Prichard Auditorium hadn’t hosted a celebrity in years. What was once a venue hosting boxing, Jesse Owens and the Harlem Globetrotters had gone largely underutilized recently. That is until Larry the Cable Guy, AKA Dan Whitney, brought his “Larry’s Nebraska Road Trip” comedy show to Falls City.

Larry’s tour kicked off on January 23 in Kearney and will end on March 2 in Chadron after nine stops across the state. Larry, a native of Pawnee City, is donating proceeds from the tour to Theatre Programs in his performing areas. The Falls City High School and Sacred Heart High School Theatre Programs will split the proceeds from the show.

How you know Larry depends on your age. In the 1990s, Dan began his career by making regular appearances on the radio, namely 101.9 The Edge of Omaha and the Todd and Tyler Show, as his character Larry the Cable Guy. The Cable Guy, as he was often known, is known worldwide for his redneck attire and made the phrase “Git-R-Done” famous.

In the early 2000s, he was a member of the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour,” which included comedians Bill Engvall, Ron White and Jeff Foxworthy.

The next age group knows Larry as the beloved rusty tow truck Mater from the 2006 hit Disney/Pixar movie Cars. The movie features an all-star cast of voice actors and was a box office hit, bringing in $462 million. Larry made subsequent appearances as Mater in Cars 2 and Cars 3.

The newest generation may know Larry from his time on The Masked Singer in 2021 or from his Netflix standup special, Larry the Cable Guy: Remain Seated, from 2020.

Whatever or wherever you may know him from, Larry has become a worldwide sensation and has brought laughter to millions.

Since creating The Git-R-Done Foundations, Larry has donated over $7 million to various charities.

Lines began at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, as many braved the cold as the lines wrapped around the building until the doors opened at 5:00 p.m. Approximately 1,600 tickets were sold to the event, one of the largest crowds at the facility in recent memory.

Larry told the sold-out audience that it was great to give back to the theatre departments of Sacred Heart and Falls City and that he was proud to be from southeast Nebraska.

Special guest Nick Hoff, a Hastings native, warmed the crowd up, and Larry kept the full house laughing for nearly 90 minutes.

Larry will be recording a comedy special featuring all new material on Saturday, March 15, at the Bilheimer Capitol Theatre in Clearwater, Florida.

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In this week’s column, I’m going to explore the Sacred Heart Irish baseball teams from 1968 and 1969. That’s right, Sacred Heart ran nine men onto the diamond long before we had the Tiger baseball team. The baseball season ran in conjunction with Sacred Heart’s track, tennis and golf seasons. Crazy right?

In year one of the program, SH made it to the Class B District final before their season ended. The following season wasn’t so kind to the Irish as they fell in round one of District play and finished the season with just one win. The following spring, in 1970, it was announced that the program would be discontinued.

In the March 26, 1968, Falls City Journal, it was announced that SH would field a ball club and be coached by Don Armstrong. Scheduling was tricky, and the Irish opened the year with only four games on tap, not including districts. The team consisted of four seniors, Bill Hill, Mike Gibson, Mike Schlosser and Dick Hall. The juniors were Jim Bauman, Charles Guilliams, Don Sells, Tom Hill and Jim Olberding. Sophomores on the squad were Rick Santo, Steve Bird, Bob Olberding, Phil Aitken, Bill Hoy, Tony Ahern, Jim Hines, John O’Grady and Dave Snider, and freshmen included Dan Bird and Pat Hoy.

Due to poor spring weather, Sacred Heart’s season opener was on Saturday, April 27. SH dropped both games of a doubleheader against Ralston, 1-2 and 0-11.

In game one, the contest was tied at 1-1 in the sixth when Ralston plated a run against Irish pitcher Bill Hill to get the 2-1 win. Hill struck out eight batters and walked three in the loss. In the seventh inning of game one, Tony Ahern was struck by a pitch in the head and had his day come to a close. SH’s only run came in the fourth when Bob Olberding singled home Hill to make it 1-1.

Game two was an entirely different story as the Irish fell 0-11 in 4 ½ innings.

The Irish fell to 0-3 on April 29 when they lost to Elmwood 8-5 at City Park. Tom Hill took the loss, allowing four hits and six runs in 2 1/3 innings. Bill Hoy, Tom Hill, Phil Aitken and Jim Olberding all singled in the loss.

