Nebraska HS Football Class A Playoff Predictions | Final Regular Season Top 10

Class A

First Round: Omaha Westside over Papillion-LaVista; Lincoln Southwest over Millard West; Millard South over Kearney; Omaha North over Grand Island; Elkhorn South over Lincoln East; Creighton Prep over North Platte; Bellevue West over Papillion-LaVista South; Gretna over Lincoln Southeast

Second Round: Omaha Westside over Lincoln Southwest; Omaha North over Millard South; Elkhorn South over Creighton Prep; Gretna over Bellevue West

Semifinals: Omaha Westside over Omaha North; Gretna over Elkhorn South

Final: Omaha Westside over Gretna

Darkhorse: Kearney

Comments: When in doubt and when literally anything can happen, stick to your guns from August. Having a one-loss team with the No. 1 seed over two teams that went unbeaten is absurd and another reason why the NSAA needs to do away with its outdated playoff point system. Westside’s top seed can potentially be advantageous. The bottom half of the bracket could go a number of different ways. A potential home game with Creighton Prep in the quarterfinals for Elkhorn South is tricky, but the Storm have exceeded lofty expectations.

North Platte any night is tricky. Not a lot separates a larger than normal group of teams. Omaha North has been picked to make a run to the semifinals because of its running game. Kearney is listed as the darkhorse with the unfortunate task of getting Millard South in the first round. If Kearney can win in the first round, watch out. Millard South is a different team with Camden Kozeal at quarterback and its young receiving corps has gained experience.

Omaha Westside is the choice to win Class A due to its quarterback play and being a solid in all fronts, especially on special teams. Having a major weapon at kicker in November will pay off. Of course Gretna’s Zane Flores, riding a 15-game winning streak, will have his say.

Regular Season Stat Leaders for Playoff Participants

Two Class A passers threw for more than 2,000 yards during the regular season. Bellevue West junior Daniel Kaelin led the way with 2,755 yards and 31 touchdowns, while Oklahoma State commit Flores threw for 2,203 yards and 23 touchdowns for top-ranked Gretna.

Lincoln East sophomore Jeter Worthley threw for 1,568 yards and 14 scores and Kearney’s Treyven Beckman had 1,482 yards and 16 touchdowns. Omaha Westside junior Anthony Rezac, Papillion-LaVista South’s Sam Schuler, Papillion-LaVista’s Tavien Pirtle, Lincoln Southeast’s Owen Baxter, and Lincoln Southwest’s Collin Fritton all threw for over 1,200 yards. All have kept their amount of interceptions on the low end, which is good news for any offense.

Seven playoff participants rushed for more than 1,000 yards, led by Omaha North’s Te’Shaun Porter with 1,356 yards to go along with 20 touchdowns. Lincoln Southwest’s Cal Newell, North Platte’s Brock Roblee, Elkhorn South’s Cole Ballard, Creighton Prep’s and North Dakota State commit Charmar Brown, Lincoln Southeast’s Max Buettenback, and Papillion-LaVista’s Payton Prestito all hit 1,000 yards over the regular season. Ballard led Class A with 27 rushing touchdowns.

Bellevue West junior Isaiah McMorris is the only playoff participant who went over 1,000 receiving yards for the season, finishing third in Class A with 1,087 yards to go along with 12 touchdowns. McMorris’ junior teammate Dae’Vonn Hall is second in the playoffs with 840 receiving yards while catching 10 touchdown passes. Omaha Westside’s Jaylen Lloyd and Lincoln Southwest’s Jack Baptista both went over 600 yards for their teams this season.

Disclaimer: Stats taken from MaxPreps or Digital Scout and cannot be guaranteed to be accurate