Ok then I will just say the Hershey and St paul will not make semi finals, in my opinion they will lose next round by 14 or more and NPSP will lose first round game
***Unofficial Class C-2 Playoff Bracket***
- Thread starter Mavric
- Start date
If you draw a line in the middle of the state, the east and west line starts at Lexington sorry just a fact
Who cares where the line is? I find it funny that some think geographical information affects athlete ability and coaching. That's asinine. Its just a numbers game. More teams east of Kearney than west. There is legitimately 6 schools west of Kearney. Out of 44.
6/44 = 13.6%
That's the chance that 1 of those schools wins the championship at the end of the year. But you have to play a regular season. So some of those teams will be eliminated from playoff contention just from district play between those western schools.
My point? The odds are way higher to have the champion come from the central or eastern part of the state. It's not a talent gap due to geographic location.
6/44 = 13.6%
That's the chance that 1 of those schools wins the championship at the end of the year. But you have to play a regular season. So some of those teams will be eliminated from playoff contention just from district play between those western schools.
My point? The odds are way higher to have the champion come from the central or eastern part of the state. It's not a talent gap due to geographic location.
Here is what I know about the central/western teams in C-2....
Doniphan-Trumbull- They have a sure fire lock at MLB in Brad Baasch. The kid is an absolute jack hammer on defense. I can't want to see him and Hoss Smith from Oakland-Craig on the same field. Two of the toughest dudes in C2 no doubt. DT also has an all-state candidate at QB in Tate Mazour, a lock at all-state RB in Marc Zeckser (a transfer from Adams Central where he rushed for 1,000 yards as a Jr). They are fairly big up front and have 3 or 4 kids out at WR (Baasch included) that can catch the ball down the field. In my opinion their biggest weakness is their secondary.
St Paul- To me they are one of the great stories of the season. Last year they went 1-8 I think. Over the past few years they have only won a handful of games. To start the year one of their most talented players (Miles Griffith-Huskerland #30 senior in C2 and reigning high jump champ) decided to run XC. I think a lot of people buried them before the season started....me included. They have one of the best 3 players in C2 in Hunter Kocian, a DT/OL. He is only a Jr and is a menace to offenses. Cole Fousek and Zach Derner-Hulinsky do a good job for them on defense, too. Fousek plays LB in the stack on top of Kocian, which makes it impossible to double one or the other without leaving a 3rd player completely unblocked. They had some offensive struggles early because they were breaking in a new backfield for their veer attack. Wrobelewski, their QB, is dangerous with the ball in his hand. I think their passing game is their weakness, but they are perfectly contempt playing 17-14 type of games.
North Platte St Pats- They have 3 backs that are lights out fast. James Schroll is one of the state sprint finals kids from the past state track meet. He plays MLB for them and one of their split backs on offense. Lane Knisley is another one of their backs and he is lights out fast, too....I think he is also a pole vaulter, so obviously a tremendous athlete. They aren't great up front, which is why I think Hartington will dismantle them.
Valentine- I think Valentine lost their best player early in the year, but all they have done since then is win. Struggled with Arcadia-Loup City early, but again, I think that was when they were learning to play without their best player. They are big and physical. I've seen them on film a few times but not in person. They love the counter game.
Hershey- Jason Davis and Baylor Hellmuth are two dudes inside for them. Davis is a lock as an all-state kid on defense. They have the Clark brothers in the backfield (Easton-RB, Colton-QB) that are both competitors. Easton just went over 1,000 for the year rushing. They don't throw a ton, but can complete some play action passes down the field, which poses a big problem out of the double wing formation. Hershey's size would be an advantage against nearly everyone they would come up against in C2. They lost two heartbreakers this year, one in overtime against St Pats and the other late in the game against Valentine. I think Hershey is one of the darkhorses to make a deep run.
I could be wrong...maybe all 5 of these teams will get blown out. I just think it is wrong to automatically rule out the teams that don't play in the "magic circle" of C-2. There is no doubt great football played up there. Physical would be a great word for that type of football. I just believe there is great football played in the panhandle and in south central Nebraska, as well.
