Cougars Give it Their all Against Tigers


By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

A never say die bunch of Cougars gave it their all as they tried to erase a thirty-eight point deficit in the second half of their contest against Osmond.  After a dismal first half put LDNE down 36-6, two third quarter  scores by the Tigers put them up by 50-12.  The Cougars rallied for five touch downs before falling by a score of 62-46.

 

The eight man football game saw Osmond pick up 523 yards and the Cougars notched 559 yards.   The Tigers got 348 yards on 48 rushes and 139 passing yards on six completions.  Northeast had 366 rushing yards on 49 carries and 193 passing yards.

 

Chevy Henneman is returning to form after being limited in preseason practice and missing the first game because of mononucleosis.   He rushed for 214 yard on 27 carries. He passed for 193 yards with 9 completions on 14  throws.  He added another 158 yards on kick returns.  Coach Maresh added, “When he’s 100%, the other teams better watch out.”

 

This week is an open date for the Cougars.  This will give them a week to prepare for (2-1) Bancroft-Rosalie.  The Panthers take on Osmond this week.

 

 

LDNE              0          6          12        28        -46

Osmond           6          30        14        12        -62

 

RUSHING

Carries             Yards               TDs

Henneman                    27                    214                  3

Hardeman                    18                    133                  1

Christiansen                  4                      19

 

PASSING

Attempts          Completions     TDs

Henneman                    14                    9                      3

 

RECEIVING

Catches            Yards               TDs

Hardeman                    2                      10                    1

Riecken                        4                      88                    2

Vetick                          1                      18

Christiansen                  6                      77

 

DEFENSE

Solo     Assisted           Total Tackles

  1. Hardeman                7613

Vetick                          1                      3          4

Riecken                        2                      5          7

  1. Hardeman                123

Webb                           1                      2          3

Shatto                          2                      3          5

Henneman                    6                      6          12

Christiansen                  11                    2          13

Christoffersen

Oakland-Craig Falls to Battle Creek


The Oakland-Craig Knights traveled to Battle Creek Friday night for what ended up being a very tough game for the Knights.

Battle Creek is ranked #2 and with a good reason as they dominated the Knights on both ends of the ball.

The Knights only scored one touchdown in four quarters of play, coming in the second quarter on a 43 yard  pass from Cody Mace to Michael Fischer.

Nick Arlt led the way on the defense with 11 tackles followed by Conner Thiele with 10.

With two games under their belt, the Knights are 1-1.

They take on the Tekamah-Herman Tigers this Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in Oakland.

Nick Arlt is making a move on the Battle Creek opponent. Photo Credit/Cheri Droescher.

Cody Mace is making a move on the Battle Creek opponent. Photo Credit/Cheri Droescher.

Nick Arlt, #12, and Black Uhing, #73, talk things over with assistant coach Nick Arlt. Photo Credit/Cheri Droescher.

Nick Arlt, #12, and Black Uhing, #73, talk things over with assistant coach Nick Arlt. Photo Credit/Cheri Droescher.

Justin Smith is fighting his way through two Battle Creek players. Photo Credit/Cheri Droescher.

Justin Smith is fighting his way through two Battle Creek players. Photo Credit/Cheri Droescher.

Nick Arlt, #12, takes off running as #15 Zach Ahrens and #16 Bob Gatewood block for him. Photo Credit/Cheri Droescher.

Nick Arlt, #12, takes off running as #15 Zach Ahrens and #16 Bob Gatewood block for him. Photo Credit/Cheri Droescher.

Cougars Took on Fifth Ranked Flyers


The Northeast Cougars took on fifth ranked Humphrey Saint Francis in their second game of the season.  The young team was not up to the big challenge as the perennial power, Flyers, ripped them 70-14.

 

JJ Oltmer played a major role in the rout as he scored three times.  Last season he carried 35 time for 198 yards and score three TDs as the Cougars suffered their only district loss to the Flyers.  Last Friday, Oltmer needed only eight carries to gain 132 yards.

 

Northeast found themselves down 32-0 after one quarter.  HSF opened with two drives with 6 and 9 yard scoring runs. The Flyers’ Damien Baumgart returned a punt 43 yards and Oltmer broke loose for 31 yards.

 

The Cougars gave up three more scores before halftime.  Oltmer broke a forty yard run.  A Flyer interception gave Colton Engle a 42 yard return.  HSF’s final score came on a three yard run by Kyle Wemhoff.