On Wednesday, May 1, the Irish earned the program’s first win, 7-6 in extra innings over Johnson. With the score tied at 7-7 in the eighth, Mike Gibson reached base after getting hit by a pitch. Gibson moved to third on a bad pickoff attempt and a wild pitch. He slid across home plate, scoring the game-winning run on a squeeze bunt attempt. Hoy got the win, pitching 7 2/3 innings, allowing six hits, three runs and struck out four.

SH picked up another victory the following day, defeating Adams 6-4. With the game tied at 4-4 in the seventh, Bob Olberding walked, Gibson reached on an error, and Bill Hoy came through with a two-run single to give the Irish the win.

Bill Hill earned the win, throwing 4 2/3 innings, surrendering three hits, one run, two walks and striking out nine.

The Irish made it three in a row on May 10, earning a 5-0 shutout win against Adams in the first round of the Class B Districts.

Don Sells scored the first run of the game. Sells reached after getting plunked and scored on a Dick Hall single. It was all the runs the Irish would need. Bill Hoy and Tom Hill each added singles and Hill drove in three runs.

The Irish moved on to the district finals with a 15-2 win over Sutton. Gibson added two hits and two RBI, Jim Olberding went 2-4 at the plate, and Tom Hill went 3-4 with four RBI. Bill Hill got the win, throwing five innings, allowing two hits, and two runs, while striking out nine.

SH ran out of gas in the finals, falling to Norris 8-3. Tom Hill launched a three-run blast over the left field fence in the first inning to account for all of Sacred Heart’s runs. Hill finished the game 2-3 with the HR and three RBI. SH fielders committed eight errors in the loss.

Year two was not so kind to the Irish. SH fell to Johnson-Brock 11-3 in the season opener. Trailing 6-0 in the fourth, Bill Hoy slammed a HR driving in Phil Aitken to make it 6-2. The game’s final run for SH came when Bill Simon hit a sac fly, scoring Tom Hill and making the final 11-3.

On April 21, 1969, SH defeated Adams 3-1. The Irish rallied in the sixth for two runs to earn the win. Hoy got the win on the mound, going seven innings, allowing eight hits and one run while striking out seven.

SH fell to Johnson-Brock again three days later, this time 9-4. The Irish trailed 3-0 in the third inning when Bill Dunbar walked, Aitken doubled, and Hoy singled to make it 3-2—Hoy later scored on an error to tie the contest at three. In the sixth, Simon singled and later scored on a Steve Hutfles base hit to make the final 9-4. Ron Rathbone of Johnson-Brock went 1-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.

The Irish fell to 1-3 on April 28, with a 7-5 loss at Sterling. The Irish left 14 runners stranded on base in the loss. The Irish loaded the bases twice and couldn’t push a run across the plate in the loss. Hoy went 2-4, Hill was 2-4, and Aitken was 1-3 with two RBI.

Sacred Heart’s season ended on May 23 in the first round of the Class B District with a 10-7 loss to Murdock. SH led 1-0 after one inning and 3-0 after three, but Murdock fought back for five runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to take a 7-3 lead. The Irish rallied in the seventh for two runs but left two runners on base as the game ended. Third baseman Bob Olberding pounded a single and double to lead the Irish. Right fielder Dave Snider added two singles, and Mike Hoy and Jim Olberding each singled.

The following spring, it was announced that the baseball program would be discontinued.

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On Friday, hoping to avoid the 0-2 mark, SH faced a tough Lawrence-Nelson Raider team on the road.

The Irish hung with the Raiders, even leading 8-6 after the first quarter. Lawrence-Nelson battled back to take a 14-8 halftime lead. The Irish tied the contest at 14 with just under five minutes to play; however, the Raiders scored the final 22 points, sending the Irish home with a 14-36 loss.

The Raiders opened the scoring when Jack Williams scored on a nine-yard run, capping off a 12-play, 52-yard drive to go in front 6-0. SH answered right back as Rob Froeschl scored from 47 yards away with 3:37 to go in the first. The PAT run by Froeschl put the Irish in the lead 8-6.

After the teams traded a couple of possessions, Lawrence-Nelson took the lead with 23 seconds to go in the half, 8-14. A two-yard run by the Raider QB capped off a 12-play, 76-yard drive to give Lawrence-Nelson a jolt before the half.

