Matt Erbert
6-4, 285, sr., OL/DL
Ellis Railroaders
Once Ellis coach Butch Hayes figured out where to put him, senior Matt Erbert keyed a Railroader defense that allowed 11.4 points per game.
"We found out the first couple of games (opponents) were running away from him at defensive end," Hayes said.
So the 6-foot-4, 285-pound Erbert was switched to nose tackle, where he dominated the line of scrimmage.
"We run a three-front defensively," Hayes said. "The main person in the defense is our nose. We need the guy to play both 'A' gaps and move down the line of scrimmage. ... He plugged the gap on defense."
"He was our defensive MVP," Hayes said of Erbert, who had 66 tackles, with 10 tackles for loss.
On offense, Erbert was the strong-side tackle, lining up next to the tight end. In short-yardage situations, Hayes had him lined up at tight end.
"He's a big kid, able to move people around offensively," Hayes said of Erbert.
Hayes said Erbert -- a repeat pick on the HDN Super 11 and a unanimous first-team selection on both offense and defense in the Mid-Continent League -- led the way for the Railers (9-3) on and off the field.
"I think his leadership for us throughout the season and the offseason was great for us," Hayes said. "He worked hard on the field."
Hayes said Erbert is being recruited by NCAA Division II schools, and Kansas State University has expressed some interest.
"He's going to be missed, that's for sure," Hayes said.
Landon Hamel
5-11, 170, sr., WR/LB
Norton Bluejays
Just looking at the numbers, it's easy to see that Landon Hamel was all over the field for Norton.
The 5-11, 170-pound senior was a true all-purpose guy for the 9-4 Bluejays, aiding Norton's deepest playoff runs in 20 seasons.
In 13 games this season, Hamel returned kicks, caught passes, carried the ball, was key on Norton's defense, and even threw a pass.
His effort this season gained him a unanimous selection as a receiver in the MCL first-team offense, and he earned first-team MCL honors at kick and punt returner. He was also second-team defense.
Hamel's biggest threat though, was his effort on special teams.
He was punted to 14 times this season, averaging 22.86 yards per return, and ran back 10 kickoffs, averaging 27.90 yards per touch in the return game.
He had two big runbacks in the Bluejays' rivalry game against MCL-foe Smith Center that set the Bluejays up with good field position.
This season, Hamel returned two punts back for TDs.
On defense, Hamel had the second most tackles for Norton with 85 total, averaging 6.5 tackles per contest, playing at the safety position. He also picked off six passes, taking them back for a total of 108 yards (one for a score), and had five deflections, and recorded a sack and had a fumble recovery. In the Bluejays' offense, which averaged more than 30 points per game, Hamel was the go-to receiver for quarterback Conner Pfannenstiel. He caught 26 balls for 558 yards and six scores, averaging just over 21 yards per catch. His longest was an 80-yard score in a playoff win over Beloit.
He also carried the ball 13 times for 78 yards and scored a touchdown, a 36-yard run in the playoffs.
Jordon Hargitt
5-10, 190, sr., RB/LB
Quinter Bulldogs
As a junior, Jordon Hargitt set a goal of 2,000 yards rushing. He hit only 1,000 as Quinter finished 10-1 and lost in the second round of the Eight-Man, Division I playoffs.
This season, Hargitt didn't focus on statistical goals, instead only on the team.
The change helped Hargitt rush for 1,989 yards, tops in Kansas among all eight-man running backs, according to MaxPreps.com. Hargitt delivered more than 100 yards in all but one game, including 110 yards in the state championship game against Baileyville-B&B.
"It was really cool," Hargitt said.
"Coming into the year, I wasn't expecting to hit that mark. By going above and beyond what I was actually thinking of, it felt really great. Those guys up front just blocking for me the whole year was absolutely amazing. I just could find the gaps just hiding in behind them."
The Bulldogs finished 12-1 with their first state football crown since 1992. Hargitt, who is also a state forensics champion, picked up a title in a second extracurricular activity.
Helped by an improved option attack, Hargitt rushed for 23 touchdowns. On defense, he had 55 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He saved his best games for the biggest contests. In Week 5, in the district opener against a strong Kensington-Thunder Ridge squad, Hargitt ran for a season-high 212 yards.
