MaxPreps 2015 Nebraska high school football state playoffs preview

Video: Highlights vs. Omaha Central
See Bellevue West in action against Omaha Central.

The smoke has settled and the brackets are made up for the 2015 Nebraska state high school football playoffs, which begin this Thursday and Friday at locations all across the Cornhusker State.

In all, 128 schools will strap on the pads in hopes of being one of six schools crowned champion in classes A, B, C1 and C2 in 11-Man and D1 and D2 in 8-Man. All six defending champions earned an opportunity to defend their titles in the same classification in which they won titles a year ago.

Two-time defending Class A champion Omaha North struggled through a 4-5 regular season, but made it back into the brackets to defend a title, as did Omaha Skutt Catholic (B), Boone Central/Newman Grove (C1), David City Aquinas (C2), Hemingford (D1) and Exeter-Milligan (D2).

Below we break down the playoffs from the semifinals on up by using the MaxPreps Football Computer Rankings, presented by the Army National Guard.

See the MaxPreps Nebraska football playoff brackets

Class A Semifinals
No. 1 Bellevue West (11-0) over No. 3 Millard North (Omaha) (9-2)
No. 2 Millard West (Omaha) (11-0) over No. 4 Omaha Westside (9-2)

Championship: No. 1 Bellevue West (12-0) over No. 2 Millard West (12-0)
Dark Horse: Omaha Central

Class B Semifinals
No. 1 Aurora (11-0) over No. 4 Plattsmouth (11-0)
No. 2 Elkhorn South (11-0) over No. 3 Skutt Catholic (Omaha) (10-1)

Championship: No. 1 Aurora (12-0) over No. 2 Elkhorn South (12-0)
Dark Horse: York

Class C1 Semifinals
No. 2 Scotus (Columbus) (10-1) over No. 3 Boone Central/Newman Grove (Albion) (9-2)
No. 1 Norfolk Catholic (11-0) over No. 5 Wahoo (9-2)

Championship: No. 1 Norfolk Catholic (12-0) over No. 2 Columbus Scotus (11-1)
Dark Horse: Wilber-Clatonia (Wilber)

Class C2 Semifinals
No. 1 Battle Creek (11-0) over No. 3 Gibbon (11-0)
No. 2 Aquinas (David City) (10-1) over No. 4 St. Cecilia (Hastings) (11-0)

Championship: No. 1 Battle Creek (12-0) over No. 2 David City Aquinas (11-1)
Dark Horse: Oakland-Craig (Oakland)

Class D1 Semifinals
No. 1 Creighton (11-0) over No. 3 Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (Bruning) (11-0)
No. 2 Amherst (11-0) over No. 4 Perkins County (Grant) (11-0)

Championship: No. 1 Creighton (12-0) over No. 2 Amherst (12-0)
Dark Horse: Guardian Angels Central Catholic (West Point)

Class D2 Semifinals
No. 1 Chambers/Wheeler Central (Chambers) (11-0) over No. 8 Sandhills/Thedford (Dunning) (10-1)
No. 2 St. Francis (Humphrey) (10-1) over No. 4 Kenesaw (9-2)

Championship: No. 1 Chambers/Wheeler Central (12-0) over No. 2 St. Francis (11-1)
Dark Horse: Exeter-Milligan (Exeter)

First round rematches and their results from the regular season
Class A
Creighton Prep (Omaha) vs. Papillion-LaVista South (Papillion) (13-12)

Class B
Aurora vs. Alliance (53-6)
Plattsmouth vs. Bennington (35-0)

Class C2
Gibbon vs. Bridgeport (48-8)
David City Aquinas vs. Archbishop Bergan (Fremont) (54-0)

Class D1
Blue Hill vs. Elm Creek (41-28)
Hemingford vs. South Loup (Arnold) (36-24)

Class D2
Sandhills/Thedford vs. Pleasanton (63-14)
Garden County (Oshkosh) vs. Leyton (Dalton) (70-24)
Exeter-Milligan vs. Sterling (34-16)

MaxPreps stat leaders in the playoffs
Passing yards – Mitch Carlson, Central City 168-290 2,346
Rushing yards – Trevor Nichelson, Ashland-Greenwood (Ashland) 198-1,962
Receiving yards – Trystn Ducker, Bellevue West 46-937
Total Tackles – Kyle Francois, Lourdes Central Catholic (Nebraska City) 149
Sacks – Andy Kerkman, Clearwater/Orchard (Clearwater) 16 ½
Interceptions – Seth Schumacher, Elgin/Pope John (Elgin) 9
Field goals made – Blake Kaiser, Wahoo 10
Punt average – Kanon Koster, Kearney 34-39.6
Punt return average – John Richter, Omaha Creighton Prep 8-32.9
Kickoff return average – Dylan Egr, Wahoo 9-40.3

State playoff appearance leaders
Omaha Creighton Prep – 37
Humphrey St. Francis – 33
Falls City Sacred Heart – 32
Norfolk Catholic – 32
Omaha Westside – 31

Consecutive years in playoffs leaders
Falls City Sacred Heart – 29
Bloomfield – 28
Omaha Creighton Prep – 21
Humphrey St. Francis – 21
Norfolk Catholic – 20

Longest playoff droughts broken
North Platte – 2004
Dundy County-Stratton – 2007
East Butler – 2008
Mead – 2008
Bennington – 2009
Crawford – 2009
Johnson-Brock - 2009

They said it around the state
"This is an incredible win for us," Bellevue West quarterback Jaydn Kowalski told the Omaha World Herald following the Thunderbirds' 41-25 win over fellow previous unbeaten Omaha Central Friday. "This is only the second time in school history we've been unbeaten like this, so it's really special."

"We talked about big plays and who was going to make them," York football coach Glen Snodgrass told the Lincoln Journal Star following his team's 38-35 loss to Aurora Friday. "They just didn't go our way in the first half. You fumble on the 10, get a punt blocked for a touchdown, then a 70-yard pick six. It's hard to climb out (of) that hole against a great team like Aurora."

"In the second half, we talked about playing one play at a time – not being superhuman. I think we were trying to do that in the first half," Boone Central/Newman Grove football coach Mark Hudson told the Norfolk Daily News following Friday's 42-14 loss to Norfolk Catholic. "We were trying to prove that we belonged and trying to do things that were maybe a little out of our reach."

"You have to be physical when you play teams in the playoffs," Scottsbluff coach Joe Benson told the Scottsbluff Star Herald. "If you're not physical, you have no chance. You're not going to trick teams by running gimmicks. You have to line up, block and tackle people. Right now we're doing that and hopefully that carries over."

"We've played quite a few spread teams, but nobody that executes as well as they do," Kenesaw coach Craig Schnitzler told the Grand Island Independent of his first-round foe Giltner. "They have a lot of speed and they run a lot of option out of it. They will challenge you sideline to sideline."

"It's a great thing any time you make the playoffs," Sidney football coach Chris Koozer told the Sidney Sun Telegraph. "The kids have the opportunity to extend their season. It's a neat thing being among the final 16 teams.
Elkhorn South has some very good athletes. They're an impressive looking team on film."