 

After intermission the Cougars regrouped and  mounted a drive.  Chevy Henneman hooked up with Dylan Hardeman for a 30 yard scoring pass.  The duo clicked again on the PAT.

 

In the fourth quarter, Chevy Henneman took the ball over from three yards out.

 

Coach Maresh was pleased to have Chevy Henneman backing the lineup. The senior was cleared for play after missing the first game because of mononucleosis.  “Chevy played real well for us against such a good opponent.  His passing was really sharp.  He completed 14 of 18 passes.”

 

Besides passing for 120 yards and a TD Henneman ran for 69 yards on14 carries.  Jon Christiansen continued his role as the running back.  The sophomore carried 21 times and gained 93 yards.  Montana Riecken had one carry for 6 yards.

 

Dylan Hardeman was the Cougars’ most productive receiver.  He had 8 catches and gained 98 yards.  He had 8 of the team’s points.  Jacob Whittaker had 4 catches for 7 yards and Jayden Vetick caught 2 and gained 15 yards.

 

The defense found defensive back Dylan Hardeman as their top tackler.    The senior recorded four solo and three assisted tackles.  Jon Christiansen had five total tackles from his line backer slot.  Tyler Hardeman continued to be the top lineman with three solo and one assisted tackles.  Others listed on the tackle chart were Jayden Vetick with 4, Montana Riecken with 3, Joey O’Connor with 2, and Chas Webb with 1 stop.

 

The Cougars take to the road again this week.  They will take a 1-1 record into a contest against  Osmond.  The Tigers are coming off a 44-12 win over Winside.  Last season was a disaster for Osmond as injuries and youth cost tem in a 1-7 season.  They should be a tough challenge for Northeast this year.

 

LDNE              0          0          8          6          -14

HSF                 32        24        8          6          -70

John Christensen takes off for the Cougars. Photo Credit/Pat Sharp LDNE.

John Christensen takes off for the Cougars. Photo Credit/Pat Sharp LDNE.

Charles Webb, 29 and Cole Christoffersen, 99, block for ball carrier Montana Riecken. Photo Credit/Pat Sharp LDNE.

Charles Webb, 29 and Cole Christoffersen, 99, block for ball carrier Montana Riecken. Photo Credit/Pat Sharp LDNE.

Petersen S&W’s Player of the Game


By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

Northeast volleyball opened on the road at West Point-Beemer.  The Cadets took the match by the score of 3-1.  WP-B opened with 25-20 wins in the first two sets.  Northeast countered with a 25-16 game.  In the final set the Cougars had an early lead before the Cades out scored them 15 to 4 on the way to a 25-17 win.

 

“West Point has a good team and we hung with them,” said Coach Angela Hathaway.  “This is as good as I have seen the girls play a first match.  The whole team were aggressive and worked well together.”

 

When asked about the win in the third game, the coach said, “We came out of the huddle with the mindset that we were not going to quit.   We served well and jumped out to a big lead.  We saw what we could do.”

 

Darcey Simonsen started the team off with 4 service points.  Kelly Wakeley followed up after a side out with 7 more points.  The Cougars had a 12-1 lead.   Wakeley had 2 ace serves in the rally.

 

The team continued to have a ten point lead throughout the match.  They got stuck on 22 points as WP-B  ran off five straight points before Madie Ronnfeldt scored a kill. Mickayla Petersen served out for the win.

 

In the final game, the Cougars got a 3-1 lead as Kelly Wakeley served.  Brianne Haskell came up with a key block and kill to keep Northeast up 5-3.  The teams traded points before the Cadets ran off four straight to take the lead, 9-8.  The momentum shifted as the host team out scored Northeast 11-3 to build a 20-11 advantage on the way to a 25-17 win.

 

The Coach chose Kelly Wakeley as the MaxPreps player of the Match.  “The whole team played well, but she stood out with her aggressive play at the net and serving,”  said the coach.  She had nine kills and two aces along with nine digs.

 

KTIC radio covered the match and they chose Mickayla Petersen as S&W’s player of the game.  Mickayla had 6 kills, 7 assists, and 1 block.

 

The Cougars host Clarkson/Leigh on September 9 for first of only three home matches. It will Blackout  Night as they face a young Patriot team which has a which has lost their first two contests by lopsided scores.

 

Thursday,  September  11, the team will be at Wakefield for the first night of a two day event.  Wakefield and Lutheran High NE will be  their pool opponents.

