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Every fall we begin the football season by crunching numbers and determining Nebraska's dominant 11-Man football powers over the past decade. And every year it seems Norfolk Catholic is the dominant football program in the Cornhusker State.
Will the Knights ever get dethroned? Someday maybe. But for now, let's walk through the impressive numbers that keep Norfolk Catholic atop the football powerhouse pyramid in the Cornhusker State.
First of all, very few Nebraska high school football programs can compare postseason resumes to the one Norfolk Catholic owns. The Knights have competed in the Nebraska state football playoffs 35 times, including the past 23 years, won three straight state football championships from 2010-2012 and fought their way into the state finals four straight seasons beginning in 2009.
Jeff Bellar's Knights lead the Cornhusker State with 10 state football championships and 17 trips to the state finals overall. During its current run, which began in 1996, Norfolk Catholic is 67-15 during postseason play and came out victorious eight times in 12 trips to the championship contest.
Last fall, MaxPreps ranked Nebraska's 11-Man football programs for the 15th straight season, and Norfolk Catholic is the only program to locate a spot in Nebraska's MaxPreps Top 25 at the conclusion of each of those 15 seasons.
For the purposes of this week's Top 10, however, we are focusing on which programs have been the most dominant during the past decade. And the results are, of course, similar. Just like a year ago, Norfolk Catholic is Nebraska's dominant football program of the past decade after the Knights finished in the Top 10 seven times during the 10-year period.
The Knights earned MaxPreps' top Nebraska ranking in 2017, and finished second and third in 2012 and 2010 respectively. Bellar's program grabbed four Top 5 season ending rankings during the 10-year run and claimed four state championships in seven trips to the state finals.
Omaha Skutt Catholic and last year's runner-up to the Knights, David City Aquinas, grab the No. 2 and 3 spots respectively, while Class A's Omaha North and Millard North round out this week's Top 5. All four 11-Man classifications are represented in this week's Top 10.
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 is good for one point.
Nebraska's dominant 11-Man football programs of the past decade1. Norfolk Catholic (Norfolk) – 285 pointsState titles: 4
Runner-ups: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2009 (9), 2010 (3), 2011 (7), 2012 (2), 2013 (17), 2014 (9), 2015 (5), 2016 (20), 2017 (1), 2018 (12).
2. Skutt Catholic (Omaha) – 261 points
State titles: 3
Runner-ups: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2009 (6), 2012 (7), 2013 (1), 2014 (3), 2015 (7), 2016 (5), 2017 (6), 2018 (2).
3. Aquinas (David City) – 240 points
State titles: 4
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2009 (20), 2010 (14), 2011 (5), 2012 (4), 2013 (14), 2014 (4), 2015 (3), 2016 (10), 2017 (10).
4. Omaha North – 199 points
State titles: 3
Runner-ups: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2009 (23), 2012 (5), 2013 (3), 2014 (1), 2016 (7), 2017 (4), 2018 (20).
5. Millard North (Omaha) – 167 points
State titles: 3
Runner-ups: 0
Top 25 state rankings: 2010 (2), 2011 (12), 2012 (1), 2013 (19), 2014 (18), 2015 (4), 2016 (19).
6. Aurora – 156 points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2009 (2), 2010 (6), 2011 (25), 2012 (23), 2013 (15), 2015 (6), 2016 (24), 2018 (1).
7. Elkhorn – 136 points
State titles: 1
Runner-ups: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2009 (4), 2010 (9), 2011 (3), 2012 (18), 2014 (7), 2016 (21), 2017 (24).
8. Burke (Omaha) – 132 points
State titles: 1
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2009 (25), 2010 (7), 2011 (2), 2012 (14), 2013 (18), 2016 (25), 2017 (12), 2018 (3).
9. Millard West (Omaha) – 130 points
State titles: 0
Runner-ups: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2009 (5), 2010 (15), 2012 (22), 2013 (9), 2014 (25), 2015 (8), 2016 (14), 2017 (20), 2018 (6).
10. Elkhorn South (Omaha) – 125 points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 0
Top 25 state rankings: 2013 (20), 2014 (21), 2015 (1), 2016 (1), 2017 (3), 2018 (25).
