Steve Neptune of West Holt High School and Dan Maresh of Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur (BRLD) have been named head coaches for the Eighth Annual Red vs. White Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic, according to Mike Sunderman, President of the Classic’s Board of Directors.

The game will be held on Saturday, June 13, 2020 at Veteran’s Memorial Field in Norfolk. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 noon. 

Sunderman said his Board of Directors is very pleased with the high quality of the coaches selected to coach in the 2020 game. “These coaches have all had success in the coaching ranks, have many years of experience and are men of tremendous character. The coaches are currently busy determining their teams and are excited to be able to help provide this experience for the players, their families and the football fans in Northeast Nebraska.”

Neptune served as an assistant for the Red Team in the 2015 game and will lead the Reds in 2020. Maresh was an assistant for the White Team in 2015 and will serve as head coach for the Whites this year. 

Neptune is appreciative of the opportunity to lead the Reds. “It is my honor to be able to coach such a fine group of athletes. Not only is it fun for the kids but the coaches as we get to work with some of the best athletes in the northeast and central part of Nebraska. It is also fun for me as I get to work with some fine coaches and be able to get great ideas and coaching points from them.”

Neptune’s staff will include Justin Jordan of Lutheran High Northeast, Joe Kvidera of Emerson-Hubbard, Chris Nemetz of West Holt, Colin Schurman of Stuart Public School and Cody Volk of Pender.

Maresh is honored to have been chosen to lead the White Team. “I am excited to be part of such a special event. It is an honor to work with the outstanding players and coaches of Northeast Nebraska. The All-Star Classic makes it such a tremendous week for the players and coaches and I am looking forward to being a part of it.”

Joining Maresh on the white side will be Mason Alitz of BRLD, T.J Hilsinger of BRLD, Shon King of Norfolk Public School, Rusty Rautenberg of Elkhorn Valley and David Stricklin of Humphrey St. Francis. 

Here is a look at the Red Team’s coaching staff:

NEPTUNE WAS AN ASSISTANT coach in Bazine, KS from 1995-1998 then moved on to Lamont, OK and was an assistant coach in 1999 and in 2000 became the head coach. In 2004, he moved to become the head coach at Texhoma High School in OK. After a six-year stint, he moved to Atkinson, NE to become the head football coach at West Holt High School for the past ten years.

JORDAN GRADUATED FROM Coleridge Community Schools in 1993 then attended Wayne State College and graduated from Northeast Community College. He has been the assistant coach at Lutheran High Northeast for the past 15 years. Thirteen years with Coach Darin Suckstorf and two years with former head coach Andy White. He has coached receivers on offense. On the defensive side of the ball, he has coached outside linebackers for eight years and defensive line for seven years. Jordan stated, “I am honored to work with the best football players in Northeast Nebraska, and work with the best coaches in this corner of the state.”

KVIDERA IS THE head football coach at Emerson-Hubbard Community Schools where he also teaches social studies and coaches track & field. Joe began his teaching and coaching career in 1994 at Louisa-Muscatine High School in Letts, IA. In 1999, he began teaching and coaching at Ponca High School. In eleven seasons at Ponca, he served as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator for the Indians. He became head coach in 2006. In 2009, his team went undefeated and won the Class C-2 State Championship. He began teaching and coaching at Emerson-Hubbard in 2011, serving first as an assistant and then in 2018 became the head coach. The 2018 team finished 6-2 and won a district championship. In 25 years of coaching, Kvidera, has coached teams that have won four district championships, one state championship and made twelve playoff appearances. Joe is a 1993 Wayne State graduate and a native of South Sioux City.

NEMETZ IS CURRENTLY the assistant coach and defensive coordinator of West Holt High School. He was the head coach from 2003-09, junior high head coach in 2010 and has been alongside Steve Neptune since 2011. Prior to West Holt, Chris was the assistant football coach at Fremont High School. He started his coaching career at Nebraska Wesleyan University where he was a student assistant coach to the running backs in 1997 and assistant football coach for the defensive backs from 1998-2000. Nemetz stated, “I am honored to be a part of this contest and to represent Northeast Nebraska!”

SCHURMAN GRADUATED FROM Wayne State College in 2014. He started coaching Randolph for two seasons while he was going back to school at Wayne State. He claims that coaching at Randolph was a great way to start his coaching career before moving on to Stuart. He has been the head football and girls’ basketball coach at Stuart for 4 years. Schurman was born and raised in Randolph. 

