Week 8 Top Games

Week 8 Top Games to Watch

St. Thomas Aquinas at Omaha Westside

A replacement game for Westside brings in KS 5A #1 rated St. Thomas Aquinas. The Saints though are coming in off a loss last week to 6A #1 Lawrence and I hear they may be down several key players including their starting QB. It's still the toughest game of the season to date for the Warriors who likely wouldn't have another tough game until the state semifinals next month. STA has a pair of stud RBs in Tank Young and Danny Carroll and a super sophomore DE Saio Siavvi who is the nephew of former Chiefs player Junior Siavvi. Guessing they'll try to pound the ball at Westside, test that front and chew up clock. Ultimately though, Westside and Cole Payton are probably going to be too much in this. They have 6-7 D1 players on their roster, the school's best team since the 1982 state championships. Should be a fun atmosphere at Phelps!

Archbishop Bergan at Oakland-Craig

Oakland-Craig and Coach Anderson seem to thrive in these types of big games-seems the bigger the stage, the better they perform. Koa and company haven't been tested all season and even though I think they're a year away from winning the whole thing, this is a big measuring stick for how close the Knights are to being a contender to hold a trophy. Jaron Meyer has been out for a few games and I'm sure OC would love to have him back for this one. The winner here almost certainly gets the top seed for the playoffs while the loser may then find themselves on the road to Ord in a potential state semifinal next month. Will see if Bergan can hold up in the trenches against the very physical OC lines. That and containing Koa are probably the keys to this one.

HSF at Central Valley

A huge D2 matchup at Greeley with the returning state champions and Central Valley both bringing unbeaten records into the season finale. Other than Palmer, HSF has blown out everyone on their schedule. Central Valley's schedule wasn't particularly great but they whipped Palmer and last week beat a very good Iowa team from Fremont Mills led by future Husker Seth Malcom. Both teams can obviously move the ball but whose defense can get stops is probably determines the outcome here. The two teams didn't meet last year, but CV did reach the state quarterfinals. Jackson McIntyre, Ty Nekoliczak, Kyle Oakley and big all-state lineman Trevor Cargill lead the way for the Cougars. Winner here moves into the 2 seed area for the upcoming playoffs.

Sandhills/Thedford at Pleasanton

Battle of unbeatens in D2 as ST visits the returning state runner-ups. Both teams are unbeaten although neither has played a tough schedule. ST definitely has the edge on paper with common opponents and margin of victory. ST gets it done by committee witih Dane Pokorny, Trae Hickman and Reece Zutavern. Bulldogs will lean on Treven Wendt and Tyce Westland and the passing of Kray Kingston. Again, it appears that the ST defense might be a bit better than what we've seen with Pleasanton so this one could break the scoreboard with the way they both can get up and down the field. If ST wins they probably end up a 5 seed. Pleasanton sits further down so they could go to an 8 with a win and be in the 14 range with a loss.

Ralston at Blair

Every game in Class B matters now for determining the playoff seeds. The loser of this one probably ends up a 13 type while the winner is a 10/11. Two great running backs with Dex Larsen and Rashad Madden. Blair has played nearly everyone close with a tough schedule. This one may end up 50-40 area in terms of final score.

Northwest at Aurora

With Seward next week, Huskies are in prime position for a 2 seed in Class B with that huge win over Hastings last week. They need to be really careful to avoid a letdown-Northwest hasn't played well at all the past few weeks but they did beat Waverly and are a dangerous opponent with talent on their roster. Containing Ethan Shaw has to be priority one. You wonder with that tough schedule if Aurora isn't due to hit a wall at some point? Being at home probably helps avoid any upset here.

Scottsbluff at McCook

Scottsbluff has looked better the last few weeks but are they really? Alliance and Lexington are really not good and the win over Northwest three weeks ago might not be all that good considering all the factors that went into that one. McCook may get Jacob Gomez-Wilson back for this one tonight and he will drastically improve their team. The Bearcat offense isn't great and the McCook defense is pretty good so look for a 28-10 type final for the Bison on their home field, which should put McCook in the 8 position for the state playoffs.

St. Paul at Adams Central

Not shocked that Adams Central lost last week to Kearney Catholic but the margin of victory was a big surprise. Not sure of all the particulars but they need to get well in a hurry with the rugged St. Paul Wildcats coming to town. The winner here probably secures a 3 seed in C1 while the loser may drop to a 5 or 6. Adams Central likes defense and they'll have their hands full with 5000 yard career rusher Eli Larson. Super sophomore Hyatt Collins needs just 1 yard to pass the 1000 mark for the season for the Patriots. Wyoming commit Tommy Wroblewski and Patriot receiver Tyler Slechta might be the two best receivers in this class.

Palmer at Kenesaw

Palmer isn't terrible like their 3-4 record indicates. They've lost to HSF, Central Valley, Osceola and Nebraska Christian. Kenesaw is really good as we saw against BDS two weeks ago. But the Blue Devils schedule has them sitting 14th in the point standings currently. Even with a win here they are going to be a low seed in D2. A dangerous low seed. Palmer is always capable of making a game against anyone they play but too much Denkert tonight.

Bishop Neumann at Yutan

Bishop Neumann is one of the most Jekyll and Hyde teams across the state. They have that early season week 2 win over Norfolk Catholic and then we've seen them look very average the last two weeks. Yutan has been red hot since they lost to Bergan on opening night. There's a lot of weapons for Yutan but Caden Egr is definitely one of the best two-way players in C2. He leads the Chieftans in rushing and is also their leading tackler. With a win, Yutan looks like a 4/5 playoff seed.

Nebraska Christian at Neligh-Oakdale

Afternoon game in Neligh on Striv, between two rateds in D1. Only Burwell has slowed down the prolific Warrior offense led by super sophomore Aidan Kuester and incredible WR Julian Hearn. Kuester has 2337 total yards and Hearn has 937 receiving. Winner here probably locks up a 5/6 spot in the playoffs. Thinking 60-40 type final score for Neligh-Oakdale. You know who's' coming around for the Warriors? Freshman Bryson Gadeken who has emerged as another weapon at WR and has 27 tackles on defense.

Thayer Central at Tri-County

Unbeaten Tri-County hosts 1-loss Thayer Central. With a win the Trojans would be in a tie with DCS for the top seed in the D1 playoffs points-wise. Both of these teams can light up the scoreboard but it looks like Tri-County may have a little better defense. Cole Siems and Jack Holsing carry the offensive load for Tri-County while 6'5 sophomore Christopher Janssen has 13 tackles for loss. Easily the best team Tri-County has faced all year. Thayer Central's one loss was to Cross County. Logan Wiedel and receiver Andrew Heinrichs are going to test that secondary. Sophomore Gunnar Mumford leads Thayer Central with 88 tackles (12.9 per game).