 

LDNE              20        20        25        17

WP-B              25        25        16        25

 

LDNE Stats:   (K  A  B  D)   Madie Ronnfeldt  5  0  4  2,  Brianne Haskell  14  0  3  8, Tessie Collins  5  1  3 0,  Abby Peterson 0  0  0  2,  Mickayla Petersen  6  0  1 0,  Kelly Wakeley  9  2  1 9,  Victoria Maslonka 0  0  0  7,  Lexie Bacon 0 0 0 0,  Darcey Simonsen 0 1 0 5.  Set Assists:  Simonsen 25,  Petersen 7,  Collins 1,  Bacon 1

Simonsen Carries on Family Tradition at State Track


Northeast’s track teams concluded their season with the State Meet held at Burke Stadium in Omaha last weekend.  Both the boys and girls had a medalist as the girls scored  six points and tied for 25th in Class D and the boys had one point placing them in a tie for 47th position.

 

Darcey Simonsen continued the family tradition as she came up with as big final throw.  She had a toss of 113 feet 1 inch in the prelims.  This put her in the final medal position going into the finals.  She still sat in eighth place until on her sixth try she had a heave of 119 feet 2 inches.  She moved up five places.  None of the  other contestants changed positions in the final round and Darcey finished in third place.

 

For the Simonsen family this is their second State medalist.  Darcey’s uncle, Brock was a three time medalist.  In 2004, he took the Class C gold, but had to settle for the silver in 2005.

 

Taylor Fuston made his third appearance at State.  In his third  400M dash at Burke Stadium he a had a non qualifying time of 54.57.

 

Taylor made the most of his first attempt in the long jump field.  The senior jumper opened with a leap of 20 feet  0.75 inches.  This mark stood up as the eighth best in the Class D field, 0.25 inches ahead of ninth place.

 

The four first timers at State failed moved out of qualifying rounds in their events.
Chevy Henneman had the twentieth best time in the boys’ 100M dash.  Libby Henneman placed fourteenth in   the shot put with a heave of 34 feet 1.25  inches.  Also in fourteenth place was freshman Kelly Wakeley in the triple jump.  Her best mark was 33 feet 8.5 inches.  Tessie Collins ran a time of 6:40.53 in the 1600M run.  She came in twenty-third place.

Cougar State Track Schedule


With athletes competing in seven events the State Track meet will have special interest for local supporters.  The meet takes place at Burke Stadium in Omaha on May 23 and 24.

 

By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

The Class D prelims will be in the morning session on Friday, May 23.  The action starts at 9:00 A.M.

 

First up on the track will be Chevy Henneman in the 100M dash.  Heats for the 100M start with the girls going first at 9:55 A.M.  Chevy will be in the first boys’ heat. Look for him in lane one.

 

The 400M dash prelims will be contested at 11:15 A.M.  Taylor Fuston is in heat two.  The Lyons-Decatur district champ will start out of lane seven.

 

The field events are spread out over the two day affair.  Darcey Simonsen will be competing on Friday at 9:00 A.M.  Darcy had the sixth best mark in district competition. She throws in the third flight.

 

Saturday day will have four events of interest for the Cougar following.  It will be an early start for Libby Henneman who throws the shot put at 8:30 A.M.  She is the last thrower in the second flight.

 

Taylor Fuston had the fourth best mark from the eleven district meets in the long jump.  He will be in the third flight of the Class D long jump which begins at 1:00 P.M.

 

Freshman Kelly Wakeley will get her first taste of State competition at 3:30 P.M.  She is in the second flight of the triple jump

 

Tessie Collins will compete in the 1600M run at 3:55 P.M.  She starts in the second row of the twenty-four runners.

Four Cougars Qualify for State in Track


Tessie Collins and Vanessa Peterson set the pace during the last lap of the 1600M. Photo Credit/Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor.

Tessie Collins and Vanessa Peterson set the pace during the last lap of the 1600M. Photo Credit/Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor.

Lyons -Decatur hosted the D-3 District track meet on May 14 and the Cougars made a good showing as the Boys  finished in fourth place and the Girls took fifth. Northeast  had competitors in seven events qualify for State competition.

 

Darcy Simonsen made sure of a return to Burke Stadium with a big throw of 125 feet on her second attempt.  This exceeded the automatic qualifying standard by eleven feet.  Darcy held first place until the final round.  She had another good throw of over 124 feet on her final attempt.  Darcey’s second place means a second trip to State for the junior thrower.