A few things that I am excited to see..... There are few teams in the northeasst that run an effective spread. Most of the offense up there is double wing based or I formation based. There are several teams in central Nebraska that run an effective spread. Doniphan-Trumbull and Central City are two of those teams. Those two matched up against Crofton and Oakland-Craig will be fun. I know D-T went up to the NE during their 2013 state title run and did whatever they wanted on offense, scoring 107 points in 3 games against Battle Creek, Crofton, and Aquinas. I'm interested in seeing if that was schematic issues or if that was simply due to having better athletes than their opponent.
Doniphan-Trumbull- They have a sure fire lock at MLB in Brad Baasch. The kid is an absolute jack hammer on defense. I can't want to see him and Hoss Smith from Oakland-Craig on the same field. Two of the toughest dudes in C2 no doubt. DT also has an all-state candidate at QB in Tate Mazour, a lock at all-state RB in Marc Zeckser (a transfer from Adams Central where he rushed for 1,000 yards as a Jr). They are fairly big up front and have 3 or 4 kids out at WR (Baasch included) that can catch the ball down the field. In my opinion their biggest weakness is their secondary.
St Paul- To me they are one of the great stories of the season. Last year they went 1-8 I think. Over the past few years they have only won a handful of games. To start the year one of their most talented players (Miles Griffith-Huskerland #30 senior in C2 and reigning high jump champ) decided to run XC. I think a lot of people buried them before the season started....me included. They have one of the best 3 players in C2 in Hunter Kocian, a DT/OL. He is only a Jr and is a menace to offenses. Cole Fousek and Zach Derner-Hulinsky do a good job for them on defense, too. Fousek plays LB in the stack on top of Kocian, which makes it impossible to double one or the other without leaving a 3rd player completely unblocked. They had some offensive struggles early because they were breaking in a new backfield for their veer attack. Wrobelewski, their QB, is dangerous with the ball in his hand. I think their passing game is their weakness, but they are perfectly contempt playing 17-14 type of games.
North Platte St Pats- They have 3 backs that are lights out fast. James Schroll is one of the state sprint finals kids from the past state track meet. He plays MLB for them and one of their split backs on offense. Lane Knisley is another one of their backs and he is lights out fast, too....I think he is also a pole vaulter, so obviously a tremendous athlete. They aren't great up front, which is why I think Hartington will dismantle them.
Valentine- I think Valentine lost their best player early in the year, but all they have done since then is win. Struggled with Arcadia-Loup City early, but again, I think that was when they were learning to play without their best player. They are big and physical. I've seen them on film a few times but not in person. They love the counter game.
Hershey- Jason Davis and Baylor Hellmuth are two dudes inside for them. Davis is a lock as an all-state kid on defense. They have the Clark brothers in the backfield (Easton-RB, Colton-QB) that are both competitors. Easton just went over 1,000 for the year rushing. They don't throw a ton, but can complete some play action passes down the field, which poses a big problem out of the double wing formation. Hershey's size would be an advantage against nearly everyone they would come up against in C2. They lost two heartbreakers this year, one in overtime against St Pats and the other late in the game against Valentine. I think Hershey is one of the darkhorses to make a deep run.
I could be wrong...maybe all 5 of these teams will get blown out. I just think it is wrong to automatically rule out the teams that don't play in the "magic circle" of C-2. There is no doubt great football played up there. Physical would be a great word for that type of football. I just believe there is great football played in the panhandle and in south central Nebraska, as well.
A few things that I am excited to see..... There are few teams in the northeasst that run an effective spread. Most of the offense up there is double wing based or I formation based. There are several teams in central Nebraska that run an effective spread. Doniphan-Trumbull and Central City are two of those teams. Those two matched up against Crofton and Oakland-Craig will be fun. I know D-T went up to the NE during their 2013 state title run and did whatever they wanted on offense, scoring 107 points in 3 games against Battle Creek, Crofton, and Aquinas. I'm interested in seeing if that was schematic issues or if that was simply due to having better athletes than their opponent.
Very informative post, thanks for all the great Info, I guess sometimes that information about all those talented players doesnt travel throughout the whole state, most people just get info from lincoln and omaha papers and they hype their area schools. Based on this information the playoffs should be fairly competitive. always like when spread teams matchup with more physical opponents to see what style of play is more effective in each game.