The second half opened with three straight three-and-outs before the Raiders drove to the Irish five-yard line. Senior Joe Simon jumped in front of a Raider pass and returned the ball 74 yards for the score to tie the game at 14 with 4:57 to play in the third period.

The Lawrence-Nelson offense dominated the rest of the game, going on scoring drives of 54, 53 and 46 yards to seal the win, 14-36.

The Raider defense proved challenging all night long as the Irish offense mustered just eight first downs and 143 yards of total offense. SH was also penalized an uncharacteristically 14 times for 125 in the contest.

The Irish passed for 43 yards and ran for 100, while Lawrence-Nelson threw for 261 yards and ran for 142.

Rob Froeschl led the Irish ground attack with 54 yards and a TD on five attempts. Simon added 36 yards on six carries and QB Tate Wilcox finished with 18 yards on 11 totes. Through the air, Wilcox completed 7/18 attempts for 43 yards. James Froeschl finished with three catches for 18 yards and Jack Stice caught one pass for 20 yards.

On defense, Wilcox, James Froeschl and Simon all finished with 15 tackles. Vaughn Lenard also added 11 tackles and Rob Froeschl stopped nine Raider ballcarriers. Defensive lineman Caleb Kirkendall proved tough up front, finishing with four tackles for losses.

The Irish host 1-1 Nebraska Lutheran Friday night at Jug Brown Stadium. The Knights opened the year with a win at East Butler before falling last week to Silver Lake.

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After a rough opening week for the Sacred Heart football team, the Irish rebounded with a solid win over Lawrence-Nelson on Friday at Jug Brown Stadium. SH jumped out quickly, leading 28-6 after the first quarter. The Raiders fought back in the second, closing the gap to 34-18 at intermission. Each team scored once in the third, keeping the margin at 16 heading into the fourth. Lawrence-Nelson outscored SH 20-12 in the final period, but the Irish held on for the eight-point win, 52-44.

Evan Keithley opened the scoring for SH, hitting paydirt from 45-yards out to put the Irish in front 6-0 with 11:12 to play in the first. After a three and out, Keithley scored again, this time from 11 yards away, to put SH in the lead 14-0 with 8:02 on the clock.

The Irish defense forced a turnover on downs on the next series and Keithley crossed the goal line for the third time to put the Irish comfortably ahead 20-0 with 3:29 still to go in the opening quarter. The Raiders finally got on the board with 2:05 to go. A 54-yard pass play set up a three-yard run to cut the Irish lead to 20-6. SH rebounded less than thirty seconds later when Joe Simon caught a 27-yard TD pass from Sam Dunn to give SH a 28-6 lead after the first.

After a Raider TD to open the second, Dunn kept the pigskin for a 38-yard TD run, capping off a 4-play, 50-yard drive to put SH in the lead 34-12 with 6:24 to go before intermission. The Raiders got one last score before the half, cutting the Irish lead to 34-18 as the teams headed off the field.

In the third, QB Dunn engineered an eight-play, 67-yard TD drive, ending with a three-yard QB keeper to put the Irish up by 22, 40-18. Lawrence-Nelson responded with a long drive of their own, a 51-yard, 12-play drive to cut the lead to 40-24 with 1:32 to go in the third.

The Raiders opened the fourth with a quick TD, scoring on a 69-yard pass to cut the SH lead to eight, 40-32. The Irish responded with another clock-eating TD drive, chewing up almost five minutes and covering 70-yards in nine plays. Dunn ended the drive with a six-yard run to make it 46-32 with just 5:15 left on the clock.

Lawrence-Nelson kept fighting, scoring on the first play of the next drive to keep it interesting. With 2:36 on the clock, Dunn sealed the win with a 20-yard TD carry to put the Irish back up by 14, 52-38 with 2:36 to go. The Raiders tacked on one final score with 1:38 to go, but it was too little, too late, as SH held on for the win.

“We tackled better and we were more physical, which helped us win the game,” said Coach Doug Goltz. “Our defense gave up too many big pass plays, but we will improve. Lawrence-Nelson is an experienced team and will win most of their games, so this was a nice bounce-back victory. This week we competed harder and stuck together better.”

