Class C1 Top 10 Power Rankings (Spring Edition)
In this article:
In continuation with my class power rankings, here are my top 10 returning Class C1 squads for 2022. My criteria for this list rely on; players lost, returning players, and how the team finished their season. I didn’t factor in…
Access all of Prep Redzone
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingIn continuation with my class power rankings, here are my top 10 returning Class C1 squads for 2022. My criteria for this list rely on; players lost, returning players, and how the team finished their season. I didn’t factor in schedules because it is still early, and I want to focus on “player power.” After watching which players stand out in camps and which players begin to rise the recruiting ranks, I will revisit these power rankings before the start of summer and then again before the season starts.
I encourage all feedback, which prompts some (friendly) discourse and builds up some hype for football season.
1. Pierce Bluejays
The incoming group of seniors has helped the Pierce Bluejays experience a very successful run over the past few years. They won state as sophomores and came very close to repeating as juniors. QB Abram Scholting Abram Scholting 6'0" | 180 lbs | QB Pierce | 2023 State NE and WR/TE Ben Brahmer will look to make it 3 championship game appearances with two out of three championships. They connected for over 1,000 yards last season and should continue this hot connection. Keenan Valverde Keenan Valverde 5'7" | 160 lbs | RB Pierce | 2024 State NE will be a 2024 running back to keep an eye on as he steps into a bigger role. Defensively, the Bluejays have some PIECES! Dawson Raabe Dawson Raabe 6'0" | 295 lbs | OL Pierce | 2023 State NE , Luke Endorff, Bode Hoffman Bode Hoffman 6'0" | 220 lbs | DL Pierce | 2023 NE , Nik Harvey Nik Harvey 6'0" | 160 lbs | LB Pierce | 2023 State NE , and Tristan Kuehler Tristan Kuehler 5'10" | 160 lbs | LB Pierce | 2023 State NE make up a super tough front seven. Addison Croghan Addison Croghan 6'2" | 150 lbs | WR Pierce | 2023 State NE is going to be an x-factor on both offense and defense, I’m calling it here.
2. Ashland-Greenwood Bluejays
We got Bluejays in the 1 & 2 spots in this edition of the rankings. The Bluejays from Ashland-Greenwood were my favorites to capture the Class C1 championship last year as they cruised to a perfect regular-season record and have one of the most complete rosters. Unfortunately, they fell to Pierce in the quarterfinals. The good news is that they had a really young team that played more like veterans than anything. Dane Jacobsen Dane Jacobsen 6'1" | 160 lbs | QB Ashland-Greenwood | 2024 State NE erupted onto the scene with a very productive and efficient season; posting 1,519 passing yards, 19 touchdowns to 5 ints, and a 64% completion. Nate Upton and Drake Zimmerman Drake Zimmerman 6'0" | 200 lbs | RB Ashland-Greenwood | 2024 State NE were the Bluejays’ leading rushers in 2021, returning with a combined 1,500 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns. Their biggest losses come to their pass-catcher group where they lose Evan Shepard, Carter Washburn Carter Washburn 5'10" | 160 lbs | DB Ashland-Greenwood | 2022 State NE , and Mason Fortney Mason Fortney 6'2" | 180 lbs | LB Ashland-Greenwood | 2022 State NE , all of which are also significant players on defense. AG has some very talented defensive players, most notably star freshman Thomas Spears Thomas Spears 5'7" | 145 lbs | ATH Ashland Greenwood | 2025 State NE who emerged as a lockdown corner. Luke Lambert Luke Lambert 6'3" | 235 lbs | DL Ashland-Greenwood | 2023 State NE , Logan Sobota Logan Sobota 5'11" | 170 lbs | LB Ashland-Greendwood | 2023 State NE , and Braxton Buck Braxton Buck 5'10" | 220 lbs | OL Ashland Greenwood | 2023 State NE will all be cornerstone pieces to the Bluejay’s defense.
