The 2025 Nebraska high school football season wrapped up on Tuesday at Memorial Stadium with the final three NSAA State Football Championships.
After D1, D2 and B took the stage on Monday, C1, C2 and A named their champions on Tuesday.
Stay tuned here and to all the NEBPreps and Hurrdat Sports social media channels for coverage throughout the day.
CLASS C1
No. 1 Wahoo 20, No. 3 Sidney 6
Wahoo star running back Kip Brigham broke a couple more records, but it was the Wahoo defense that stole the show as the Warriors completed their second-consecutive undefeated season.
Wahoo held Sidney to 3.1 yards per play and forced five turnovers — four interceptions and one fumble — with an additional two fourth-down stops. Senior Eli Shada led the way with 12 tackles and a sack while also catching a 62-yard touchdown pass. Senior quarterback Jase Kaminski was sharp, finishing 6-of-9 passing for 89 yards and the touchdown to Shada while adding five tackles and a pick on defense.
Sidney’s defense became the first team in 20 games to hold Brigham under 100 rushing yards as he finished with 86 on 27 carries, though he scored twice and added nine tackles plus an interception on defense.
With his first touchdown of the game, a 15-yard jaunt around the left end, Brigham broke the C1 record for career rushing touchdowns, topping the 88 Ashland-Greenwood’s Trevor Nichelson set 2013-16. He also broke Bellevue West running back Jaylin Bradley’s 11-man record for single-season touchdowns, 52 set in 2016.
Brigham added those records to the C1 career scoring and touchdown records he already held going into the game. He finishes his prolific career with 5,136 rushing yards, 90 rushing touchdowns, 886 receiving yards, 12 receiving touchdowns, 441 returns yards, four return touchdowns, 6,463 all-purpose yards and 106 total touchdowns.
Sidney marched right down the field on the opening drive, traveling 59 yards on 13 plays. However, the Wahoo defense bowed up and stopped Sidney running back Rhys Dorcey at the 1 with a host of Warriors — including Kaminski, Shada, Brigham and Kaden Christen — making the play.
Sidney continued to battle defensively, holding Brigham to 41 yards and a 3.2 average on the ground in the first half. However, the Red Raiders only mustered 18 net yards of offense after the first drive and went into halftime trailing 20-0. The Warriors picked off the Red Raiders three times in the first half — one each by Brigham, Josh Fox and Landon Fye.
Sidney shut out the Warriors in the second half and put together one scoring drive with Dorcey operating as wildcat quarterback in place of injured starter Alek Doty. The junior running back led a 12-play, 58-yard drive, ending it himself with an 8-yard scramble to the end zone on fourth down. However, that’s all the scoring they could muster.
Dorcey finished with 68 rushing yards to lead the Red Raiders (12-1). Iowa State commit Keian Kaiser led a spirited defensive effort with nine tackles including three for loss before exiting with an injury in the fourth quarter.
“We knew that possessions were at a premium and that we needed to make the most of every opportunity.”
Wahoo football repeated as Class C1 state champions after beating Sidney 20-6 at Memorial Stadium. #nebpreps | @Wahoo_Football pic.twitter.com/NSm2B1b4nY
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) November 25, 2025
CLASS C2
No. 2 Bishop Neumann 37, No. 4 Grand Island Central Catholic 15
After falling in the championship game a year ago, Bishop Neumann finished the job this season, running away from the Crusaders in the second half to make it a clean sweep for the Wahoo schools at Memorial Stadium. Coach Joe Pavlik led the Cavaliers to their fourth title and first since going back-to-back in 2002 and 2003 in his first season at the helm.
Senior Jack Van Slyke led the way for Neumann on both sides of the ball, running the ball 21 times for 115 yards and four touchdowns while adding a game-high 13 tackles including one for loss and forced fumble. Senior quarterback Beau Fujan went over the century mark as well with 107 yards and a score on 17 carries. Junior Quin Schutt finished with seven tackles including 2.5 for loss, 1.5 sacks, and interception and a fumble recovery.
Bishop Neumann senior Jack Van Slyke celebrates during the Class C2 championship. Photo by Mac Johnson.
With the wind blowing at a high rate, the teams combined for four passing completions on 16 attempts, totaling just 69 yards. The conditions — namely that wind and the chill it helped create — turned the first half into more of a blooper real than a showcase of offensive football.
Grand Island Central Catholic fumbled the ball away on its first offensive snap, and Van Slyke cashed it in two plays later with a 30-yard touchdown. Grand Island Central Catholic responded with an eight-play, 68-yard drive that ended in a 5-yard Jack Alberts touchdown run. Sophomore Jackson Gangwish ran the two-point try in to put the Crusaders in front — marking the final points of the first half.