"Coach (Brian) Roesch, at a practice one time during individual offense, that's all we did was work on the option with the fakes, tucking the ball," Hargitt said. "That helped us a lot throughout the season. Once we developed that better, people in the crowds were always coming up to us after the game, telling us that we faked them out.
"Our photographers for the games would be taking pictures and then realize that the person didn't have the ball, so that was really cool," he added.
In the second round of the playoffs, Hargitt helped Quinter beat Macksville 50-0, the same team that knocked the Bulldogs out in 2008.
Hargitt ran for 199 yards and a season-high four scores, all in the second quarter.
"I had the feeling of getting back and getting over that rut from last year," he said.
"Once things just started to work, the offense was just going, the defense was just shutting them down. I felt it was probably my best game."
Ethan Jirak
5-11, 221, sr., OL/DL
Oakley Plainsmen
One of the most dominant defenses in Class 2-1A in 2009, the Oakley Plainsmen allowed just 67 points all season, had six shutouts, and had one game it had to win 3-0 in the 2-1A playoffs.
The defensive scoring effort was the third best in 2-1A this season behind only Olpe and Oswego, and at the center of it all was Ethan Jirak, a 5-foot-11, 221-pound senior lineman, an anchor for the 11-1 Plainsmen.
"He just looks as good as ever this year," Oakley coach Randall Rath said of Jirak earlier this season. "He has got that step back, and he looks fresh all the time. He has worked hard this summer to make himself better. He knows one way to go, and that is all out all the time."
Jirak collected 75 total tackles (6.3 a game) for the Plainsmen, including 17 sacks (1.5 per game) and five fumble recoveries in his third year as a starter for a perennial 2-1A powerhouse. He is also a returning state placer in Class 3-2-1A wrestling.
He was named to the Northwest Kansas All-league first team on both sides of the ball as well.
Of Oakley's 67 points given up, 33 came in the 2-1A sub-state championship game against eventual 2-1A runner-up Smith Center. Prior to that, Oakley gave up more than six points on just one occasion, a 26-14 win against NWKL rival St. Francis.
Jirak was part of a Plainsmen offensive line that paved the way for 4,421 rushing yards, 48 rushing scores. The Oakley offense put up more than 5,000 yards, led by 1,219 rushing yards for senior Tad Parsons.
Marcus Moeder
5-10, 160, jr., RB/DB
La Crosse Leopards
With Marshall Musil now an Oklahoma Sooner, first-year La Crosse head coach Jon Webster found a Musil clone in junior running back Marcus Moeder.
Moeder, who rushed for 1,010 yards in 2008 with Musil getting the attention from opposing defenses, became the main man this fall. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound junior responded with 1,520 yards rushing (8.2 average) and 14 touchdowns. As a safety on defense, Moeder picked off four passes and made 71 tackles (42 solo). He also returned a kickoff for a TD, and averaged 31.4 yards per return.
"He stepped up a lot," Webster said of Moeder, who was first team all-Central Prairie League on both offense and defense. "Team leader on both sides of the ball."
Webster said Moeder came up big in big games.
"He had 280 yards in the playoff game against Elkhart, 10 1/2 tackles and a pick," Webster said of the Leopards' 60-26 loss to end their season at 7-3.
In a 30-6 win over rival Ness-Dighton earlier in the year, Moeder rushed for 251 yards.
"First game he really took over a game was the Ness City game," Webster said. "He just took the game over, offensively."
Before that game, Moeder let others get the yards while opponents keyed on him.
"Early on, first game he had 60 yards or so," Webster said. "Larned was so keyed on him, everybody else was able to do their thing."
Before the season, Webster spoke with Moeder about the offense.
"The first time I talked to Marcus this summer, he said he wanted the ball 30 times a game," Webster said. "We knew Marcus was going to have to carry the load for the offensive production, for the most part."
Webster said Moeder, who has 4.49 speed in the 40-yard dash, can streak by would-be tacklers before they know what hit them, or in this case, didn't hit them.
"When he gets a seam, he goes," Webster said. "He got better with jukes, setting up players.
"When he runs -- he's gone," Webster added.
But Moeder won't be gone next fall, his senior season.
"He's going to make next year fun to coach," Webster said.