3. Aurora Huskies
The Class B runner-up Aurora Huskies has been reclassified into Class C1, and teams should be on alert. Aurora looked like one of the powerhouse teams in Class B, with their only losses coming to Class A North Platte and the Class B state champions Bennington twice. They steamrolled everyone else on their schedule, including six playoff teams, before running through Lexington, Scottsbluff, and Skutt Catholic (The only opponent to stay within single digits). The Huskies have a squad filled with playmakers all over the field. Star RB Carlos Collazo Carlos Collazo 5'9" | 200 lbs | RB Aurora | 2023 State NE will be the focal point of the offense and will open up opportunities for dual-threat QB Drew Knust Drew Knust 5'9" | 160 lbs | QB Aurora | 2023 State NE . Carsen Staehr Carsen Staehr 5'11" | 150 lbs | WR Aurora | 2023 State NE is one of the most dynamic players in this class that can play on both sides of the ball. They do lose a group of fantastic players in Mack Owens Mack Owens 6'2" | 200 lbs | LB Aurora | 2022 State NE , Gage Griffith Gage Griffith 6'3" | 285 lbs | OL Aurora | 2022 State NE , and Brekyn Papineau Brekyn Papineau 5'9" | 210 lbs | LB Aurora | 2022 State NE , but the Huskie’s depth should help ease that transition. Kellen Peterson had a great sophomore season and should break out in 2022 with a bigger role. Britton Kemling Britton Kemling 5'11" | 175 lbs | DB Aurora | 2023 State NE was their leading tackler in 2021 and should continue terrorizing offenses next season. The Huskies are not too far removed from their perfect ’18 season that resulted in them winning the C1 championship. Could history repeat itself?
4. McCook Bison
I was unaware of the Bison being reclassified to C1 from Class B. I had them ranked as a top 10 squad in class B. I will just transfer my analysis of them to this article.
“McCook returns a really good 2023 class that saw several players take over starting roles during their junior seasons. For starters, they return their QB1, RB1, and WR1, from last year in Adam Dugger Adam Dugger 6'1" | 170 lbs | QB McCook | 2023 State NE , Jacob Gomez-Wilson Jacob Gomez-Wilson 5'7" | 145 lbs | RB McCook | 2023 State NE , and Lucas Gomez-Wilson Lucas Gomez-Wilson 5'8" | 170 lbs | ATH McCook | 2023 State NE , respectively. Dugger’s ability to make plays on his legs will be an additional wrinkle to the Bison offense. Eli Kehler Eli Kehler 5'11" | 240 lbs | OL McCook | 2023 State NE is OL/DL to watch this year, and so will tackle Tucker Martinez-Conroy Tucker Martinez-Conroy 6'2" | 250 lbs | OL McCook | 2023 NE , who has great size and a mean streak. The Bison also return 2 of their top 3 tacklers from last year in Alex Anthony and Garrett Kaps, who will continue to be as destructive in 2022. Eloy Carbajal Eloy Carbajal 5'10" | 180 lbs | LB McCook | 2023 NE and Layton Bortner will also step into bigger roles and deliver breakout seasons. The Bison have the making of a dark-horse team in Class C1.”
5. Columbus Lakeview Vikings
Lakeview was a team that started a little slow out of the gate in 2021 with a 1-2 record after three weeks, before turning on the burners and never turning back. The Vikings would go on to win their next 10 in a row and secure their first state championship. They were winning off of the strength of their defense and how the explosiveness of WR/ATh Adam Van Cleave Adam Van Cleave 5'10" | 165 lbs | ATH Columbus Lakeview | 2022 State NE . The Vikings lost a valuable group of seniors, but there will be a great group of players on the roster ready to take over. Junior QB Brendan Sloup is the presumed new QB1 and will have Turner Halvorsen and Braxton Borere to throw to. Owen Bargen will likely see the lion’s share of the RB1 snaps. One player that I think is a sleeper is linebacker Landon Ternus Landon Ternus 6'0" | 210 lbs | LB Columbus Lakeview | 2023 State NE ; he is a flyer that plays with tons of effort.
6. Chadron Cardinals
Chadron was a team on a mission throughout the regular season. They ran rampant through their schedule to a 9-0 record and an average margin of victory of 31 points, Unfortunately, they saw an early exit from the playoffs and will lose an outstanding core of players like Justus Alcorn Justus Alcorn 6'4" | 190 lbs | QB Chadron | 2022 State NE , Jarek Anderson Jarek Anderson 6'5" | 250 lbs | DL Chadron | 2022 State NE , Dawson Dunbar Dawson Dunbar 5'7" | 175 lbs | ATH Chadron | 2022 State NE , Cody Hall Cody Hall 6'3" | 220 lbs | DL Chadron | 2022 State NE , etc. However, they come back with several great players ready to avenge last season’s ending. The duo of Xander Provance Xander Provance 6'4" | 200 lbs | ATH Chadron | 2023 State NE and Seth Gaswick Seth Gaswick 6'1" | 170 lbs | ATH Chadron | 2023 State NE is going to be one of the most electric in the state. They are both long and athletic two-way starters at receiver and starting safeties. They are great at the point of the catch and can sniff out an interception from a mile away. Gage Wild was a surprise sophomore for the Cards as he accumulated 49 tackles and nine tackles for loss. He will be able to wreak havoc with Rhett Cullers, who is the returning leader in tackles with 66. If they can play defense like they did last year, they should be right in the thick of playoff contention.
