Cooper Fay and Drew Farrell weren't shy about pressuring the quarterback for Cody-Kilgore coach Trenton Ford a year ago. And they won't be again this fall when the Cowboys take to the gridiron to improve on last season's 6-3 record.
Both seniors this fall, Fay and Farrell combined for 32 tackles for negative yardage, five sacks and an incredible 47 quarterback hurries a year ago to put together two of our top three returning defensive stat lines in Nebraska.
Fay took the top spot after he was credited with 77 tackles, 16 stops for negative yardage, a sack and 27 quarterback hurries. The 5-foot-8 defensive back also defended five passes, recovered two fumbles and caused a couple more. Sitting in the No. 3 spot this week, Farrell made 80 stops on defense and is more than happy to take credit for four sacks and 20 QB hurries.
Harvard's Eric Villalbaso was the only player to stand in the way of a 1-2 finish for the pair of Cowboy defenders. He sits second after wrestling 92 enemy ball carriers to the ground, cashing in eight sacks and hurrying the quarterback a state leading 38 times a year ago.
The senior's QB hurry number ranks first in the Cornhusker State, fourth nationally among 6/8/9-Man football programs and 24th nationally among all high school football divisions a year ago.
Rounding out the Top 5 are Red Cloud's Caden Frey and Dane Pilakowski of Arthur County. Frey sits fourth after knocking down nine enemy balls and raking in 19 ½ stops. Pilakowski made his living by making 109 tackles, eight sacks and hurrying the quarterback 26 times.
Classes C1, C2, D1, D2 and D6 are all represented in this week's Top 10. But that doesn't mean football players in Nebraska's largest classifications didn't put together fantastic resumes on the stop side of the ball last fall.
Omaha Benson's Kevon Newsome led Class A after making 130 tackles, 10 stops behind the line of scrimmage, three sacks and three interceptions a year ago.
Kyler Lauridson of Bennington put together the top defensive stat line for returning players in Class B after playing his way into 103 tackles, stuffing 14 enemy ball carriers for negative yardage, sacking the quarterback four times and reeling in three interceptions.
Nebraska's Top 10 returning defensive stat lines1.
Cooper Fay,
Cody-Kilgore (Cody), Sr.
77 Tackles | 16 Tackles for loss | 1 Sack | 27 QB hurries | 5 Passes defended | 2 Fumble recoveries | 2 Forced fumbles
2.
Eric Villalbaso,
Harvard, Sr.
92 tackles | 8 sacks | 38 QB hurries | 3 Fumble recoveries | 3 Forced rumbles
3.
Drew Farrell,
Cody-Kilgore (Cody), Sr.
80 Tackles | 16 Tackles For Loss | 4 Sacks | 20 QB Hurries | 2 Passes Defended | 5 Fumble Recoveries | 4 Forced Fumbles
4.
Caden Frey,
Red Cloud, Sr.
74 Tackles | 19 ½ Tackles for loss | 3 ½ Sacks | 2 Interceptions | 9 Passes defended | 4 Fumble recoveries | 2 Forced fumbles
5.
Dane Pilakowski,
Arthur County (Arthur), Sr.
109 Tackles | 3 Tackles for loss | 8 Sacks | 26 QB hurries | 1 Pass defended | 2 Fumble recoveries
6.
Jaxen Buettenback,
Potter-Dix (Potter), Sr.
73 Tackles | 22 Tackles for loss | 3 ½ Sacks | 10 QB hurries | 1 Interception | 1 Pass defended | 1 Fumble recovery | 1 Forced fumble
7.
Bryson Gadeken,
Neligh-Oakdale (Neligh), Sr.
145 Tackles | 27 Tackles For Loss | 2 Sacks | 3 Passes Defended | 2 Fumble Recoveries
8.
Jace Rosenkrans,
St. Mary's (O'Neill), Jr.
89 Tackles | 16 Tackles for loss | 4 ½ Sacks | 2 Fumble recoveries | 2 Forced fumbles
9.
Jaden Williams,
Doniphan-Trumbull (Doniphan), Sr.
88 Tackles | 11 Tackles for loss | 1 QB hurry | 3 Interceptions | 6 Passes defended | 2 Fumble recoveries | 1 Forced fumble
10.
Jacob Kucera,
Central City, Sr.
79 Tackles | 14 Tackles for loss | 2 ½ Sacks | 5 QB hurries | 1 Pass defended | 1 Forced fumble
