Friday Night Stars: Week 9’s top performances in Nebraska high school football

By Nathan Charles

There was no shortage of star power in the final regular season week of the year and the first round of eight-man playoffs. In Class A, Bellevue West’s Danny Kaelin threw for more than 300 yards and five touchdowns. Collin Fritton and Jack Baptista teamed up for a big night through the air at Southwest. Matt Bohy was a yard short of 200 for Class B Pius X. Future Husker Ben Brahmer went over 1,000 receiving yards for the second year in a row. In eight-man, quarterbacks Aiden Kuester and Reid Fletcher continue to cause defenses headaches.

Johnathan Williams, Bennington Wide Receiver

Williams was quarterback Trey Bird’s favorite target during a 52-14 win over Mount Michael that gave Bennington a second straight unbeaten regular season. The senior grabbed five catches for 110 yards and scored three touchdowns. All but 47 of his yards came on one 63-yard catch and run. Williams has 33 catches for 463 yards and eight touchdowns in nine games.

Danny Kaelin, Bellevue West Quarterback

Kaelin ends the regular year as the state leader in passing yards thanks to a sixth game with more than 300 yards. He had his second-highest total of 2022 when he complete 19 of 29 for 357 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-20 win over Papillion South. Kaelin has 2,775 yards for the season, 31 touchdown passes and is the only quarterback in Nebraska to average 300 or more passing yards per game.

Payton Prestito, Papillion-La Vista Running Back

Prestito and his side came up short in a 36-29 road loss at North Platte, but due to a second-place finish in the district, he and the Monarchs remain alive for the postseason. That’s bad news for opposing defenses. Prestito came in with five games of more than 100 rushing yards and had his best, 26 carries for 225 and three touchdowns in the loss. It was Prestito’s first game with more than 200 rushing yards and his career-high by 33 yards.

Cam Kozeal, Millard South Quarterback

Kozeal’s status as one of the state’s best dual threats was on display again during a 34-14 win over Lincoln High that wrapped up a playoff spot for the Patriots. Through the air he was an efficient 16 of 22 passing for 202 yards and four touchdowns. With his legs, Kozeal added 78 more yards on 14 attempts and a touchdown. In the regular season, although he missed four games with USA Baseball, he passed for over 1,000 yards, completed 65% of his passes and connected for 14 touchdowns. He added 437 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

Collin Fritton, Lincoln Southwest Quarterback

Fritton was efficient as could be in a crucial 42-28 win over Millard North that earned Southwest a home playoff game. He was 8 of 11 passing for 250 yards and five touchdowns then went for 39 yards rushing on 11 carries and another score. Five touchdown passes were the most of his career, and more impressively, accounted for more than half of his completions.

Jack Baptista, Lincoln Southwest Wide Receiver

Baptista, like his quarterback teammate Fritton, was efficient with his opportunities. The senior caught four passes for 118 yards and turned those four catches into three touchdowns. It was Baptista’s first three-touchdown game of his career and gives him five for the season to go with 36 receptions and 621 yards.

Ben Brahmer, Pierce Tight End

Brahmer ends the schedule with back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons and eclipsed 3,000 for his career when he caught eight passes for 104 and two touchdowns in a 54-20 win over West Point-Beemer. The Husker commit is seventh in the state in receiving yards at 1,017, has caught 14 touchdown passes and 54 passes overall. Brahmer had 1,119 receiving yards last season in 13 games as Pierce made a run to the state title game. That looks like a very real possibility once again and could give Brahmer close to 1,500 yards receiving on the season if he keeps up his average.

Max Buettenback, Lincoln Southeast Running Back

Buettenback went over 1,000 yards for the first time in his career when he averaged more than 10 yards per carry on 17 attempts during a big 52-12 win over South Sioux City. His 176 yards and three touchdowns were a major factor in getting Southeast above .500 at 5-4 and earning the Knights one of the four wildcard spots for the postseason. Buettenback went over 1,000 yards despite totaling just 74 yards in the first two games. Since then, Buettenback has averaged nearly 150 rushing yards per game and scored 16 touchdowns.

Aric Thomas, Omaha South Wide Receiver

Thomas was the favorite target of quarterback Deshawn Tolbert during a 35-28 win over Bellevue East. The senior made double digit catches for the third time this season, piling up 10 catches for 193 yards and two touchdowns. Thomas surpassed 1,000 yards receiving a week ago and added to his Nebraska-leading total for 1,233 yards in eight games with 16 touchdowns.

Dominic Vercillino, Plattsmouth Running Back

Vercillino was at his best when his team needed it most. The senior put up a season-high 157 yards on 20 carries and scored twice during a 34-13 win at Ralston. The Blue Devils had lost three of the previous four before the win over the Rams, and that one win was by forfeit. Thanks to Vercillino’s nearly 8 yards per carry and long of 59, Plattsmouth grabbed one of the final wild card spots and made the Class B playoff bracket.

Matt Bohy, Pius X Running Back

Bohy had 216 total rushing yards in the first four games then found a rhythm and has more than 100 rush yards in each of the past five. Friday in a 41-17 win over Norris, Bohy was the focus of the offense. He took 31 handoffs for 199 yards, scored three times and had a long of 60 yards. Bohy’s efforts helped the Thunderbolts win the district title and put him over 1,000 yards for the season.

Drake Zimmerman, Ashland-Greenwood Running Back

Zimmerman needed just 14 runs to amass 171 yards and score two touchdowns during a 34-0 shutout of Platteview that made Ashland-Greenwood 8-1 on the season. The victory, and Zimmerman’s efforts, gave the Bluejays a top-four seed for the C-1 playoffs. It was the second straight game Zimmerman went over 100 yards and was his best of the season by a wide margin.