Kevin Wissman
6-1, 190, sr. QB/DB
Otis-Bison Cougars
Kevin Wissman was in junior high when Travis Starr took over the Otis-Bison football program five years ago. Starr, though, immediately saw potential in Wissman. "He was never a small kid," Starr said. "He was a big, strong kid. He works hard in everything he does. Weight room, comes in, works hard, becomes the best player that he wants to be. You can't teach that. You can either have it or you don't."
Wissman eventually became a four-year starter for the Cougars, picked up HDN Offensive Player of the Year honors and engineered a 10-1 season, an eight-win improvement from 2008 and the biggest one-season jump by any Kansas team this fall. Wissman rushed for 1,097 yards and 27 touchdowns on 120 attempts and completed 27 of 48 passes for nine scores.
In addition, Wissman also caught three passes for 40 yards and a score, returned eight kicks for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns and collected 231 yards and three scores on 10 punt returns. Overall, Wissman accounted for 42 offensive touchdowns with 2,080 yards on 189 touches. On defense, he had a team-high 81 tackles, four interceptions and two sacks. Wissman earned first team all-Central Prairie League at kick returner and honorable mention quarterback.
"Had it not been for some of the leadership and the confidence, we would have been saying, 'Oh, 7-3,' " Starr said. "But the confidence kept going and we played hard and played well and I thought they left their hat out their every game, as much as you could have asked for from these guys. I was proud of them."
Wissman had his younger brother, freshman Dylan Wissman, in the backfield. Dylan, who became a starter in midseason, rushed for more than 400 yards and helped his brother.
"I can never let him be better than me," Kevin Wissman said with a laugh. "I've always got to do everything one better than him. He is still younger than me, but he still makes me push myself."
In addition, Kevin Wissman had a strong supporting cast, including junior Mike Hlavaty, who collected more than 1,000 yards rushing, and an improved offensive line that featured senior Matt Suppes and juniors Robert Kolas, Josh Krom, Jackie Cornwell and Dominic Trapp that helped Otis-Bison average 55.3 points per game.
"Our offensive line helped out, giving us more time to pass," Kevin Wissman said.
Kevin Wissman, also a returning first team all-HDN basketball player, is uncertain about his college future. He has been recruited by multiple junior colleges.
"I need to pick a sport first and then a college and then a major, so we will figure it out," he said.
Colt Rogers
5-5, 150, sr. HB/DB
Smith Center Redmen
Few athletes in Kansas high school history have had more success than Colt Rogers. The 5-foot-5, 150-pound Smith Center senior completed his football career with a 51-1 record, three state championships and a bevy of individual honors. On the wrestling mat, Rogers entered the winter with a 109-3 career record, three individual and three team titles. In track, Rogers has one state crown and multiple medals.
"To me, he has always been a very respectful kid," Brock Hutchinson, Smith Center's defensive coordinator, head wrestling coach, assistant track coach and longtime Rogers mentor, said. "He probably knows more about the sport of wrestling than I do. I am not ashamed to admit that. But he always has been coachable. ... It's been the same way on the football field. Colt is a very, very, very competitive kid. He doesn't need to be chewed out."
This fall, Rogers had another impressive year. On a young Redmen squad, Rogers finished with a team- and career-high 1,822 rushing yards, 22 rushing TDs and 2,276 total yards. On defense, he picked off six passes, including one for a touchdown, and led a unit that permitted 9.2 points per game, fourth-best in Class 2-1A, according to preppowerindex.com. Smith Center went 12-1 and saw its nation-best 79-game winning streak end in a 20-12 overtime loss to Centralia in the Class 2-1A state championship game. Rogers fumbled four times -- including losing one in overtime -- and Centralia held him to a season-low 32 yards.
Even with the loss, Rogers was still considered one of the top players in the Mid-Continent League. He was named unanimous first-team running back and defensive back in the all-conference voting. Ellis senior lineman Matt Erbert and Rogers were the lone players named unanimous all-league at two positions. Rogers and Erbert are both repeat HDN Super 11 picks.
Rogers' seminal game came against Oakley in the sub-state championship when he rushed for 290 yards and 4 scores. Rogers said the contest was "up there" among the best contests of his career.