The two teams combined for 916 yards, with the Irish holding a 273-120 advantage on the ground.

Dunn led the Irish with 152 rushing and four TDs on 22 carries. Keithley added 87 yards and three TDs on 12 totes. Dunn also completed 15-21 pass attempts for 222 yards and a score.

Keithley was the leading receiver, catching eight balls for 121 yards, while Simon snagged four for 61 yards.

Defensively, Keithley led the charge with 17 stops. Riley Nelson added 13 tackles, one for loss and Dunn finished with 11.

Sacred Heart travels to Waco on Friday to take on the 2-0 Nebraska Lutheran Knights. The Knights have outscored opponents 121-52 so for this season.

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The top-seeded Sacred Heart Irish made their way to the NSAA state semifinals, downing the Wynot Blue Devils 46-29 at Lincoln Northeast on Monday morning in the opening round. Sacred Heart, making their 26th appearance (trailing only Lincoln Southeast with 27) at the state tourney, used a 10-0 run from the end of the third to the beginning of the fourth to pull away from the No. 8 seeded Blue Devils to get the win.

Wynot got off to a quick start on Monday morning, leading 5-2, but a pair of free throws by Jessica Wertenberger put SH in front for the first time, 6-5 with four minutes to play. Wertenberger kept the pressure on the Blue Devils, burying a three from the corner to put SH in front for good, 9-6. Erison Vonderschmidt picked up her third and fourth points of the game, hitting a pair of free throws to keep the Irish in the lead 11-8. Olivia Eickhoff closed out the scoring for the Irish with a floater to keep the lead at three, 13-10 heading into the second quarter.

Eickhoff scored her third point of the game, hitting 1-2 at the foul line in the opening minute of the second. More importantly, Wynot senior Karley Heimes who averaged 13 points and eight rebounds per game, picked up her third foul and missed the rest of the second quarter. With Heimes out, Wynot struggled on the offensive end, scoring three points, all from the foul line, in the period. Meanwhile, for the Irish, Vonderschmidt scored four straight and Rachel Magdanz closed out the scoring with a bucket to put Sacred Heart in front 20-13 at the break.

Magdanz continued to warm up in the third, scoring four points in the first two minutes to increase the Irish lead to 11, 24-13. Wynot kept pace, getting a three from Heimes and then a three-point play the old-fashioned way by Heimes to make it 26-19.

The Irish offense then started to click as Vonderschmidt hit two straight to begin a 10-0 run. DeLanie Witt canned a trey at the buzzer to give the Irish their biggest lead at 14, 33-19 at the end of three.

A drive and bucket by Magdanz in the fourth increased the Irish lead to 17, 38-21, with 6:34 to play. Threes by Myrah Sudbeck and Allison Wieseler cut the Irish advantage to 11 at 40-29. Sacred Heart proceeded to hit 6/8 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to seal the win, 46-29.

Sacred Heart was led by Magdanz with 17 points, nine coming in the final eight minutes. The senior made good on 5/6 attempts from the foul line. Vonderschmidt was next for the Irish with 15 points, hitting ¾ from the charity stripe. Karley Heimes scored 12 and Amber Lawson hit for five for the 15-11 Blue Devils.

Sacred Heart ends the Blue Devils season for the second consecutive season and is 4-5 versus Wynot all-time at the NSAA state tournament.

Scoring vs. Wynot

SH Magdanz 17, Eickhoff 5, Tisdel 1, Witt 3, Wertenberger 5, Vonderschmidt 15.

Wynot Myrah Sudbeck 3, Wieseler 3, Pinkelman 4, Kinslee Heimes 2, Lawson 5, Karley Heimes 12.

The win sets up a rematch against the Sterling Jets in the semifinals at the Devaney Center on Wednesday, March 9 at 6:00 p.m. The Irish defeated the Jets 72-45 to open the season and again, 55-47 in the subdistrict final. Sterling raced past South Platte, 65-33 in the district final to reach the state tournament for the fourth consecutive season and eighth overall. In the first round on Monday morning, the No. 5 seed Sterling Jets defeated the No. 4 seed Anselmo-Merna Coyotes 50-33, winning their sixth game in the last seven contests. Sterling enters the game at 20-6 and is led by Macy Richardson who averages 17 points and seven rebounds per contest. Richardson led Sterling on Monday with a game-high 29 points.

