NORFOLK — Wolfpack senior standouts Cale Kinney and Jack Wemhoff played well Saturday but it wasn’t enough as the Red team claimed a 42 to 14 victory over the White team at the Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic.
The victory snapped a six-game losing streak, sending Red Head Coach Mark Brahmer (Pierce) out a winner in his final game.
Kinney caught two passes and averaged more than five yards per rushing attempt. Wemhoff caught one pass and rushed seven times for 24 yards in the game pitting the best Northeast Nebraska football players against one another.
“Playing with a bunch of really good athletes, you learn a lot and you realize there’s a lot of talent up here,” Kinney said after the game.
Wemhoff echoed those same thoughts, “It’s fun to come out and showcase our talent one last time.”
The White team took the opening kickoff and drove 70 yards for a touchdown to take a 7 to 0 lead.
The Red team, behind Norfolk Catholic’s Karter Kerkman, answered back and controlled the remainder of the first half to take a 28 to7 lead. Kerkman scored three first half rushing touchdowns to set an all-star game record.
The White team got the ball to start the second half and marched down the field behind Neligh-Oakdale’s Aiden Keuster who played the entire game at quarterback. However, they didn’t find the end zone again till early in the fourth quarter when Keuster tossed a touchdown pass. They appeared ready to score again late in the game. With Wemhoff playing tailback, the White team got into scoring territory but couldn’t get the ball into the end zone.
Behind Kerkman, the Red team had a size advantage in the offensive line and it showed in the statistics. The Red team out-gained the White team 445 to 336, gaining nearly 230 yards on the ground.
“We obviously want to win games and our kids played hard,” White Head Coach Greg Wemhoff said. “I was impressed by both those kids (Kinney and Wemhoff) all week as far as picking up and going from 8-man to 11-man … I thought they played really well and held their own.”
For team and individual stats, see this week’s Elgin Review.