"He is one of the special ones that we have had," Smith Center coach Roger Barta said.
Rogers finished his football career with 451 carries for 4,597 yards and more than 55 rushing touchdowns. On defense. Rogers, a two-time HDN Super 11 selection and a four-year starter, collected over 300 tackles and picked off 16 passes. His college choice is undetermined.
"He gets down on himself just like anybody would, but to see him bounce back from that is what's impressive," Hutchinson said. "A lot of kids can't do that. One play, he may make a bonehead mistake, the next play it might be a TD for six, it might be a pick for six. It might be a big hit that requires that kid to be looking at him now. He is going to be a hard kid to replace. He is a leader. He is a leader in every sense of the word."
Travis Pfannenstiel
5-10, 185, sr., FB/LB
Hays High Indians
First-year Hays High School football coach Ryan Cornelsen knew he had the type of player he covets in senior linebacker Travis Pfannenstiel.
"Starting a program from scratch, you want kids like Travis -- tough, hard-nosed, does everything you ask," Cornelsen said. "Those kids are tough to replace.
"We were fortunate to have him for a year, to set an example," Cornelsen added.
Pfannenstiel, a 5-foot-10, 185-pounder, also was a fullback early in the season, before hurting his hamstring in the fourth game. After that, he played almost exclusively on defense.
"Something that bothered him Game (4) on," Cornelsen said of the bad hamstring. "Showed his desire, to want to be part of a good football program.
"Thing with a hamstring, you can't run top-end speed. He had a better chance to play outside linebacker, and not play both ways. We felt it was the best way to keep him on the field," Cornelsen added.
On the field, Pfannenstiel made 124 tackles, had six tackles for loss and three sacks while being named to the all-Western Athletic Conference squad for the second straight year.
"He never made excuses," Cornelsen said of Pfannenstiel's injury. "He accepted it and played through it."
That toughness was what made Pfannenstiel a tough player for opposing teams. The Indians went 7-2 this season under Cornelsen and Hays High won its first conference championship since 2001..
"He's aggressive, likes to hit," Cornelsen said of Pfannenstiel. "That's what it takes to be successful in football."
Cade Rietzke
6-1, 170, sr., QB/DB
Thunder Ridge Longhorns
A Smith Center native, and former Redmen player, Thunder Ridge coach Jerry Voorhees has never been one to want to see the ball in the air. After a Week 1 blowout loss to defending Eight-Man, Division I champion Hanover where the Longhorns amassed just 63 yards of offense, Voorhees altered his mindset.
Senior quarterback Cade Rietzke relished the opportunity, becoming one of the most prominent eight-man quarterbacks in the state, guiding the Longhorns to a 6-3 record and third-place district finish.
"He's just such a smart kid and he's a hard worker," Voorhees said of Rietkze, who earned all-league and all-district honors at the position. "The kids rally around him. Even as a sophomore when he came in in relief, he could manage the huddle. "
He managed the game as well, throwing for 1,597 yards, completing 69-of-107 pass attempts for 28 touchdowns against only four interceptions.
"He's very accurate. We threw a lot of short routes and our kids made plays, but he could also throw the deep ball -- no doubt about that," Voorhees said.
A great deal of his numbers this season came in one game -- a 40-38 nail-biting loss against Hill City late in the year, a game that came down to the final play -- a missed 2-point conversion.
In that game, Rietkze threw for 371 yards, completing 19-of-35 passes and six touchdowns, career bests all around.
"That's probably the overall best performance I've seen out of one kid. I don't know if I've ever seen one kid play that well in one game," Voorhees said.
When he wasn't airing things out, he could move on the ground too, rushing for 313 yards and a score this season on 34 carries. On defense, he picked off three passes and had 37 tackles in the defensive backfield.
A standout season, though, might lead to Rietzke making the step up to a college quarterback. Several junior colleges and NAIA level schools have looked at the senior to play under center -- namely Garden City Community College, a team where former eight-man and Sharon Springs standout Jeff Hennick played at QB this season.
