Tag: nebraska high school football

Nebraska HS QB sets state record with 65 rushes in championship game

Kyle Cox led Sandhill Thedford with help from his offensive line as he rushed a record 65 times for 486 yards and six touchdowns.

Sandhill Thedford High School (Dunning, Neb.) has been on the verge of a championship multiple times this decade. In both 2020 and 2021, the Knights reached the championship game but failed to grab the title.

This past Monday, junior quarterback Kyle Cox decided he would not let that happen again.

Cox rushed the ball a state record 65 times, recording 486 yards and six touchdowns to help the Knights cruise to a 50-12 win, according to the local KSNB station. In an interview with the outlet, he praised his offensive line:

“I’ve got the best O-line in the state,” he said. “They’re dogs, pancaking kids every play. It was amazing … I don’t think it’s set in yet, honestly. I don’t know, it’s crazy.”

Check out KSNB for highlights from the game. Nebraska high school football historian Bobby Mills Jr., who is on Twitter at @1000ydguy, also posted a video:

Cox was just 10 yards shy of the Nebraska single-game rushing record, which was set by Jaylin Bradley of Bellevue West (Bellevue, Neb.) in 2016,  according to MaxPreps. He rushed 65 of the 68 total attempts for the Knights in the game, according to Mills.

With the championship under his belt, Cox will return to Sandhill Thedford for his senior season. They have a championship — and perhaps a formula to win another.

Nebraska high school running back scores 7 touchdowns — in first half

Cole Ballard tied a Nebraska Class A record with seven touchdowns, and he scored all of them in the first half of the game Friday.

Cole Ballard tied the Class A Nebraska record for touchdowns in a game, but he didn’t actually get the chance to break it — he put the Elkhorn South High School (Douglas County, Neb.) Storm up by so many points with his seven touchdowns in the first half that he didn’t even play the second.

That’s right. Ballard set up camp in the end zone and essentially returned there whenever he touched the ball. In those first two quarters, he reached the end zone seven times.

He had five rushing touchdowns, one receiving touchdown and took a punt return to the house. Here’s a video of the seventh score, a rush of about 74 yards:

Ballard had 338 yards of total offense in the 55-14 win on Friday, according to reporter Tyson Agler. Updated stats haven’t been posted to Maxpreps, but the site shows that through Ballard’s first seven games, he had rushed for 754 yards on 97 carries and added 203 more receiving yards.

The running back tweeted his junior year stats, which include more than 1,300 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Elkhorn South tagged Nebraska football’s Twitter account in the tweet with the video of the record-tying touchdown. According to Rivals, the Cornhuskers have an interest in the 6-foot, 185-pound running back but have not made an offer.

Rivals reported that Ballard doesn’t have any offers yet, but noted that Kansas State, North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Wyoming have also shown interest in him.

With numbers like these, it’s hard to imagine an offer won’t come his way soon.

Live-Stream High School Football:

NFHS Network

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Nebraska’s Gretna HS stripped of football state championship

Nebraska’s Gretna High School was stripped of a football state championship due to the use of an ineligible player earlier this week.

Nebraska’s Gretna High School was stripped of a football state championship due to the use of an ineligible player earlier this week.

The Gretna high school football team went 12-1 in 2021 and defeated Omaha Westside on Nov. 23 to win a Class A state title. According to the Omaha World-Herald, Gretna will now have to vacate its championship after an ineligible player played a key role in its season and state championship game win.

The Gretna player in question is a junior who played his first two seasons of high school football at Papillion-LaVista South High School. He played in all 13 games for Gretna this season, catching 22 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown. He registered six receptions for 47 yards in Gretna’s state championship game.

“It’s on a technicality, that we didn’t have a separation that was on a legal document, in their mind,” Gretna Superintendent Rich Beran told the World-Herald. “They live in our district, the boy and his dad, but because we don’t have an official document that’s what they’re nailing us on.”

There will be no Class A champion in Nebraska this season after the ruling, as Gretna will return its championship trophy. Gretna’s 2021 football team is the second in school history to vacate a state title after the boys basketball team suffered the same fate in 1919.

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