Shelby Freshman, Seth Hoffman in Elite Company Now

[Bobby Mills Jr. (1000 Yard Guy)]

Hoffman, number 41 (2nd from right) wasn't yawning last Thursday night against Freeman

He doesn’t look like a 15 year old when you are a linebacker preparing to put the stops on the 195 pound bulldozer powering toward you. Seth Hoffman of Shelby became only the 4th Freshman in history to crack the 1000 yard rushing plateau when he ran for 128 yards last Thursday against Freeman in the first round off the D-1 playoffs.
Only Casey Cozad of Callaway (1995), and Brandon Holtorf of Prague (1998), and Mike Brower of Fillmore Central (2000) have gone before Hoffman. Brower and Holtorf went on to become 4 year 1000 Yard Rushers, the only two in history, and Brower eventually set the 11-Man career rushing record of 6,099 yards.
An injury during his Sophomore season prevented Casey Cozad from a 4 year 1000 yard run. To put this in perspective, football has been around in this state for roughly 90 seasons. There are at least 299 schools playing football this year. Each school has an average of, say, 3 backs in their starting line-up. That is 897 Backs that just STARTED this season in Nebraska, so Seth Hoffman one of only four 9th graders to ever hit that 1000 yard rushing mark. Starting adding up the number of backs that have started in even the last FIFTY season and you come up with over 50,000 easily. Beginning to get the picture?
Coach Jerald Humlicek always seems to field a potentially sound, fundamentally strong program at Shelby. That began years back when the venerable John O’Brien had the reigns. That was on tough old son-of-a-gun there! Coach O’Brien knew the game. The Huskies will travel to Johnson-Bock Wednesday for a 5:30 match-up and will try to extend their season deeper into the playoffs. Watch for number 41.…….he’s the big fella being led through the line by another big fella, 250 pound Dylan Scow!

No doubt about it, the Running Backs were unleashed with a flurry of yards in last week’s first round playoff games, and some in miserable weather. A few games were even postponed two days. I am convinced, however, that the young men that played in the snow, mud and slick conditions enjoyed every minute of it. They’re kids, aren’t they?

Here are some of the eye-openers that dotted last week’s playoff games:
*Jake Wirthele-Sterling - Rambled for 345 yards on 35 carries and ran for Tds of 24, 60, 62, 3 and 4 yards in the Jets 42-14 win over Bruning-Davenport.
*Colton Rush-Anselmo-Merna - 244-44 carries against Brady (54-18).
*Keifer Messersmith-Hayes Center - 240-31 in 45-12 “W” against SEM.
*Wayne Brugeman-Bloomfield - 211-31 to boost season total to 1,577.
*Derek Foster-Elm Creek - 210-16 - Notched his second 1000 Yard Season.
*Dustin Parks-Arapahoe - 202-36 in a losing cause. Ends up with 1,431. He’s a Junior.
*Seth Behrens-David City - 200-22 pushed his season total to 1,634. Will the Junior be comparable to the legendary Bob Martin of the Scouts before it’s all said and done?
*Dillon Glause-Palmer - 199-18. Edges to within 102 of a Grand.
*Gus Peterson-Cambridge - 197-13 - Mowing over defenders like his Dad, Tim!
*Talon Matzner-Tri-County - 188-17
*Gavin Kenny-Amherst - 188-21
*Alex Dose-Hampton - 3 year 1000 Yarder ran for 179-21 and scored on runs of 58, 1, 2, 52, and 13 in the Hawks 42-16 win over Dodge. Dose has 1,207 for the year and 4,695 career yards.
*Shane Manning-Exeter-Milligan - 179-18. This team has tiny backs, but they are oooohhh so “sprinter speed” fast. A blink and Harre and Horne are gone…..and Manning apparently.
*Tanner Mroczek-Gothenburg - Speaking of sprinter speed, Tanner exploded for a 95 yard TD jaunt against Minden and accumulated 170 yards on only 8 carries…..but a 95 yarder helps the old average a bit.
*Conrad Hueftle-Broken Bow - 168-15
*Shane Meyers-Ashland-Greenwood - 153-24
*Josh Crowell-Ravenna - 230-28 in a rematch against Kearney Catholic. Jays won 28-0 and the All-State QB raised his 2009 rushing total to 1,719 yards. He has carried the ball 142 times and that computes to an average of 12.1 per touch…pretty impressive!
*Tom Keck-Bennington - 148 yards on only 10 carries against tough Milford.
*Jared Hodgsen-Overton - Ran for 145 yds on 28 totes, swelling his season total to 1,508.
*Greg Millikan-Wahoo - Rushed for 128-20 in preparation for the rematch with Neumann.
*Dalton Sealey-Hastings St. Cecilia - 1000 yarder gained 136 on 15 touches against Battle Creek and saw his season total increase to 1,265. Sealey has sat out much time this season with the Bluehawks building large early leads.
*Graham Butler-Johnson-Bock - QB escaped for 173 yards on only 15 carries and scored on runs of 56, 67, 8 and a 71 yd punt return.
*Rylan Cotton and Jeff Seybold-Lincoln SW - These two blitzed Millard North for 159 and 136 yards respectively last Friday. Seybold hit the 1000 yard mark (1,098) and along with QB Cotton, will be a handful for Lincoln SE in the second round game at Seacrest this Friday.
*Chad Koch-Hartington C.C. - Had 211-18 in a 1st round win over Thayer Central. Koch increased his season total to 1,783 and his splendid career mark to 5,163 yards. The game at Ravenna Wednesday will feature tow of the best backs in the State when Koch meets Josh Crowell, Ravenna’s talented running Quarterback. 4:00 friends!

Man alive, Class C-2 has some biggies on Wednesday. Besides the Hartington C.C./Ravenna tilt, check out Blue Hill/Sutherland and Elm Creek/Creighton. That Sutherland team scares me. Elm Creek is rolling along and might just dispose of their second straight NE Nebraska team. I’d take Sutherland over Blue Hill, but those Bobcats just flat out know how to play defense!
Here are a few questions for you…….Can Elmwood-Murdock avenge the early season 21-12 lost to Bergan?
How about the chances of Wilber-Clatonia doing the same to Aquinas?
………and McCook reversing the early embarrassment to Aurora?….And Lincoln SW turning the 17-12 loss around against Lincoln SE?…and Gothenburg returning the favor to Broken Bow (14-13)?

All kinds of great games on tap for Wednesday and Friday. One thing seems for certain and that is the weather should be a ton better than last week. What are the chances of another major snowstorm hitting before the playoffs are over? DO NOT answer that! We’ll see you on the sidelines at Ravenna Wednesday.