Since 2004, MaxPreps has been ranking high school football teams in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., both locally and nationally. In that time, Norfolk Catholic has been flexing its gridiron muscle in northeast Nebraska, during postseason play and in state title contests at the University of Nebraska's Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
Although the Knights had their streak of 23 straight playoff berths snapped in 2019, Norfolk Catholic blew by the rest of the field and was once again named Nebraska's Most Dominant 11-Man Football Program.
Just look at this resume. The Knights have made 36 appearances in the Nebraska high school football playoffs, earned a berth in postseason play 23 straight years beginning in 1996, lead the Cornhusker State with 10 state football titles, won three straight state championships from 2010-2012 and have played for a state title 17 times.
For the purposes of this week's Top 10, however, we are focusing on which programs have been the most dominant since 2004. And the results are, of course, similar.
The Class C2 Knights were Nebraska's top-ranked team, regardless of class, in 2004, 2005 and again in 2017. Norfolk Catholic finished the year in the top 5 six times in 17 seasons and played its way into the top 10 12 times. The Knights played in nine state title games over the 17-year period and won state championships six times to outscore Class B power Omaha Skutt Catholic 429-374 this week.
The Skyhawks played in eight state title contests and have claimed five football championships since 2004. Omaha Skutt finished in the Nebraska top 10 11 times and in the top 5 six times over the past 17 seasons. David City Aquinas grabbed the No. 3 spot in this week's top 10 with 282 points and four state titles in five tries since 2004. Pierce and Elkhorn round out the top 5 with 280 and 242 points, respectively.
All four Nebraska 11-Man Classes are represented in this week's Top 10 with Class B landing four of its members in the top 10 to lead the way. Class A, the Cornhusker State's largest classification, played its way into three spots. Boone Central/Newman Grove and Millard South just missed the top 10 after garnering 172 and 171 points, respectively.
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 most dominant football programs since 20041. Norfolk Catholic (Norfolk) — 429 PointsState titles: 6
Runner-ups: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (1st), 2005 (1st), 2006 (8th), 2007 (7th), 2008 (9th), 2009 (9th), 2010 (3rd), 2011 (7th), 2012 (2nd), 2013 (17th), 2014 (9th), 2015 (5th), 2016 (20th), 2017 (1st), 2018 (12th).
2. Skutt Catholic (Omaha) — 374 PointsState titles: 5
Runner-ups: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2005 (2nd), 2006 (9th), 2007 (17th), 2009 (6th), 2012 (7th), 2013 (1st), 2014 (3rd), 2015 (7th), 2016 (5th), 2017 (6th), 2018 (2nd), 2019 (3rd).
3. Aquinas (David City) — 282 PointsState titles: 4
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (5th), 2005 (6th), 2009 (20th), 2010 (14th), 2011 (5th), 2012 (4th), 2013 (14th), 2014 (4th), 2015 (3rd), 2016 (10th), 2017 (10th), 2020 (25th).
4. Pierce — 280 PointsState titles: 3
Runner-ups: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (12th), 2005 (21st), 2006 (13th), 2007 (1st), 2008 (2nd), 2010 (8th), 2011 (15th), 2012 (8th), 2017 (15th), 2018 (11th), 2019 (4th), 2020 (2nd).
5. Elkhorn — 242 PointsState titles: 2
Runner-ups: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (21st), 2005 (23rd), 2006 (2nd), 2007 (8th), 2008 (18th), 2009 (4th), 2010 (9th), 2011 (3rd), 2012 (18th), 2014 (7th), 2016 (21st), 2017 (24th), 2020 (8th).
6. Millard North (Omaha) — 240 PointsState titles: 4
Runner-ups: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2005 (10th), 2007 (9th), 2010 (2nd), 2011 (12th), 2012 (1st), 2013 (19th), 2014 (18th), 2015 (4th), 2016 (19th).
7. Aurora — 238 PointsState titles: 3
Runner-ups: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (13th), 2005 (15th), 2008 (5th), 2009 (2nd), 2010 (6th), 2011 (25th), 2012 (23rd), 2013 (15th), 2015 (6th), 2016 (24th), 2018 (1st), 2019 (21st), 2020 (24th).
8. McCook — 227 PointsState titles: 0
Runner-ups: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2004 (4th), 2005 (4th), 2006 (5th), 2007 (4th), 2008 (7th), 2011 (21st), 2013 (11th), 2014 (12th), 2015 (12th), 2016 (9th), 2017 (11th), 2018 (15th).
9. Omaha North (Omaha) — 221 PointsState titles: 3
Runner-ups: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2008 (4th), 2009 (23rd), 2012 (5th), 2013 (3rd), 2014 (1st), 2016 (7th), 2017 (4th), 2018 (20th).
10. Millard West (Omaha) — 212 PointsState titles: 1
Runner-ups: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2007 (10th), 2008 (1st), 2009 (5th), 2010 (15th), 2012 (22nd), 2013 (9th), 2014 (25th), 2015 (8th), 2016 (14th), 2017 (20th), 2018 (6th), 2019 (5th).