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• Active participants are permitted to wear face coverings during completion, but not required.

• Coaches and non-active participants are required to wear face coverings.

• Spectators are required to wear face coverings at all time.

• Attendance is restricted to 75 percent occupancy unless local health departments or host schools are more restrictive.

• The host may establish additional requirements. Any additional requirements implemented by the host school must be the same for all schools, officials and spectators.

Games will be live-streamed on YouTube at Fcsacredheart. The link is: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fc+sacredheart

• It’s requested that temperatures be taken of all those traveling with the team (athletes, coaches, managers, bus drivers) before traveling to Sacred Heart School.

• Athletes are permitted to wear face coverings during competition, but are not required.

• All athletes, coaches and bench personnel are required to wear face coverings on the bench.

• Score-table personnel must be masked.

• The home team will sit on the east bench (left as you face) and the visitor on the west bench (right as you face).

• Teams are to bring their own basketballs for warm-ups.

• Pre-game and post-game handshakes are prohibited.

• Teams are to exit the court immediately after their game concludes.

Fan Information

• It is asked that all self-screen themselves before attending activities at Sacred Heart School.

• Due to 75 percent occupancy each school is allowed 185 spectators per game. Gate Lists will not be required but the number of fans will be counted. Fans that arrive after the first 185 will be turned away. Spectators will only be allowed to attend the game their team is competing in. Please do not arrive early for the second game of the evening. Please leave immediately after the early game ends. Sacred Heart will require a Gate List to insure the 185 spectator max.

• Lewiston’s and Sterling’s spectators should enter the south entrance into the Roh Activity Center.

• College View’s, Diller-Odell’s, and FCSH’s spectators should enter the north entrance into the Roh

Activity Center

• Lewiston’s and Sterling’s spectators will use the south bleachers. College View’s, Diller-Odell’s, and

FCSH’s spectators will sit in the north bleachers.

• South bleacher spectators will use the RAC south restrooms. North bleacher spectators will use the

Elementary 

restrooms

• Face coverings are required and social distancing is required at all times. Family members are

required to sit together.

• Fans are to leave immediately at the conclusion of all games to limit gatherings.

• CONCESSIONS will be served but in a limited capacity.

• No cheerleaders or pep bands are allowed.

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The ceremony is being moved from Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church to the RAC due to the Phase III restrictions of the current DHM. This will allow for greater attendance. Senior candidates are permitted 12 persons to attend the graduation ceremony. 

Graduation will be by invite of the senior candidate only. Individuals not listed on the senior guest list will not be permitted to attend. Seating will be organized both in the bleachers and on the floor so that groups of eight or less in a family unit will be socially distanced. 

The Graduation will also be live-streamed on the Sacred Heart Facebook page. Previous plans to hold a community reception following Graduation have been canceled.

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By Brian McKim
        On a crisp Monday morning in Lincoln in front of 1,800 estimated fans at Memorial Stadium, the FC Sacred Heart Irish earned a third come-from-behind playoff win of this fall and in doing so, captured the program’s eighth state football championship, beating Twin Loup 44-28.
        Sacred Heart, the eighth seed in the East bracket entering this year’s playoffs, went through top-seeded Osceola with an implausible 34-28 road win in the second round, then traveled way north and hammered fifth-seeded Bloomfield 46-12 before finally returning home to face No. 1-ranked and second-seeded BDS in a dramatic rematch of a 36-12 Irish loss back on Oct. 7. Sacred Heart’s thrilling 16-12 upset, with the winning drive mounted capped with 14 seconds left on the clock, secured a return trip to Lincoln’s Memorial Stadium for the D2 title game, against the No. 1 seed in the West. Again, and only fittingly, the Irish fell into a quick 14-0 hole only to climb out and emerge holding the shiny trophy. FCSH Coach Doug Goltz improves to 8-0 in state football championship games and the 2016 trophy will find its place alongside that garnered in 2013, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990 and 1989. None of those seven teams overcame half the adversity this one did. After losing to BDS in the regular season, FCSH (fairly or otherwise) nearly tumbled completely out of the state rankings, emerging 10th that week in the Omaha World-Herald. This week? No. 1.

To read the full story with pictures, please sign into your E-Edition account or pic up a Falls City Journal today.

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