 

After missing out on qualifying as a junior Taylor Fuston was hungry to get back to Omaha.  Taylor took the lead in the Long Jump with a 20 fee 6 inch mark in the prelims.  He was bumped out of the lead in the finals, but came up with a mark of 20 feet 11.25 inches on his last jump just short of first place.

 

Taylor ran only his second open 400 M dash race at districts.  Though seeded second, the senior used a surge down the homes stretch to claim a win over a HSF runner whose seed mark was two seconds better than Taylor’s.   His time of 53.2 was a personal record.  This is the third time Fuston has qualified in the 400.

 

Four Cougar athletes qualified for State for the first time.  Kelly Wakeley used the qualifying standards mark to earn her way to the  NSAA meet.  The freshman finished third in the triple jump competition, however, her mark of 34 feet 1.5 inches exceeded the standard by three inches.

 

Sophomore Libby Henneman threw her best at Districts and beat a Mead thrower who had a two foot advantage in seeding.  Libby had a 35 foot throw.  This personal record was good enough for a second place finish.

 

Chevy Henneman made his first year of track competition a good one.  The junior runner finished second in the 100M dash.  He was off his best time of the year, but his 11.8 earned his s place at State.  Henneman finished third in the 200M dash in 24.4.

 

Tessie Collins took the gold in the 1600 M run.  She and Vanessa Peterson carried the pace for three and half laps.  Tessie fought off a challenge from a Scribner-Snyder runner to win in 6:20.6.

 

Jon Christiansen saved his best for his last attempt in the triple jump.  He moved up to third place with a personal best of 41 feet 4 inches.  Jon’s cousin, Madie Ronnfeldt had a personal best in the girl’s triple jump. She took sixth with a leap of 31 feet 11 inches.

 

Vanessa Peterson had her best day in the discus.  A toss of 104 feet got her fifth place.  Her sister , Abby, came up with as personal record in the shot.  She won he sixth place medal with a 31 foot 9 inch heave.

 

Vanessa had a disappointing finish in the 1600M run.  A pace setter through three laps, she faded down the stretch and finished in third place in 6:35.6.

 

Dylan Hardeman added a third in the 300 hurdles.  His time was 48.2.

 

Two freshmen earned District medals.  Joey O’Connor took fourth in the 3200M run with time of 11:43.4  Bren Shatto ran 2:30.7 in the 800M and placed in sixth.

 

The boys had three relays earn points.  A botched handoff cost the 400 relay precious time as they took fourth in 47.30.  Jon Christiansen, Chevy Henneman, David Bishop and Taylor Fuston were teammates.

 

Henneman, Bishop, Fuston and Dylan Hardeman ran the 4×400 relay in 3:48 and placed second.

 

Hardeman team with his brother Tyler and Alec Anderson and David Bishop for a second place 4×800 team.  They had as time of 9:39.8.

 

 

Final Team Scoring

 

Boys

HSF                             181

Howells-Dodge            102.5

Scribner-Snyder           78

Lyons-Decatur             71

Cedar Bluffs                 41.5

Mead                           37

Walthill                        8

Omaha Nation              0

Bancroft -Rosalie          0

 

Girls

HSF                             152

Howells-Dodge            98

Scribner-Snyder           97

Mead                           61

Lyons-Decatur             42

Cedar Bluffs                 33

Bancroft-Rosalie           32

Omaha Nation             0

Walthill                         0

Last Regular Track Meet for LDNE


By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

Joey O'Connor in 3200 run. Photo Credit/Clare Wiltse Sports Contributor.

Joey O’Connor in 3200 run. Photo Credit/Clare Wiltse Sports Contributor.

Northeast’s tracksters took advantage of their last regular season meet to tune up for Districts to be held on May 14 in Lyons.  The O-C invite on May 8 started out with temperatures in the eighties giving the field events some great weather, but a cold front made for  the track events being contested in a chillier environment.

 

The girls took ninth in the twelve team with ten points.  The boys  finished with nineteen point and took eighth place.

 

The horizontal jumps gave the boys twelve of their points.  Taylor Fuston set a personal record with a leap of 21 feet 0.5 inches in the long jump.  He finished in second place.  Jon Christiansen leaped 41 feet in the triple jump and took fourth place.

