Papillion-La Vista South’s third phase of the game has helped the Titans win two of their first three games and be ranked sixth in the Top 10.
“Something that stands out a little bit more than normal is our special teams,’’ Titans coach Tim Clemenger said, “We’ve blocked kicks, we’ve blocked punts, we’ve taken a kick back for a touchdown. We’re downing punts on the 1-yard line.
“Our two-point conversions, and we go for two a lot after scores, we’re eight out of 11. Our extra points are 3 for 3 and we’ve kicked a field goal as well. Seth Armstrong is our special teams coordinator. He’s doing a fantastic job. And the kids have really, really bought into that phase of the game.”
Papio South (2-1) opened with a win over rival Papillion-La Vista, lost 27-21 at home to now-No. 5 Omaha North, and handed Millard North a 51-7 loss that was one of the worst in Mustangs history.
New to the Titans’ staff is Kirk Peterson, the longtime Millard West coach.
“Pete’s awesome. It’s been a big impact,’’ Clemenger said. “Obviously, he brings a wealth of experience as a head coach, so I lean on him a lot, which is bouncing ideas off head coach to head coach.
“Definitely on the defensive side, he has a lot of ideas, a lot of experience, a lot of things that have worked for him in the past. He and Tyler Nutsch, our defensive coordinator, they’re just doing a really good job together. He loves the kids, and the kids love him.”
The Titans host Omaha Westview this week, then travel to Norfolk and Kearney the following two weeks.
“Our kids’ motto that they zeroed in on in the spring was ‘Anybody, Anywhere, Anytime.’ We adopted it from the Washington Commanders. That was their motto, I think, a year or two ago,’’ he said.
“We have a tough schedule, and we have some tough road games. They redid our turf this summer, so we were off the turf all summer. We had to take that mind-set of ‘Anybody, Anywhere, Anytime.’ Just line up, put the ball down and let’s go.”
Close games pick up Palmyra
Four points have decided the first three games for Palmyra, a team that went 0-9 last year in the Panthers’ first year back in 11-man.
They followed a 22-21 opening loss at Falls City with wins of 20-18 over Superior and 42-41 at Fillmore Central.
“First games are just nerve-wracking for everybody,’’ second-year coach Taylor Baumert said.
Palmyra led Falls City 21-6 at the start of the third quarter, leading the coach to hope that “this thing could go, but they had never been in that position before. Falls City just made more plays than us, and we didn’t know how to win.
“What I thought was very cool to see with this team is a lot of the situations we were put in in week one, we were right back in those situations in week two, and they were able to able to make plays. That was big. Just learning how to win is impossible to practice, to prep, to rep, you just have to physically go do it.
“In the last two weeks, they were able to do it. I don’t think we beat Superior unless we go through what we did in Falls City. And I don’t think we beat Fillmore unless we go through what we did against Superior.”
Palmyra’s skill people include Leyton Mapson at receiver, Levi Tramp at running back and first-year starter David Stansberry at quarterback. Up front are Lincoln Johnson, Mason Meehan, Harvey Warner, Gavin Waggerman and Drake Dowling.
Bo Davis, Jaxson Chambers and Tyler Jensen are more from the junior class who have matured physically and gained confidence, Baumert said.
Undefeated, unranked teams
After the first three weeks, there are 21 undefeated teams outside The World-Herald rankings in their respective classes.
They are Fremont and Lincoln Northeast in Class A; Gering and Platteview in Class B; Chadron, Gothenburg, Omaha Concordia and Syracuse in C-1; Wood River in C-2; Arcadia-Loup City, East Butler, Hemingford, Johnson County and Ravenna in Eight Man-1; Bertrand, Cambridge, Deshler, Fullerton, Mullen and Neligh-Oakdale in Eight Man-2 and Hampton in Six Man.
Northeast is trying for its first winning season since 2018. It’s been since 2017 for Concordia.
Northeast, Gering, Platteview, Chadron, Wood River, Ravenna and Fullerton also were undefeated at this juncture in 2024/
Burke to honor runners
Omaha Burke is celebrating the golden anniversary of its 1975 Class A cross country championship with a day of events Thursday.
From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the Burke campus will be the Inaugural Skip Morris Invitational one-mile run/walk open to the runners Morris coached from 1967 to 1978 and their families. The 1975 team and the other Morris-era runners will be introduced during breaks in the homecoming football game that night against Omaha Bryan.
stu.pospisil@owh.com, twitter.com/stuOWH
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Stu Pospisil
Reporter – High school sports
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