YUTAN, Neb. — Seth Mruz wants his team to take it one game at a time and go 1-0 every week.
It’s an often-used cliché in sports, but it’s a mindset that’s served countless teams well, no matter the sport or situation. And his Bergan Catholic football team is no different.
The Knights entered Friday night’s game at Yutan with an 8-0 record and the opportunity to clinch a C2-1 district championship. Not only did they ‘go 1-0’ in Week 9, but they did so in rather dominant fashion, capping off their regular season with a 28-6 win.
It’s Bergan Catholic’s first undefeated regular season since 2021.
“I thought we did a good job up front playing downhill on both sides of the ball,” Mruz told Hurrdat Sports. “We played with some momentum. Got up early and hopefully that kind of took them out of their game plan a little bit, but we played good team defense and had some kids step up on offense and make some plays.”
Mruz’s club scored late in the first quarter and never looked back.
Bergan Catholic held a 21-0 lead at the half and tacked on another score with 4:21 left in the third quarter, via a Carter Vrana 25-yard run. The sophomore quarterback was also effective through the air, where he threw for a pair of touchdowns.
From the offensive success to Bergan’s defense, or even its special teams play — which included a snuffed-out fake punt and a blocked extra point — it was a complete team effort.
“One of our themes this week was playing as a brotherhood,” Mruz said. “Playing selflessly and with each other, for each other. And when you do that, good things happen. You play with tremendous effort, you play for each other, and we’re gonna need everybody to step up.”
“We have one guy who may slip up or something, but we have 10 others that are there to pick them up, and huge credit to our (defensive) line and (offensive) line,” added Cale Sheets. “That’s been our big thing all year. They’re setting the physicality up front and they’ve done a really good job of setting the physicality and letting the other team know how the game’s gonna go.”
Bergan Catholic’s Cale Sheets is playing his final regular-season game tonight.
The senior has 2,702 career receiving yards on 148 receptions. Sheets also boasts 40 touchdowns over 35 career games#nebpreps Presented by Edwards Auto Group pic.twitter.com/7BCqnv2c0O
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) October 23, 2026
Sheets has attended Bergan Catholic since preschool, and he’s blossomed over the past four years, both on the gridiron and the basketball court. As for his football career specifically, the senior receiver has been among the school’s best, and his coach labeled him as a warrior, saying he “makes our team better no matter what he’s doing.”
It’s been quite the journey from Sheets’ 1-8 freshman season to 9-0 this fall.
“You can see how the change of maturity and experience does play a factor into this, and you just have higher IQ plays by everybody on the field,” Sheets said. “When you can get guys like what we have, it makes it really easy to execute and do what we do.”
The Knights will celebrate Friday’s win and getting to 9-0 has still featured plenty of ups and downs. Bergan Catholic finished last season with an 8-1 regular-season record, which also included a win at Yutan, and the Knights have out-scored their opponents 398-112 this season.
There’s plenty to be proud of already, although they are far from satisfied. However, they don’t plan to shy away from what’s gotten them to this point.
“We’re excited to play at home next week, and that’s all we’re worried about — just one week, one game at a time,” Mruz said. “We’ll figure out who we play and then get all the film we can, go break it down, and focus on the process of going 1-0. That’s all we can do.
“We can’t worry about what’s in front of us too far down the road, and we’re not gonna worry about what’s happened or behind us. We’re gonna live in the moment, be present and attack it with every bit of ferocity that we can.”
Bergan Catholic earned a 28-6 win at Yutan Friday night. The Knights scored 21 first-half points and completed a perfect 9-0 regular season. pic.twitter.com/fXzpp11AYk
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) October 24, 2026
