East Butler quarterback Grant Kozisek runs with the ball against Centennial during the 2024 season.
Fall sports season is in full swing as football, volleyball and softball teams from the Banner area were in action.
Football
East Butler football kept up its winning ways early in the season as the Tigers improved to 3-0 with a week three victory over visiting Omaha Christian.
Against the Guardians, East Butler jumped ahead early and scored often as the Tigers led 20-0 after the opening quarter and 42-0 at the half, leading to a 50-20 win.
The Tiger offense put up 350 yards in the win with junior Grant Kozisek and senior Rocco Hageman leading the way.
Kozisek passed for 64 yards and added another 143 on the ground while scoring twice with his arm and legs.
Hageman ran for 113 yards to go along with an 18-yard touchdown reception. Senior Devon Prochaska finished with a team-high 46 receiving yards to go along with one score.
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Senior Dylan Klement and junior Ryder Jarecki tied for a team-high six tackles as Hageman also recorded an interception on defense.
East Butler will compete on the road in week four at 2-1 McCool Junction with a chance to reach 4-0.
Shelby-Rising City also hit the 3-0 mark with a 46-10 win over Exeter-Milligan/Friend.
The Husky offense may not of had a prolific night with 217 yards, but the defense held the Bobcats to just 125 yards.
With the ball, SRC senior quarterback Logan Lindsley completed one pass for a 28-yard score to junior Jett Vrbka. Jett also had a team-high 75 rushing yards to go with one rushing score.
Junior Carter Eickmeier ran the ball seven times for 56 yards as he found the end zone three times.
Jett had a team-high nine tackles and senior Coy Vrbka recorded one interception.
The Tigers will look to remain unbeaten with a road match at 0-3 Heartland.
David City dropped its second straight game with a 60-39 defeat at Wisner-Pilger. Wisner-Pilger led 8-7 after the first quarter before outscoring the Scouts 24-8 in the second quarter and 28-24 in the second half.
In the loss, David City's offense put up 445 yards while allowing 456 on defense.
Senior Cohen Denker led the Scouts on offense with 173 passing yards and 147 rushing yards. Denker also recorded two scores on the ground and through the air.
Sophomore Carter Nickolite had a team-high five catches for two scores and 142 yards.
David City will now get a chance to get back into the win column against visiting 0-3 Newman Grove/St. Edward.
Aquinas Catholic fell to 0-3 with a 17-7 loss to Ponca.
The Monarchs were held to 168 yards on offense while allowing 345 in the 10-point loss.
Junior Landon Pohl led the Monarchs with 109 yards on the ground and the lone score on the night.
Aquinas will now look to get its first win of the season Friday at 2-1 Raymond Central.
Volleyball
The Scouts won their lone match of the week as the team swept Raymond Central 3-0 at home.
Senior Kamryn Behrns had a game-high 17 kills as David City rolled to the 25-14, 25-12, 25-16 win.
David City improved to 8-2 with the win and they were also in action Tuesday (after print deadline) for the Milford triangular. The Scouts will play again Thursday at home against Wahoo Neumann.
Aquinas fell to 0-7 this season after dropping a 3-1 game to Logan View/Scribner-Snyder before falling 2-1 to Tri County and 2-0 to Kenesaw in a weekend Exeter-Milligan/Friend Invite.
Junior Maddy Hein had a team-high six kills against Kenesaw and fellow junior Sarah Coufal led the team with eight kills against Tri County.
The Monarchs were also in action Tuesday at Scotus Central Catholic and they are set to compete again Saturday in the Central City Invite.
SRC played in three games and won two to improve to 6-1 this season.
The Huskies split their early games with a sweep loss to Malcom and a 3-0 win over Palmer.
SRC defeated Cedar Bluffs in the final game of the week as the Huskies downed the Wildcats 3-0.
Freshman Hayden Hopwood and junior Kaleigh Ruth had eight kills each in the win.
On Tuesday, the 6-1 Huskies played at Arlington and they will play at East Butler Thursday.
East Butler dropped its lone match of the week 25-11, 25-17, 25-10 in a sweep to Palmer.
Sophomore Emy Lyons and senior Kadence Calahan led the Tigers with four kills in the loss.
The Tigers fell to 1-3 with the loss and the team was also in a triangular at Lincoln College View.
Softball
The Aquinas softball team played six games with the Monarchs going 3-3 through the week to go to 6-11 this season.
On Saturday, the Monarchs competed in the Cass Triangular.
Aquinas fell 9-3 to Fort Calhoun and they beat Cass 7-4. In the win, junior Jordyn Vandenberg had a team-high two RBIs on one hit.
Sophomore Faith Samek pitched for the Monarchs in the win and she struck out four batters in 2 and 1/3 innings in the circle.
The Monarchs also compete against Lakeview Tuesday and they'll play again Thursday against visiting Pierce.
Blue River finished the week 2-1 to improve to 11-5.
The Panthers picked up a 10-1 win over Logan View/Scribner-Snyder, they beat Tekamah-Herman 4-2 and they lost 7-6 to North Bend on Saturday.
In the most recent game, Blue River lost a walk-off to North Bend.
Senior Danica Watts had a team-high three hits and she recorded an RBI. Junior Abby Lindsley had 12 Ks in the loss as she also allowed nine hits and two walks.
Blue River was in action Monday against Fillmore Central and they will play at Centennial Thursday.