Ryan Holsten, Minden Running Back

Holsten had the best game of his career at the season’s most important point. At 5-3, Minden needed a win to stay in the wild card race. The Whippets turned to Holsten and he rewarded that decision with 152 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns. Holsten had just one other 100-yard game before the 34-18 win over Cozad and easily had his most potent night of the season – averaging just over 10 yards per carry.

Sam Dierks, Adams Central Quarterback

Dierks went over 200 yards passing, completed 11 of his 17 throws and connected on four touchdown throws during a 60-20 win over Fairbury. Adams Central improved to 7-2 with the win and solidified a playoff spot that gave the Patriots a home game for the first round. It was the first time this season Dierks arm delivered 200 passing yards. His 204-yard total was a career-high, and his 65% completion rate was a career-best as well.

Grayson Bouwman, Fort Calhoun Wide Receiver

Bouwman caught a career-high nine passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns during a season-ending 32-25 win over Boys Town. Nine catches are the most for him in a game by three. It was the third time this year he caught multiple touchdown passes and put him over 800 yards for the season. He’s averaged just over 19 yards per catch and been on the receiving end of 10 touchdown passes.

Trevor Ehrlich, Wahoo Running Back

Ehrlich found the end zone four times in a 68-0 win over Schuyler that secured the Warriors a playoff spot and ended the regular year with a 6-3 record for Wahoo. He needed just nine carries for 142 yards – an average of 15.8 per carry with a long of 49. Ehrlich was just seven yards off of his season-high and posted his fourth 100-yard rushing performance of the season. He has 10 total touchdowns and is averaging 6.7 yards per carry.

Trent McCain, Ord Running Back

If the Chanticleers can make a deep run into the Class C-2 postseason, McCain will have the chance to put up 2,000 rushing yards. Friday’s 43-16 win over Centura was McCain’s third game with more than 200 rushing yards, all three of which have come during the past four games, and his seventh straight game over 100 yards. He picked up 237 yards on 23 carries with four touchdowns in the win over Centura and upped his season total to 1,465 yards.

Carson Kudlacek, St. Cecilia Running Back

Kudlacek will take St. Cecilia to the Class C-2 postseason at a perfect 9-0 largely due to his talents under center. Friday’s 40-0 win over Doniphan-Trumbull was the second time this season Kudlacek reached triple digits as a passer and as a runner. He threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns on 12 of 21 completions and had 122 rushing yards on 20 carries with four more touchdowns. Kudlacek has 2,186 passing yards and 605 rushing yards with 41 total touchdowns (27 passing and 14 rushing).

Kade McIntyre, Archbishop Bergan Running Back

McIntyre scored four rushing touchdowns for the second straight game in a 41-36 win over North Bend that gave the Knights a third straight win. The Oklahoma recruit amassed 102 rush yards on 15 carries and went over 100 rushing yards for the third game in a row. Between the ground and the air, McIntyre has 953 total yards and 16 touchdowns.

Ashton Lurz, Valentine Running Back

Valentine bounced back from a tough overtime loss and improved to 5-4 during a 20-0 win over Chase County. The Badgers improved to 5-4 and locked up a playoff spot because of the win. Leading the way was Lurz on 32 carries for 231 rushing yards and three touchdowns. It was the second time he went over 200 rushing yards, put him over 1,000 for the season and left him with 19 touchdowns in nine games.

Zach Krajicek, Yutan Running Back

Krajicek and Yutan won their fourth game in a row Friday during a 43-0 thrashing of Tekamah-Herman, overcoming a 2-3 start to the season. In the past four, Krajicek has been really good. Against Tekamah-Herman he tied his season-high of 21 carries and posted his second-best single-game total of the year with 155 rushing yards. Three of those carries found the end zone and gave him three games with three or more touchdowns. He went over 1,000 yards and has 576 of that total in the last four games.

Braylon Anderson, Oakland-Craig Quarterback

Anderson led the Knights to a sixth straight win and a 7-2 regular season record that earned Oakland-Craig the seven seed for the Class C-2 playoffs. He passed for 249 yards, his second-highest total of the season, on 12 of 21 throwing with three touchdowns in a 36-0 win over Logan View/Scribner-Snyder. Anderson connected with seven different receivers and located three different teammates for his three touchdown passes.

Conor Booth, Bishop Neumann Running Back

Booth will almost never have a more efficient night than the one he did in a 49-12 win over Aquinas Catholic. He needed just six carries for 200 yards and four touchdowns. He had a long of 55 yards and averaged 33 yards per carry. Two hundred yards and four scores were both career highs. Booth can surpass 1,000 rushing yards with 78 more in the playoffs. The most impressive part is he’s needed just 64 carries for 922 yards – an average of 14.4.

Aidan Kuester, Neligh-Oakdale Quarterback

Kuester had his second game with more than 200 passing yards and 200 rushing yards in a first-round Class D-1 eight-man playoff win over Cambridge. Neligh-Oakdale scored 70 points in the victory, 49 of which Kuester was responsible for on six rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown. He carried it 25 times for a season-high 282 yards and was 15 of 24 throwing for 202 yards. Kuester now has over 2,800 passing yards, 1,430 rushing yards and 57 touchdowns.

Reid Fletcher, Elmwood-Murdock Quarterback

Fletcher was part of an Elmwood-Murdock 59-26 D-1 eight-man playoff win over Plainview that included 443 rushing yards for the Knights. Nearly half of the total came from Fletcher on 15 carries for 203. He found the end zone five times, had a long of 65 and averaged 13.5 yards per carry. Defensively he also had 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. He also threw two touchdown passes in the win and had 198 yards through the air.