on a team's Top 25 standing in the final MaxPreps Nebraska Computer Rankings. For instance, if a school claimed the top spot, it received 25 points, while a No. 25 ranking was good for one point.
Calculations were pretty straightforward for the programs that have always competed on their own like St. Francis, Sacred Heart and Creighton. But, when it comes to the consolidations, some points had to be shaved.
For example, in 2011 Howells and Dodge each played on their own merit and both were ranked in MaxPreps Top 25 at season's end. Instead of giving the Jaguars 36 points for Howells second place finish and Dodge's No. 14 ranking, we gave Mike Speirs' program the 24 points earned by Howells that year, since they were the higher ranked of the two teams.
Points are also shaved when two schools of the same consolidation participated in state championship games in the same year. In 2007, Elgin lost to Chambers 28-24 in the Class D2 state championship game. But, in that same year, Pope John upended Clarkson 39-30 in the D1 title game. Elgin/Pope John did not earn 30 points for a state championship and runner-up finish that year. Instead, Greg Wemhoff's Wolfpack netted the 20 points earned by Pope John since they earned the higher amount of points.
Had both programs won state titles in 2007, Elgin/Pope John would have been given just the 20 points. Any consolidations that earned all of their points as that consolidation were, of course, awarded all of their points.
Nebraska's Top 10 dominant 6/8-Man football programs since 2004
1. Howells-Dodge (Howells) — 422 Points
State titles: 6
Runner-up finish: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (1st), 2005 (1st), 2006 (3rd), 2007 (12th), 2008 (5th), 2009 (1st), 2010 (1st), 2011 (2nd), 2012 (10th), 2013 (6th), 2014 (18th), 2017 (12th), 2018 (25th), 2019 (9th), 2020 (17th), 2021 (1st).
2. St. Francis (Humphrey) — 407 Points
State titles: 3
Runner-up finish: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (2nd), 2005 (2nd), 2006 (14th), 2007 (7th), 2008 (2nd), 2009 (2nd), 2010 (3rd), 2011 (7th), 2012 (3rd), 2013 (19th), 2014 (4th), 2015 (1st), 2016 (13th), 2017 (23rd), 2018 (3rd), 2019 (1st), 2020 (18th), 2021 (17th).
3. Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (Bruning) — 297 Points
State titles: 4
Runner-up finish: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (14th), 2005 (4th), 2006 (20th), 2007 (23rd), 2008 (23rd), 2011 (21st), 2012 (8th), 2013 (14th), 2014 (5th), 2015 (2nd), 2016 (3rd), 2017 (1st), 2019 (17th), 2020 (2nd).
4. Sacred Heart (Falls City) — 250 Points
State titles: 2
Runner-up finish: 0
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (12th), 2012 (4th), 2013 (1st), 2014 (6th), 2015 (11th), 2016 (1st), 2017 (11th), 2018 (5th), 2019 (2nd), 2020 (11th), 2021 (12th).
5. Burwell — 225 Points
State titles: 1
Runner-up finish: 4
Top 25 state rankings: 2008 (16th), 2009 (23rd), 2011 (25th), 2012 (16th), 2013 (20th), 2015 (5th), 2016 (2nd), 2017 (25th), 2018 (4th), 2019 (4th), 2020 (3rd), 2021 (4th).
6. Elgin/Pope John (Elgin) — 208 Points
State titles: 3
Runner-up finish: 0
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (5th), 2005 (14th), 2006 (22nd), 2007 (1st), 2008 (6th), 2009 (19th), 2011 (3rd), 2012 (2nd), 2015 (14th).
7. Exeter-Milligan/Friend (Exeter) — 191 Points
State titles: 2
Runner-up finish: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (8th), 2005 (13th), 2009 (21st), 2011 (12th), 2012 (5th), 2013 (2nd), 2014 (2nd), 2015 (20th), 2018 (10th).
8. Twin Loup (Sargent) — 188 Points
State titles: 1
Runner-up finish: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (16th), 2005 (7th), 2009 (15th), 2010 (4th), 2011 (1st), 2013 (10th), 2016 (8th), 2017 (9th).
9. Creighton — 183 Points
State titles: 1
Runner-up finish: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2010 (8th), 2011 (18th), 2012 (22nd), 2013 (3rd), 2014 (13th), 2015 (4th), 2016 (7th), 2017 (4th), 2018 (2nd).
10. Kenesaw — 174 Points
State titles: 1
Runner-up finish: 0
Top 25 state rankings: 2005 (11th), 2011 (4th), 2012 (15th), 2014 (9th), 2015 (19th), 2017 (15th), 2018 (6th), 2019 (11th), 2020 (13th), 2021 (3rd).
