Cedar Catholic, HNS and Wynot represent area at All-Star game

NORFOLK - This corner of the world was well represented in the 12th edition of the Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic on June 13 at Memorial Field.

Four athletes were invited from Cedar Catholic, three from Hartington- Newcastle and one from Wynot. All seven local participants played on the Red Team.

The White Team bolted to a big lead in the game before the Red Team settled in and tried to make a comeback, but it was too little too late and the White Team prevailed 42-22.

Although somewhat disappointed about the loss, even the team on the wrong side of the scoreboard was thrilled to be in the game.

“It was a great experience, it’s always fun playing football but being able to play with my buddies one last time and meeting a bunch of new people made it even more special,” said Cedar Catholic’s Braeden Reifenrath. “Especially being able to play under the ‘Friday Night Lights’ one last time, really a great opportunity that God blessed me and the guys with.”

Reifenrath, who is headed to University of Sioux Falls to continue his playing career, played some quarterback for the Red Team and loved every second of his five-day experience.

“It’s crazy how close you get with all of these guys after just five days of playing football with them,” said Reifenrath. “By the end of the week, it felt like I had known these guys for years.

“It’s kind of funny how it all works, being from Cedar, Norfolk Catholic was always one of our biggest rivalries, but then you meet these guys on a level outside of arbitrary high school rivalries and they’re some of the coolest guys on the team.”

His fondest memories of the game bring him right back to Cedar Catholic and his “buddies”.

“I have a lot of great memories from this past week, but if I had to pick one, it would be taking my last snap ever with Jaymison (Cattau), Ryan (Pick) and Jacob (Steffen),” Reifenrath said. “We did have the ball for the last snap of the first half and I completed a big pass to ‘Jaymo’. It was a 50-50 ball and he went up and made a crazy catch.

“It was pretty symbolic ending our careers together, I think. Getting to play with these three dudes one last time was such a blessing. I remember back to the junior high and elementary league days when Jacob was cutting it up at running back and Jaymo was still playing tight end, it’s crazy how far we have come as players and as men and I am extremely grateful God has blessed us to be able to share that journey and these memories with each other.”

Cattau recalled the pass play as well.

“I knew the ball was probably coming my way, they were covering me one-on-one and I ran my fade route,” said Cattau. “I saw the ball coming and I knew I had an advantage over my defender so I went up and got the ball. I knew it was the end of the half, but I hoped if nothing else, it would maybe give us some momentum heading into the second half.

“Braeden and I have been playing together long enough we both trust the other guy 100%.”

Cattau will be moving on to play for Wayne State next fall.

Pick and Steffen played on the line for the Red team.

“It was very fun,” said Pick. “I made a lot of new friends that I’ve never met before.”

He enjoyed the all-star game but said it paled a little comparison to his days as a Trojan.

“The all-star game was fun with all your new teammates and friends,” said Pick. “But it’s hard to compare to a Friday night with guys you have known for years, it’s hard to beat that.”

The Wildcats in the game shared similar opinions about the game.

Cole Heimes, Cole Rosener and Ayden Rosener competed in the game with all three on the offensive side of the football.

“It was great, there was a different kind of ‘all-star’ energy or something,” said Cole Heimes. “You’re playing with elite guys all over the place, the experience was awesome.”

Heimes converted the final extra point of the game after the Red Team scored with 9:15 left in the fourth quarter.

“No one really likes to lose but this was way different than losing the last game of the season last fall,” said Heimes. “That was really awful, we felt like we should have won that game. This was just fun to be out there.”

Ayden Rosener was literally surrounded by talent the entire game, playing center on the offensive line for the Red Team.

“The game was tons of fun, I finally got to play football with some friends I’ve had for a while but was never able to because they went to school right across the street,” Ayden Rosener said. “And I made some new friends, me and the whole offensive line knew each other by the end of the week pretty well.”

And he realized the competition was pretty intense.

“I really felt like we worked our butts off trying to move their defensive line,” he said. “I felt like we did pretty good.”

Wynot’s Andrew Haberman represented, the Blue Devils in Norfolk and was looking forward to one final football game before heading off to basic training this summer as he is enrolled in the Air National Guard.

“It was a great experience and a great opportunity,” Haberman said. “I knew a few of the guys when we got there but by the end of the week, we were all friends and teammates, lot of great guys there.”

Haberman caught one pass in the game for 10 yards, and enjoyed the energy.

“The bus rides were pretty fun, everybody was just having a good time,” he said. “Once we got to know each other, we knew we were all there for fun, and it was.”

White Team 21 14 0 7 - 42 Red Team 0 6 8 8 - 22

FIRST QUARTER W:Aden Pochop (Battle Creek) 95 kickoff return, Becker Pohlman (Stanton) run, 11:46. W: Corbin Guill (Oakland-Craig) 22 pass from Braylon Anderson (Oakland-Craig), Cole Fundus (Norkolk) kick, 7:14. W: Barrett Wilke (Stanton) 15 run, PAT failed, 1:52.

SECOND QUARTER R: Lincoln Konrad (West Holt) 2 run, PAT failed, 8:08. W:JeremiahDruckenmiller(Oakland-Craig) 15 pass from Braylon Anderson (Oakland-Craig), Cole Fundus (Norfolk) kick, 6:12. W: Becker Pohlman (Stanton) 8 run, Cole Fundus kick, 1:06.

THIRD QUARTER R: Tony Palmer (South Sioux City) 2 run, Palmer run, 6:45.

FOURTH QUARTER W: Barrett Wilke (Stanton) 2 run, Cole Fundus (Norfolk) kick, 11:31. R: Brayden McCorkindale (Tri County Northeast) 3 run, Cole Heimes (Hartington-Newcastle) run, 9:15. RED TEAM ROSTER Alex Rodriguez (Wayne); Jazee Ames (Lutheran High NE); Hayden Kelley (Norfolk Catholic); Jaymison Cattau (Cedar Catholic); Trevin Sukup (Norfolk Catholic); Braeden Reifenrath (Cedar Catholic); Lincoln Konrad (West Holt); Cole Heimes (Hartington-Newcastle); Owen Kneifl (Pender); Jaxon Vinson (Wausa/Osmond); Ben Jorgensen (Tri County NE); Cole Rosener (Hartington-Newcastle); Tony Palmer (South Sioux); Alex Roth (Pender); Drake Nemetz (West Holt); Andrew Haberman (Wynot); Hudson Hoffman (Boyd County); Trent Hansen (Pender); Josue Munoz (Homer); Jacob Smith (Bloomfield); Wyatt Tramp (Crofton); Brayden McCorkindale (Tri County Northeast); Jacob Steffen (Cedar Catholic); Brenden Flood (Norfolk Catholic); Ayden Rosener (Hartington-Newcastle); Bryce Pokorny (Ponca); Sam Johnson (Norfolk Catholic) Haeden Paeper (Pender); Ryan Pick (Cedar Catholic); Isaac Pavlik (Niobrara/Verdigre); Jonath Glaser (Lutheran High Northeast); Hunter Tubbs (Stuart); Braxston Foxhoven (Crofton).