Video: Top 10 Plays of the Week Steve Montoya and Chris Stonebrakers tackle the best of the best from the past week.
Some Nebraska high school football teams have taken to heart the cliché: "To be the best, you've got to beat the best." And while some programs have met that theory with plenty of success, many have not.
As we dove into our 11-Man and 8-Man/6-Man Nebraska football rankings and sifted through our strength of schedule data, we discovered that some of the Cornhusker State's premier football programs play schedules that match their level of play.
Class B's 21st-ranked Gering has easily played the top 11-Man schedule to this point in the season, putting together a winless campaign against a schedule that features six Top 10 teams, including Torrington, the best gridiron squad in the state of Wyoming. In all, Bulldog opposition has put together a 44-19 record collectively.
Defending Class B champion and third ranked York is 6-2 against the state's second best 11-Man schedule, while Class A's sixth-ranked Omaha North has posted a 5-3 mark against the third best slate in the Cornhusker State. Grand Island Northwest and Lincoln Southeast round out the Top 5 in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots respectively.
In the 8-Man/6-Man ranks, Winside is still searching for its first win after tackling the state's top small school schedule on the season. The first six foes on the Wildcat slate have produced winning records, including eighth-ranked Bloomfield, sixth-ranked Riverside and top-ranked Humphrey St. Francis.
Wynot and Atkinson West Holt stake claims to the second and third strongest schedules, respectively, while Twin Loup and Arcadia/Loup City round out the Top 5 of Nebraska's sturdiest small school slates.
In terms of opponent's winning percentages, Gering is competing against the top slate among our 11-Man Top 10s, while Winside holds down the same honor in the 8-Man/6-Man ranks. Only Classes A and B, in our 11-Man Top 10, and Classes D1 and D2 in the 8-Man/6-Man ranks are represented in this week's Top 10s.
Class C1's Pierce has gone head-to-head with the best schedule in its classification, while Hartington Cedar Catholic has tackled Class C2's roughest schedule to date. In 6-Man, Sterling has proven its not intimidated by the big boys after battling the healthiest schedule in Nebraska's smallest classification.
Check out our Top 10 Nebraska football programs that own the toughest schedules in both 11-Man and 8-Man/6-Man football. We have listed the school, (school's record through last weekend), opponent's combined record and MaxPreps' strength of schedule rating.
Nebraska's Top 10 toughest 11-Man football schedules1.
Gering (0-8), 44-19, 17.5
2.
York (6-2), 41-23, 16.2
3.
Omaha North (5-3), 43-21, 15.6
4.
Northwest (Grand Island) (4-4), 40-24, 15.5
5.
Lincoln Southeast (5-3), 41-23, 14.9
6.
Millard West (Omaha) (6-2), 39-25, 12.9
7.
Millard North (Omaha) (3-5), 39-25, 12.3
8.
Pius X (Lincoln.) (4-4), 38-26, 11.9
9.
Bellevue East (0-8), 41-23, 11.7
10.
Gretna (2-6), 39-25, 11.2
Nebraska's Top 10 toughest 8-Man/6-Man football schedules1.
Winside (0-7), 38-11, 50.0
2.
Wynot (2-5), 35-14, 46.2
3.
West Holt (Atkinson) (1-6), 35-14, 43.3
4.
Twin Loup (Sargent) (2-5), 31-18, 41.9
5.
Arcadia/Loup City (Arcadia) (3-4), 31-18, 39.4
6.
Elgin/Pope John (Elgin) (1-6), 31-18, 39.2
7.
Amherst (3-4), 30-19, 37.1
8.
Elm Creek (3-4), 31-18, 36.8
9.
Lawrence-Nelson (Nelson) (4-3), 34-15, 36.7
10.
South Loup (Arnold) (6-1), 28-21, 36.4