With winds approaching 50 miles per hour at points, the two teams combined to go 0-for-11 on third down and 1-for-8 on fourth down with five fumbles (three lost) and one interception. The first half only saw one punt — which the wind sent straight back at the punter for a net of minus-4 yards. GICC had 99 yards of offense at the half, Neumann 95.
The offense picked up in the third quarter with three straight scoring drives. Neumann opened the half with a 12-play, 80-yard possession ending in a 3-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion from Van Slyke. GICC answered two plays late with a 55-yard touchdown run from senior quarterback Grayson Sack and a point-after kick to take a 15-14 lead.
The Cavaliers dominated the rest of the way, however. Fujan ripped off a 63-yard touchdown for the lead, followed by another Van Slyke conversion. Van Slyke added two more insurance touchdowns (plus a two-point conversion and an extra point) in the fourth quarter as the Cavalier defense shut the Crusaders out the rest of the way with two more fumbles and three more turnovers on downs.
Sack added a 40-yard completion to junior Braylon Wolfe to his 49 rushing yards to lead the Crusaders in total offense. Alberts, a senior, added 69 yards to go with his touchdown. Senior Connor Haney led the defensive effort with 12 tackles including 2.5 for loss, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. Junior Dax Gellatly added 11 tackles including one for loss and a fumble recovery.
Grand Island Central Catholic finished 0-of-9 on third down, 1-of-7 on fourth down and 1-of-4 in the red zone with six fumbles (four lost), an interception and a 3.4 yards-per-play average.
“I’m just fortunate enough to be along for the ride… Good teams are led by coaches, great teams are led by players.”
First year Bishop Neumann football coach Joe Pavlik talks after the Cavaliers’ 37-15 win over GICC to claim the Class C2 title. #nebpreps | @CoachPavlikBNHS pic.twitter.com/Ets4paO6ew
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) November 26, 2025
CLASS A
The Millard South Patriots run onto the field for the Class A championship game. Photo by Braden Cochran.
No. 4 Millard South 49, No. 3 Papillion-La Vista South 0
The Patriots capped one of the most dominant two-year runs we’ve seen in Class A with their second-consecutive state title, sending a special group of seniors out on top.
The Patriots did all their offensive damage in the first half, but the defense maintained the shutout throughout, holding Papillion-La Vista South to 31 yards of offense including minus-27 rushing yards and one third-down conversion while recording three takeaways and forcing three more turnovers on downs.
Alabama quarterback commit Jett Thomalla added a handful more records to his already prolific resume. He finished 15-of-21 for 288 yards and seven touchdowns, tying the 11-man single-game playoff record he set in Millard South’s semifinal win over Omaha Westside.
Thomalla broke his own Class A record for touchdown passes in a playoff run (16 last year) with his fifth toss to the end zone, then he kept going and broke Baylor Scheierman’s 11-man record of 18, finishing with 19 touchdown throws in his four playoff games. He also threw for 1,354 yards in this year’s playoffs, breaking the 11-man record he set last year (1,364). He set all those records in the first half and only attempted five passes after halftime.
Millard South quarterback Jett Thomalla winds up to throw. Photo by Braden Cochran.
Thomalla finished his career throwing for 10,253 yards and 134 touchdowns with only 19 interceptions, completing 66.5% of his passes. As a senior, he averaged 290.3 yards per game with 58 touchdowns, a 72.6% completion rate and five picks. He added six rushing yards to his career total, three during his senior season.
As a team, Millard South broke its own 11-man record for passing yards in a playoff run with 1,372.
Senior Owen Zech caught Thomalla’s first three touchdowns, finishing with four receptions for 129 yards. Add that to the three touchdowns he caught in Millard South’s semifinal win over Westside and he broke the Class A record for receiving touchdowns in a playoff run with six. Kearney’s Brett Maher shared the previous record of five with a former Patriot in Aamir Hill, who caught five in 2024.
Iowa State commit Amarion Jackson returned from a midseason injury to play against Westside in the semifinals and looked close to 100% on Monday with six snags for 118 yards and two scores. Gabe Prucha, an Augustana commit, led the rushing attack with 83 yards on 11 carries.
Junior Urban Kennedy finished with seven tackles including 2.5 for loss and senior Teagan Urban added five tackles including 1.5 for loss and an interception. The Patriots tallied 11 tackles for loss, upping their season total to 224.5.
Millard South scored four touchdowns in the first quarter and three more in the second. At halftime, the Titans had four yards of offense, four punts and two turnovers.
Papillion-La Vista South finished as runner-up in its first state championship appearance.
“They’re the ones that wanted to go back-to-back. We just gave them the tools and the footprint to do it.”
Patriots’ football coach Taylor Mendenhall led Millard South to its second consecutive Class A title in his first year as head coach. #nebpreps | @MSouthFootball pic.twitter.com/V6o5vokjxw
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) November 26, 2025