VOLK COACHED AS AN assistant at Battle Creek High School for 6 years under Andrew Carlson before becoming an assistant coach at Pender High School in 2018. Volk was an offensive/defensive line coach during his time in Battle Creek. In 2019, Volk became the head football coach at Pender High School. The Pendragons made the D-2 playoffs in Volk’s first year as head coach. Volk is a graduate of UNL where he was an offensive lineman for the Huskers from 1999-2003 under Head Coach Frank Solich and Offensive Line Coach Milt Tenopir. 

Here is a look at the White Team’s coaching staff:

MARESH WAS AN ASSISTANT coach for three seasons before becoming the head coach at Lyons-Decatur from 2010 to 2015. During this time Lyons-Decatur qualified for the playoffs in 4 of those seasons and had a record of 27-26. In 2016, he became the head coach of the newly formed BRLD coop and has been part of a 25-16 record and qualifying for the playoffs the last 2 seasons. 

ALITZ BEGAN HIS COACHING career in 2017 as a volunteer for BRLD’s football team, while concurrently studying at Wayne State College. Upon graduation, he was hired at Lyons-Decatur Northeast where he became the assistant to Coach Maresh. During that time he has coached running backs, linebackers, wide receivers and corners. 

HILSINGER IS A 2006 graduate of Wayne State College and a 2003 graduate of Bancroft-Rosalie. He is currently the Defensive Coordinator, Defensive Line Coach and TE coach at BRLD. He has been an assistant under Dan Maresh at BRLD for four years. Prior to that he was an assistant for three years with him at Lyons-Decatur. 

KING GRADUATED FROM Patrick Henry High School in San Diego, CA in 1990. He began coaching in 2000-2001 as the varsity offensive coordinator at Clairemont High School in San Diego. In 2003, he was the freshman wide receivers’ coach at Norfolk High. King coached Arena Football for the Quad City Steamwheelers from 2007-2009, starting out as a wide receiver/special teams’ coach, then Offensive Coordinator before finally serving the team as head coach. In 2011, he was the head coach for the Abilene Ruff Riders. From 2009-2013 and currently he is the varsity wide receiver/returners’ coach and reserve team offensive coordinator for the Panthers. King spent the 2014-15 season at Helix Charter High School in San Diego where he served as the varsity wide receivers/returners’ coach and JV offensive coordinator. There his team earned open division runner up in 2014 and open division champions in 2015. In 2016, he was the defensive back/special teams’ coach for the Tri-Cities Fever in the IFL (Indoor Football League). Before graduation, King was a Junior College All American at San Diego Mesa College and also a DII All American at Wayne State. He played six years professionally in arena/indoor leagues.

RAUTENBERG HAS BEEN IN coaching for 23 years as a head or assistant coach. He was head coach at Lindsay Holy Family from 1994-2005. During this time his teams won two state championships and two state runners-up while qualifying for the play-offs nine times. He then headed to Elkhorn Valley Schools where he was the head coach from 2007-2016, leading the Falcons to three semi-final games in 6-man football. He is currently an assistant at Elkhorn Valley where the Falcons qualified for the 8-man playoffs in 2019. His career record as a head coach is 121-78. 

STRICKLIN HAS BEEN AN assistant football coach the past 20 years. He coached one year of arena football where he was the defensive line and special teams’ coach, three years at Gibbon High School where he was the defensive and offensive line coach. Stricklin has been at Humphrey St. Francis as the defensive and offensive line coach for the past 16 years. 

Game Officials Announced

Game officials for the 8^th annual Red vs. White Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic have been announced for the 2020 contest, according to Mike Sunderman, President of the Board of Directors. The five-man crew, as voted on by the Classic’s Board of Directors, include: Bryan Daum of Battle Creek, referee; Jeff Keagle of Wakefield, umpire; Nate Hahne of Norfolk, back judge; Chris Barry of Battle Creek, head linesman and Brian Chapman of Battle Creek, as a line judge. “Our crew is honored to officiate the Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic. “It is a pleasure to help showcase the talents of Northeast Nebraska. Thanks to all involved for giving us the opportunity to take part in this great event!” said Bryan Daum, referee for the 2020 game.