Falls City Sacred Heart head coach Doug Goltz and his Irish football team cruised to another lopsided victory Friday, as they drubbed Meridian 49-6. The win improved the top-ranked Irish’s record to 5-0, but for Goltz, who has coached solely at Sacred Heart since 1987, the win marked victory number 250 and pulled Goltz to within 10 of the all-time Nebraska eight-man mark of 260 set by Ken Cook of Adams/Freeman.
Long-time Omaha Creighton Prep coach Tom Jaworski, who compiled a 343-92 record in 39 seasons, holds the all-time Nebraska coaching victories record. Now in his 28th season with the Irish, Goltz holds a 250-43 record and has won six state championships. With three regular season games and a possible five playoff games remaining in 2013, Goltz will have to wait until 2014 to pass Cook, but that seems to be just fine with him considering he wasn’t aware he’d even reached 250 until one of his players brought the accomplishment to his attention.
“I didn’t realize it was number 250 until one of my players text me over the weekend,” said Goltz, adding, “I hadn’t really thought about it.”
Goltz went on to say that his focus remains on the task at hand, which is keeping his team prepared for the opponent in front of them.
“My thoughts are on our game this week and getting our team prepared for that. There isn’t much time to reflect, but I’m sure I will someday.
Goltz summed up the accomplishment briefly, saying, “I’ve been blessed to coach many very good teams with many very good players that are willing to work hard and work together.”
Senior quarterback Chaz Dunn was proficient to say the least. Dunn connected on 17-of-21 passes for 206 yards and four touchdowns. Six different Irish receivers caught at least two passes and Dunn’s shared the wealth on his TD strikes, hitting four different players for scores. Senior Colin Niemeyer led the way with six receptions for 72 yards and a TD. Seniors Brandon Schawang and Sean Strasheim each had a TD grab, as did junior Logan Scheitel.
Schawang, Dunn and junior Sawyer Kean each rushed for a TD. Kean led the Irish with 50 yards rushing on five carries.
The Irish finished with 321 yards of offense and held Meridian to 179 yards, 160 of those via the ground game.
Meridian stuck with the running game, despite very little success, which led to a huge game for Schawang, who finished with a season-high eight solo tackles, six tackles loss and 23 total stops from his middle linebacker spot. Senior Jarod Fiegener tallied 14 tackles, one sack and three tackles for loss.
The schedule stiffens up a bit for Goltz and the Irish this week as 3-2 Sterling visits Jug Brown Stadium. The Jets, in a bit of an upset, fell on the road to 3-2 Lewiston Friday night and subsequently dropped out of the latest rankings. Nonetheless, Sterling has some quality players, notably seniors Chris Wenzl (RB), Kody Benson (TE) and Trey Trauernicht (RB).
Friday’s kickoff between the Irish and Jets is set for 7 p.m.
Team Stats
SH Mer
First downs 2 9
Rushing 26-115 41-198
Rushing lost 0 38
Rushing net 115 160
Passing 17-22-0 1-3-1
Passing yds. 206 19
Fumbles lost 0 1
Punts-ave. 2-40.5 6-31.0
Punt return yds. 36 10
Kickoffs-ave. 8-49.8 2-41.0
Kickoff returns yds. 12 18
Total return yds. 60 28
Penalties-yds. 1-15 5-50
Total offense 321 179
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INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing
FCSH — Ahern, 4-23; Arnold, 5-19; Dunn, 3-1, TD; Kean, 5-50, TD; Keller, 1-5; Kirkendall, 1-1; Malone, 4-14; Martin, 1-0; Schawang, 2-2, TD.
Passing
FCSH — Dunn, 17-21-0, 206 yds., 4 TD; Malon, 0-1-0.
Receiving
FCSH — Kean, 2-11; Malone, 2-28; Niemeyer, 6-72, TD; Schawang, 2-24, TD; Scheitel, 2-45, TD; Strasheim, 3-26, TD.
PAT
FCSH — Haralabidis, 7-7.
Field Goals (attempts-made)
FCSH — Haralabidis, 0-1 (37 yds.).
Kickoffs
FCSH — Haralabidis, 8-398, 49.8 avg.
Kickoff Returns
FCSH — Fiegener, 1-12.
Punts
FCSH — Ramer, 2-81, 40.5 avg.
Punt Returns
FCSH — Malone, 3-36.
Interceptions-Return yds.
FCSH — Kirkendall, 1-5.
Fumble Recoveries
FCSH — Scheitel, 1.
Tackles
(unassisted-assisted)
FCSH — Ahern, 1-0; Arnold, 0-2; Dunn, 2-0; Fiegener, 1-13; D. Keithley, 0-3; Kirkendall, 0-2; Malone, 1-7; Niemeyer, 2-8; Schawang, 8-15; Scheitel, 1-7; Strasheim, 0-2.
Sacks
FCSH — Fiegener and Niemeyer, one each.
Tackles For Losses-Yards Lost
FCSH — Fiegener, 3-12; Niemeyer, 2-11; Schawang, 6-15.
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