Trent Raile
6-1, 195, sr., HB/DB
St. Francis Indians
In Week 8, St. Francis played Atwood in a blinding snowstorm in the annual Oxen Yoke Bowl. The weather conditions -- pictured in a photo that's been on the front page of kansasprepfootball.com for several weeks -- created little offense. Atwood finished with 144 total yards, while St. Francis collected 349. However, St. Francis senior running back Trent Raile ran for a season-high 244 yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns on runs of 61, 77 and 4 yards. St. Francis defeated Atwood 18-6, clinched the district title and kept the oxen yoke for another year.
"It was one of those three yards and then you slide in the snow for a couple more," first-year St. Francis head coach Nathan Smith said. "It's a game all of us will remember. Trent busted off some long runs for us and I think without those long runs, it's a different ballgame probably. It was a slugfest up front and you had to fight for every yard you got."
No matter the conditions, Raile made big plays for the 7-4 Indians all season. A repeat first team Super 11 selection, Raile set a preseason goal of 2,000 yards. He fell short of the mark, but still collected 1,778 yards, 20 rushing TDs, 74 tackles and one interception. Raile was a first team Northwest Kansas League selection at running back and defensive back. He earned unanimous first team honors at running back, the only NWKL player picked unanimously at any position.
"He was a special talent and a special kid and he will always have a special place in my heart," Smith said. "He did everything I asked him to do. ... He is one of those kids that always wants to be the best and he will work to try to be that, too."
Raile, running mainly behind junior linemen Brooks Hobrock, Garrett Figgins and Adam Guthmiller, tallied at least 96 yards in every game and cleared 200 yards in four contests. Opponents often overloaded the left side to try and stop Raile.
"He still had all of those yards," Smith said. "That just speaks to the quality of athlete that he is and the drive and commitment that he had being a football player.'
In his career, Raile had 5,303 rushing yards and 69 touchdowns on 593 carries. Defensively, Raile collected 304 tackles and 19 interceptions. Multiple junior colleges have visited Raile in the last week, including Butler County Community College and Garden City Community College, while Kansas State University and University of Nebraska-Kearney have shown interest.
Zach Nemechek
6-4, 240, sr., C/DL
Quinter Bulldogs
Late in the first half of the Eight-Man, Division I state championship game, Quinter senior lineman Zach Nemechek was called for offsides. The penalty allowed Baileyville-B&B to move the ball inside the Bulldog 5-yard line. B&B eventually moved it to the Bulldog 1, where Quinter stopped senior quarterback Kyle Haverkamp on third down. Before the fourth-down play, Nemechek thought Haverkamp would run again. He moved Bulldog senior linebacker Thatcher Deaton next to him on the defensive line.
"I don't even know why I said it to Thatcher, I guess it is something that God told me," Nemechek said. "I don't know. It just happened, but I wanted to get penetration and I guess that's why I put Thatcher there was because I wanted him to get penetration, too.
"I had just went offsides, so I watched the ball. Once it happened, I went as fast and as hard as I could," he added.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound Nemechek and Deaton led the way against B&B all-state senior center Nathan Haug and stopped Haverkamp, preserving a 20-14 lead. Two quarters later, Quinter finished a 12-1 season with a 28-26 victory and an Eight-Man I state championship. All season, Nemechek played with a heavy heart as his mother, Pam, contracted lupus and head coach Greg Woolf became ill with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Still, Nemechek made big plays all season and finished with more than 110 tackles and 12 sacks. In addition, in the sub-state championship game against Clifton-Clyde, he tackled senior quarterback Brayden Bloomfield on the Bulldog 2-yard line on fourth down in the final minutes to win the game.
Nemechek was the center of Quinter's dominant defense that collected 43 sacks. Five players recorded at least five sacks, including Nemechek, senior Cody Corwin (5-11, 260), 6-7, 255-pound Scott Ochs, 6-1, 220-pound Thatcher Deaton and 6-3, 225-pound sophomore Brian Ochs,
"Those guys are big dudes," Quinter defensive coordinator Jeff Ruckman said. "I would say 90 percent of the time, they manhandled people."
Nemechek picked up unanimous first team all-district honors at center and first team all-District 7 at defensive line. He also earned first team Northwest Kansas League at center and defensive line. Nemechek has been recruited by Kansas State University as well as multiple junior colleges.
"It is my dream to play for Kansas State football," Nemechek said. "So right now, that is at the top of the list."