2024 Nebraska HS Football Preview

By the Numbers

Cohen Rohde | S-E-M

1 – 2024 will mark the debut season for Wausa/Osmond and Newman Grove/St. Edward.

6 – Sumner-Eddyville-Miller was your Six Man state champion in 2023 after narrowly holding on to defeat Hay Springs, 21-20. The preseason Player of the Year in Six Man will likely be S-E-M returnee Cohen Rohde, a 6’4, 230-pound college prospect at defensive end.

6-foot-9: Omaha North 2025 offensive tackle Connor Cook checks in at 6’9, 315 pounds.

7v7 – Millard South won the Battle/NebPreps State Se7en tournament in June. The summer event has become a highlight on the Nebraska high school football calendar and ought to be sanctioned by the NSAA with a qualification process like in Texas. If your criticism of club 7v7 is that you don’t get to play with your teammates, this eliminates your concern and gets more athletes involved from around the state. Mike Sautter of NebPreps deserves a ton of credit for putting on this event.

8 – Stanton stormed to the crown in Eight Man-1 (D-1) with an unblemished record of 13-0, while Sandhills-Thedford claimed the state title in Eight Man-2 (D-2). If you are looking for eight man prospects who will be FBS recruits, look no further than Texas Tech commit Ren Brown of Stanton. Brown is a 6’6, 285-pound two-way linemen who will likely be an offensive tackle at the next level.

12 – Norfolk Catholic holds the second record for most state championships with 12, winning its second straight in 2023.

13 – Number of games won by state champions Omaha Westside, Bennington, Boone Central, Norfolk Catholic, and Stanton in 2023. All but two state champions from 2023 finished with an unblemished record.

20 – Two-time defending Class A state champions Omaha Westside has won 20 straight games dating back to a September 30, 2022 loss to North Platte, 21-17. Westside is 59-5 over the past three seasons with three of those losses coming in 2019.

26 – Millard South junior Jett Thomalla threw for 26 touchdown passes last season, the leading 11-man returnees in Nebraska. Fellow junior and elite major prospect Amarion jackson hauled in 12 of those touchdown strikes from Thomalla while becoming the second sophomore in Class A history to go over 1,000 receiving yards (1,086). Elite-level 2025 tight end Chase Loftin and 2026 wide receiver DaShawn Prince have joined the South Boyz as it searches for it first state championship since 2009.

30 – Number of passes attempted by North Platte last season, completing seven.

33 – Enjoy the forthcoming Preseason Elite 33 in all classes. Why 33? Easy to remember and gives a deeper look into the top players in each respective classification.

36 – Bloomfield has qualified for the state playoffs in 36 straight seasons, leading the entire state of Nebraska.

39 – Bennington has won 39 straight games and the last three Class B state championships.

55 – En route to the Class D-2 state championship in 2023, quarterback Kyle Cox rushed for 55 touchdowns. Cox finished the season with 2,900 rushing yards to lead all classes.

209 – As of July 30, Omaha Westside linebacker Christian Jones was ranked as the 209th player nationally according to On3 Digital. Jones is thought to be heavily considering Nebraska, Auburn, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, and USC. Jones will participate in the All-American Bowl in San Antonio, TX after the 2024 season concludes.

406 – Norfolk Catholic head football coach Jeff Bellar enters the 2024 season with 406 career victories. The Knights have won 11 of their 12 state championships under Bellar and have made 35 trips to the postseason since he took over in 1991.

426.4 – The amount of miles Creighton Prep will travel to face DeSmet Jesuit of St. Louis – a six-hour, 20-minute bus ride.

643 – Last season while rolling to its second straight Class A state title, Omaha Westside scored 643 total points over 13 games — an average of 49.5 points per game. The defense only gave up 46 points for an average of 3.5.

1,679.7 – If you want to drive to check out Platteview tight end prospect Reiman Zebert in college, you would need 24 hours to drive from Springfield to Palo Alto, CA where Zebert is committed to Stanford. Zebert broke out as a junior and put himself on the recruiting map with 28 receptions for 677 yards and seven touchdowns for the Trojans, who move up to Class B this season.

2,000 – Wahoo Neumann running back Conor Booth is the only returning 11-man player who rushed for more than 2,000 yards last season. The Nebraska commit finished his junior campaign with 2,159 yards and 31 touchdowns while averaging 10.6 yards per carry. Chadron’s Quinn Bailey finished three yards short of 2,000 and returns for the Cardinals. Cox of Sandhills/Thedford, Stanton’s Barrett Wilke, Central Valley’s Grady Kelley, and junior Ethan Latta of Dundy County-Stratton all went over two grand in Eight Man.

(Class of) 2025 – The Class of 2025 in Nebraska has rightfully earned its place along side some of the great recruiting classes in recent memory. Nebraska keeps pumping out FBS athletes from all over the place. Link: 2025 Commitments

2,603 – Hay Springs traveled 2,603 miles last season.