After getting a gridiron tease with a handful of football games last week, the floodgates are about to open in Nebraska. From Chadron to Falls City, Sidney to Sioux City, and all points in between, footballs will be filling the Cornhusker State air this weekend. In all, 134 contests are scheduled to kick off between last night's action and the contests being played this evening.
Before taking a look at the season's first full week of action, however, we are releasing our Top 10 Nebraska high school football games for September.
In our top matchup for September, last year's Class D1 (8-Man) runner-up Burwell travels to Neligh-Oakdale for a small school slugfest Sept. 10. On that same Friday evening, defending Class B state champion Elkhorn travels to Waverly to duke it out in our No. 2 game of the month. Then, a week later, Class A's top-ranked Bellevue West hosts No. 3 Millard South in a contest that we are touting as the third best contest in the Cornhusker State for the month.
In a battle of small school powers, Falls City Sacred Heart travels to defending Class D2 state champion Bruning-Davenport/Shickley on Sept. 10 while Class C2 defending state champion and No. 3 Ord hosts No. 7 Norfolk Catholic Sept. 10 to round out the Top 5 in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, respectively.
Classes A, B, C2, D1, D2 and D6 are all represented in this week's Top 10. But that doesn't mean Class C1's upcoming schedule of games is a yawner to kick the season off. Preseason No. 2 St. Paul travels to defending C1 champion and top-ranked Pierce this evening in what may be Class C1's top game of the year.
Other August battles that didn't make it into this week's Top 10 due to time constraints, include defending Class D1 state champion Dundy County-Stratton's 42-14 triumph over Colorado defending Class A 8-Man champion Sedgwick County Thursday night. Top-ranked Bellevue West KO'd Class A No. 9 Omaha Burke 58-14 on Thursday evening as well.
Three key battles this evening include No. 4 Yutan traveling to top-ranked Archbishop Bergan in Class C2, Mullen hosts 2020 state runner-up Sandhills/Thedford in Class D2 and defending state champion and No. 2 Omaha Westside travels to No. 8 Omaha Creighton Prep in Class A.
If your game wasn't mentioned in this week's Top 10, don't fret, there is still plenty of gridiron action scattered throughout the state the next five weeks. So, buckle your seat belt and get ready for the football ride.
As you look at the top line of each contest, the record in parenthesis is a school's 2020 mark. The preseason ranking to the left of schools that reside in Classes A, B, C1 and C2 are MaxPreps' Nebraska Preseason Rankings. Rankings to the left of schools that play either Six-Man or Eight-Man football were selected from the Omaha World Herald and the Lincoln Journal Star, with the Omaha World Herald's preseason ranking listed first.
Nebraska's Top 10 football games to see in September1. 8-Man 1 No. 1/1 Burwell (12-1) at 8-Man 1 No. 4/7 Neligh-Oakdale (Neligh) (9-2), Sept. 10Burwell bumped the Warriors from the ranks of the unbeaten a year ago, and then edged them in the quarterfinals 49-48. Can they do it again? Or will Neligh-Oakdale flip the script this fall?
2. Class B No. 3 Elkhorn (11-2) at Class B No. 1 Waverly (8-3), Sept. 10In this tussle, the defending state champion Antlers travel to take on this year's preseason favorite Vikings.
3. Class A No. 3 Millard South (Omaha, Neb.) (8-2) at Class A No. 1 Bellevue West (Bellevue) (6-1), Sept. 16Millard South dropped a 35-33 decision to eventual state champion Omaha Westside in the semifinals a year ago while Bellevue West fell to Kearney 41-40 in the quarterfinals. Bellevue West is the early favorite in Class A. Millard South, however, has its sights set on pulling the rug out from under those aspirations.
4. 8-Man 2 No. 2/1 Sacred Heart (Falls City) (9-2) at 8-Man 2 No. 5/4 Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (Bruning)(12-0), Sept. 10The Eagles got the better of Falls City Sacred Heart during the regular season a year ago and eventually won the state title. Don't be surprised if these two squads play twice this fall with the second battle coming late in the playoffs.
5. Class C2 No. 7 Norfolk Catholic (Norfolk) (6-3) at Class C2 No. 3 Ord (12-0), Sept. 10Norfolk Catholic's string of 23 straight seasons with a berth in the playoffs ended two years ago. The Knights, however, played their way back into the postseason last fall. A win over the defending champions may signal the perennial power is back. The Chanticleers, on the other hand, have no intention of giving up their reign.
6. Class A No. 5 Lincoln East (Lincoln) (8-2) at Class A No. 4 Lincoln Southeast (Lincoln) (8-1), Sept. 23A huge rivalry that just happens to be a matchup of Top 5 teams.
7. Class C2 No. 2 Oakland-Craig (Oakland) (10-2) at Class C2 No. 5 Aquinas (David City) (8-3), Sept. 23Oakland-Craig fell to eventual Class C2 state champion Ord 38-28 in the semifinals a year ago. A win over Aquinas, one of Nebraska's dominant 11-Man football programs over the years, may give the Knights enough momentum to plow through the semifinals and into the state championship match. The Monarchs, meanwhile, are saying, "Not so fast."
8. 6-Man No. 2/1 Cody-Kilgore (Cody) (6-3) at 6-Man No. 6/5 Arthur County (Arthur) (8-3), Sept. 3Both clubs have high aspirations after both came up short in last year's semifinals. Arthur County took last fall's regular season tussle 54-39.
9. Class B No. 7 Bennington (9-2) at Class B No. 5 Aurora (9-4), Sept. 3After finishing as runner-up, a year ago, Aurora hopes to take the next step and win its first state title since 2018. The Huskies get their first big test next weekend when No. 7 Bennington comes knocking.
10. 8-Man 1 No. 2/3 Cross County (Stromsburg) (11-1) at 8-Man 1 No. 5/4 Howells-Dodge (Howells) (7-3), Sept. 10Cross County shut out Howells-Dodge 28-0 a year ago and is the favorite to upend the Jaguars in this matchup of top 5 programs again. But don't ever count out a Mike Speirs-led Howells-Dodge squad.
