Heartland Conference teams will be in the state playoffs.
Whether any can make it out of the first round is another story.
None of them are in the new Class A rankings.
It’s the result of Millard North, which two weeks ago seemed destined for a one- or two-win season, pulling away for a 42-14 win over then-No. 9 Lincoln East.
East was fresh off a win over Kearney, which owns the only significant win over a Metro Conference team — 14-13 over Omaha North, still giddy from its blowout of Omaha Central the previous week.
Heartland teams after six weeks are 2-20 against Metro teams in playoff contention. The other Heartland win was Fremont beating Omaha Westview 17-14.
Millard North started 0-4, losing 23-12 to Millard West, 42-0 at still-undefeated Cherry Creek (Colorado), 51-7 to Papillion-La Vista South and 70-7 to the Millard South Steamroller.
Now at 2-4, the Mustangs finish with a Friday game at Kearney (3-3) before home games Oct. 17 against Omaha Central (4-2) and Columbus (5-1). Going 2-1 likely puts them into the playoff field.
Millard North returns to the Class A rankings at No. 10 — it was fifth in the preseason — and Millard West rides the Mustangs’ coattails to return at No. 9.
‘F’ as in forfeit
Nebraska Lutheran has forfeited the remainder of its season due to injuries to an already thin roster. The eight-man Knights finish 0-8
“We started the season with only 16 players and lost a few of them along the way,” Knights coach Andrew Frey posted on Facebook. “In the end, we simply did not have enough varsity-level players available to finish the rest of the season.
“We apologize to the NSAA, the schools we were scheduled to play, our remaining players and their parents, as well as the rest of the NELHS family for this situation. We also thank our players for their hard work this season and to our families for their support.”
Six-Man Harvard forfeited last Friday’s game at undefeated Red Cloud. The Cardinals drop to 0-5 after being outscored 286-12 in their first four games.
Eight Man-2 Walthill (0-6) has played only three of its first six scheduled games. It forfeited last Friday’s game at 5-1 Wynot.
Schools that elect to forfeit games are fined $1,000 per game, the money going to the opponent if it was to host the game, and they must pay the officials assigned to the game.
These situations, along with the off-season choices by Oakland-Craig, Banner County and Grand Island Lutheran not to play their entire varsity schedules, reinforce the need for school administrators and school boards to make realistic projections for football turnouts in the next two-year scheduling cycle and adjust their level of play – 11-, 8- or 6-man.
Some advice: Don’t rely on the size of the incoming freshman class in the decision process. Even in six-man, few ninth graders are physically able to never leave the field against stronger, more developed, older players. If they get manhandled on the field and hurt, they may punt on the sport.
Grads in NFL stripes
Clete Blakeman (Norfolk, 1983) is one of four Nebraskans officiating in the NFL this season.
Blakeman, in the league for 18 years and referee for 16 years, has Kent Payne (Palmer, 1979), as his line judge for the first year. Payne is in his 22nd season.
Tim Podraza (Alliance, 1981) is line judge for Shawn Hochuli’s crew. Tripp Sutter (York, 1989), is line judge for Bill Vinovich’s crew. Podraza is in his 18th year, Sutter his seventh.
Rankings comments
Top 10/Class A: Omaha Central drops from fourth to sixth for its 31-16 loss to No. 3 Omaha Creighton Prep. Bellevue West, which had been No. 8 in Class A and No. 10 in the Top 10, is No. 8 in both after reevaluating the 3-3 Thunderbirds’ losses. Class B’s top two, Elkhorn North and Norris, each slip one notch to Nos. 9 and 10, but that’s no reflection on their play.
Classes B and C-1: No changes made.
Class C-2: Malcolm (4-2) upset Wahoo Neumann 21-7, dropping the Cavs from second to fourth, but there’s no room for the victors in the rankings yet. The reason is Ord’s 21-14 home win over previously undefeated Grand Island Central Catholic. The winning Chanticleers, back to .500, started 0-3 with losses to undefeateds Central City and O’Neill from C-1 and Kearney Catholic from C-2. They re-enter at No. 9 (they were No. 7 in the preseason) and GICC is No. 10, ahead of Malcolm, for its 27-7 Week Two win over the Clippers.
Eight Man-1: Nebraska City Lourdes returns at No. 9 and Pender, on a five-game winning streak, is the new No. 10, after losses by then-No. 6 Hartington-Newcastle and No. 10 Sutton dropped both teams’ records to 4-2.
Eight Man-2: Twin Loup falls from No. 7 to No. 10 after a 48-7 loss to No. 2 Central Valley, which has given up three touchdowns in six games.
Six Man: Pawnee City returns at No. 10 after No. 4 Sumner-Eddyville-Miller beat then-No. 9 Wauneta-Palisade 63-33.
Top games this week
Thursday
Class A: Columbus at Lincoln East
Six Man: Garden County at Leyton
Friday
Class A: Omaha Westside vs. Elkhorn South at Elkhorn Stadium, Fremont vs. Omaha Creighton Prep at Burke, Millard North at Kearney, Papillion-La Vista at Omaha Central
Class B: Elkhorn North at Omaha Skutt
Class C-1: Milford at Central City
Class C-2: Yutan at Arlington, Raymond Central at Malcolm
Eight Man-1: Hemingford at Bridgeport, Crofton at Wausa/Osmond, Johnson County at Nebraska City Lourdes
Eight Man-2: Anselmo-Merna at Twin Loup, Humphrey Archangels at Fullerton, Overton at Cambridge, Neligh-Oakdale at Elgin/Pope John, Sandhills/Thedford at Mullen
Six Man: Garden County at Leyton, Hampton at Stuart, Red Cloud at Silver Lake, Wauneta-Palisade at Southwest
stu.pospisil@owh.com, twitter.com/stuOWH
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Stu Pospisil
Reporter – High school sports
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