PIERCE – A pair of northeast Nebraska football teams who have either been falling in the rankings or staying in the same spot the past few weeks will meet Friday night on the gridiron.
Wayne High is scheduled to visit Pierce on Friday, October 22 at 7 p.m.
Join Sports Director, Aaron Scheffler and color commentary from Blake Hilkemeier on Big Red Country ‘KTCH’ 104.9 and waynedailynews.com with pregame coverage set for 6:40 p.m.
The Blue Devils remained #9 in the Omaha World Herald following a 49-14 home victory over O’Neill last week to improve to 5-3. Pierce fell three spots to #7 in the Lincoln Journal Star and out of the top 10 from their #4 spot in the Omaha World Herald following a 24-6 road loss to then unranked Battle Creek. The Braves are now receiving votes in the Lincoln Journal Star and #10 in the Omaha World Herald.
Wayne High opened the season on a three-game winning streak before going 2-3 against ranked opponents and recently closed out their home schedule with a 4-1 record. WHS is 1-2 on the road this season.
The defending Class C1 champions, Pierce started the year on a four-game winning streak before losing at Boone Central (now #5 in both LJS/OWH) won back-to-back straight and recently lost at Battle Creek last week. The Bluejays are 4-0 on their home field and haven’t lost at home since their 2017 season opener against Aquinas Catholic on September 1 (50-27). Pierce has won 17 straight regular season home games (not counting playoff home victories).
Last year, Pierce edged Wayne High 19-9 in Wayne.
The Blue Devils will be looking for their first victory against Pierce since 1994 as Pierce has won 24 straight.
Wayne High currently sits 11th in the wildcard point standings and will looking to receive one of the eight wildcards with Boone Central (7-1, 3-0) well ahead of both Pierce (6-2, 1-2) and Wayne (5-3, 2-1) in the C1-5 District race. Battle Creek could also be a fourth team from the district earning a wildcard (5-3, 2-2).
Playoff brackets for Classes A, B, C1 and C2 will be released Saturday by the NSAA.
Point leaders by Class C1 and District (Bold are District leaders as of Thursday).
1st Ashland-Greenwood (8-0), 45.5000
2nd Boone Central (7-1), 44.8750
3rd Kearney Catholic (8-0), 44.7500
4th Columbus Scotus (8-0), 44.3750
5th Chadron (8-0), 43.3750
6th Milford (7-1), 43.3750
7th Auburn (6-2), 42.7500
8th Broken Bow (6-2), 42.0000
9th Wahoo (5-3), 41.7500
10th Pierce (6-2), 41.2500
11th Wayne (5-3), 41.0000
12th Battle Creek (5-3), 40.6250
13th Fort Calhoun (6-2), 40.5000
14th Columbus Lakeview (6-2), 40.1250
15th Boys Town (5-3), 39.8750
16th Adams Central (5-3), 39.8750
Platteview (5-3), 39.5000
Ogallala (5-3), 39.5000
Minden (5-3), 39.5000
Mitchell (5-3), 39.2500
Malcolm (4-4), 39.2500
Cozad (5-3), 38.7500
Nebraska City (5-3), 38.3750
St. Paul (5-4), 37.7778
Douglas County West (4-4), 37.7500
Thursday area schedule:
@ Humphrey St. Francis: Allen VS Humphrey St. Francis
@ Laurel-Concord-Coleridge: EMF VS Laurel-Concord-Coleridge
@ Lutheran High Northeast: Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family VS Lutheran High Northeast
@ Millard North: Norfolk VS Millard North
@ Pender: Creighton VS Pender
@ Johnson-Brock: Winside VS Johnson-Brock
@ Weeping Water: Wisner-Pilger VS Weeping Water
Friday area schedule:
@ Norfolk Catholic: Hartington Cedar Catholic VS Norfolk Catholic
@ Ponca: Archbishop Bergan VS Ponca
@ West Point-Beemer: Schuyler VS West Point-Beemer