 

Coach Hosch had his relay team rested with limited competition in the open events.  
The 1600 relay came through with the season’s best time of 3:45.5.  They came in fourth.  The 400 relay took fifth in 46.4.

 

Freshman Joey O’Connor broke through the twelve minute barrier in the 3200M run.  His time of 11:59.70 placed him in sixth place.

 

Madie Ronnfeldt scored in two event.  She had a season best 13.3 in the 100M dash and took sixth.  Her 54.3 in the 300M hurdles took third.

 

In the field Kelly Wakeley had a measurement of 33 feet 1.25 inches in the triple jump and placed fifth.  Darcey Simonsen came threw with a toss of 113 feet on her last attempt to take sixth in the discus.

Oakland-Craig Hosts East Husker Track Meet


Alec Anderson Wins his heat of the 1600 run in a personal best of 5:30. Photo Credit/Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor.

Alec Anderson Wins his heat of the 1600 run in a personal best of 5:30. Photo Credit/Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor.

The 2014 East Husker Track Meet was held at Oakland-Craig on Saturday.  This is the first time that the enlarged membership of sixteen teams have competed for the championship.  It made for a ten hour meet in which the competition was fierce. Two new records were established and two others tied.  Thirty-six of the placing marks rank in the top eight from class competition from across the State of Nebraska.

 

Host Oakland-Craig won both boys and girls title.  Northeast High is the smallest school in the EHC, but represented itself well as the boys took twelve place with 25 points while the girls finished in fourteenth place with 8 points.

 

Senior Taylor Fuston got a personal record on his first attempt in the long jump.  He had a measurement of 20 feet 2 inches which tied for first place.  He lost the gold medal as the second best jump was the tied breaker to decide winner.

 

In the triple jump, freshman Jon Christiansen showed the upper classmen that he was up to the challenge.  Jon did the hop, step, and jump to a distance of 40 feet 6.4inches.  He placed sixth.

 

Chevy Henneman had a pair of fifth place finishes in the sprints.  He ran 11.7 in the 100M dash and 23.9 in the 200M dash.

 

The girls scored their points in the field events.  Freshman Kelly Wakeley returned to form and posted a career best of 33 feet 5.5 inches in the triple jump.  She placed sixth.  Also getting sixth was Darcey Simonsen in  the discus.  Her best throw was 110 feet 2 inches.

 

The boys relays did well.  The 400 relay was a tick of the clock from third place.  Jon Christiansen closed hard on Madison, but ended up  0.1 of the Dragon’s anchor.  Their time of 46.3 was a new season best.  Taylor Fuston, Chevy Henneman, and Benny Estrada  are the other team members.

 

The 1600 relay had a time of 3:48.7.   Dylan Hardeman, Chevy Henneman, Benny Estrada , and Taylor Fuston are team members.

Cougar Track Teams Post Person Bests


By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

The Tiger Invite was held during one of the best weather days of the spring season and the Cougar track teams took advantage of it to post several personal bests.  The boys and girls both placed seventh with 26 points by the girls and 30 by the boys.

 

After a disastrous Cougar Invite, Darcey Simonsen threw a career best at Tekamah.  At the home meet last week,  the junior had no measurable throws in the prelims with a foul and two out of bounds tosses.  Darcey was the class of the field last Tuesday with a winning toss of 118 feet 4 inches.  The mark is among the top distances in Class D.

 

Freshman Jon Christiansen was the winner in the boy’s triple jump.  He broke through the forty foot barrier at the meet.  He got a leap of 40 feet 8 inches in the early jumps.  In the finals he followed that with the winning distance of 41 feet even.

 

Taylor Fuston ran his first open 400 meter dash of the year.  Fuston picked up a second place with as time of 54.6.  The senior also placed fourth in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet 9.25 inches.

 

Chevy Henneman earned two medals in the sprints.  He placed fourth in the 100 M in 11.6  and sixth in the 200 M in 24.6.

 

Joey O’Connor had an improvement of over twenty seconds in the 3200 M run.  The freshman took fifth in 12:07.5.  David Bishop added a sixth in the 800 M with a time of 2:19.4.

 

Libby Henneman followed up her big throw at the Cougar Invite with another solid effort.  She heaved the shot put 33feet 11.24 inches.  Libby placed third.

 

Kelly Wakeley added a fourth place in the girl’s triple jump.  She had a best jump of 31 feet 7 inches.