7. Auburn Bulldogs
Auburn had a sneaky good defense last season, and it looks like several key players will be coming back. Wyatt Rowell Wyatt Rowell 6'1" | 250 lbs | DL Auburn | 2023 State NE and Austin Lavigne developed into quite the handful in the trenches, they were consistently making plays in the backfield and combined for 16 tackles for loss. Blake Allen, Maverick Binder, and Braden Gerdes are all players that will be huge contributors in the second level. Ryan Boellstorf and Nixon Ligouri bout emerged as top-tier defenders in the secondary, with Ligouri only being a freshman. Tate Hug Tate Hug 6'1" | 205 lbs | RB Auburn | 2023 NE will be a workhorse on both offense and defense. On defense, Tate can play different roles in different schemes and does a good job laying the wood. Offensively, Tate is like a swiss-army knife that can do several jobs. He rushed for 526 rushing yards, which should go up, and he also lined up in the slot and caught out of the backfield. With a great group of players returning with more experience, this could be one of the stingier defenses (teams in general) in class C1.
8. Ogallala Indians
Ogallala could emerge as a huge spoiler in class C1 with a very young and talented roster. Ogallala was able to reach the playoffs behind the play of dual-threat QB Harry Caskey Harry Caskey 6'4" | 220 lbs | ATH Ogallala | 2024 State NE who showed tons of potential as only a sophomore. He is a big, tall QB with a big arm that will settle into the offense and have more time with some of his pass-catchers. Speaking of pass catchers, the Indians will get back deep-threat WR Race McClure Race McClure 6'2" | 220 lbs | TE Ogallala | 2023 State NE who caught 11 catches for 257 yards at a 23.4 yard/catch average. McClure will also be the returning leader in tackles. Merritt Skinner Merritt Skinner 6'1" | 200 lbs | LB Ogallala | 2023 State NE and Jaden Fanning will also be tackling machines for the Ogallala defense. Cole Stokey and Mario Bush Mario Bush 5'9" | 175 lbs | ATH Ogallala | 2024 State NE are some up-and-coming prospects to watch out for.
9. Roncalli Catholic Crimson Pride
Roncalli is another team that is on the move from Class B. The Crimson Pride ended their 2021 season on a hot streak, winning 4 of their last five games to secure a playoff spot. They will have some growing pains as they adjust to having a young squad, especially along the offensive line where they lost several starters. Ethan Pleshek Ethan Pleshek 6'3" | 250 lbs | OL Roncalli Catholic | 2023 State NE Humpal will be the cornerstone of the offensive line with opportunities for players like Sam Lee and Wallock Wal to step into starting roles. Brady McGill was QB1 and showed that he could move the chains through the air or on his legs. Wyatt Yetter Wyatt Yetter 5'11" | 185 lbs | ATH Roncalli Catholic | 2023 State NE and Sean Fenoglio will be great, versatile pass catchers for McGill. The biggest area of strength lies in the LB unit, with Charlie Mausbach, Clay Shafer, and Jacob Camp are, some hard-hitting ‘backers that can fly around the field. The move to Class C1 could be beneficial to the Crimson Pride if they iron out some inexperience.
10. Columbus Scotus Shamrocks
The Shamrocks were a team that was finding ways to win week in and week out during the 2021 season. Although I am not entirely familiar with this roster, they are hot off of a nine win season and retain some critical players. At the top of the list is QB Trenton Cielocha Trenton Cielocha 5'11" | 170 lbs | QB Scotus (Columbus) | 2023 State NE , who played very well and showed lots of poise during his junior year. He will have wideout Drew Faust who emerged as a reliable target. For the most part, this seems like a young team that could see some struggles but they should be primed to make a run at Memorial with the pieces they have.
Just Missed the Cut
Arlington Eagles
Cozad Haymakers
Platteview Trojans
Wayne Blue Devils
Fort Calhoun Pioneers