Jeff Bellar, president of the Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic Board of Directors has announced the coaches, officials and player rosters for the 2021 game.

Steve Neptune of West Holt High School and Dan Maresh of Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur (BRLD) have been named head coaches for the eighth Red vs. White Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic.

The game will be held on Saturday, June 12, 2021 at Veteran’s Memorial Field in Norfolk. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 noon.

Bellar said his Board of Directors is very pleased with the high quality of the coaches selected to coach in the 2021 game. “These coaches have all had success in the coaching ranks, have many years of experience and are men of tremendous character. The coaches have been 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 2021. 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 Bradley Wright of Boyd County.

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, Rusty Rautenberg of Elkhorn Valley, Trevor Staman of Norfolk Public School, 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 eleven 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 16 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 eight 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 and 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 an assistant football coach at Fremont High School (2001-02) and Nebraska Wesleyan University (1997-2000). 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 5 years. Schurman was born and raised in Randolph.

WRIGHT PLAYED FOOTBALL at Wayne State College from 2008-2012. He was a member of the track team during those years as well, qualifying for nationals twice in throwing events. Wright started his football coaching career as an assistant at O’Neill under Brock Eichelberger from 2015-2017. The O’Neill Eagles won state in Class C-1 in 2016. In 2018, Wright began his first season as head coach at Boyd County where he continues to teach and coach. He is a Ewing, NE native.

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 27-22 record and qualifying for the playoffs in 2 of the last 5 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 five years. Prior to that he was an assistant for three years with him at Lyons-Decatur.

TREVOR STAMAN has been an assistant coach for the past eight years. From 2012 to 2016 he coached football and wrestling in Gering. He has been an assistant coach for Norfolk since 2017 before becoming the Head Freshmen coach in 2019. On the offensive side of the ball, he has coached quarterbacks and running backs, and on defense, linebackers and cornerbacks.

RUSTY RAUTENBERG has been in coaching for 24 years as a head or assistant coach.  He was head coach at Lindsay Holy Family from 1994 to 2005.  During this time his teams won two State Championships and two State Runners-up while qualifying for the play-offs nine times.  He was head coach at Elkhorn Valley Schools 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 and 2020.

STRICKLIN HAS BEEN AN assistant football coach the past 21 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 17 years.

Game Officials Announced

Game officials for the 8th Red vs. White Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic have been announced for the 2021 contest, according to Jeff Bellar, 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 2021 game.

The player rosters for the game have also been announced.

White Team players are:

Jesus Barragan, West Point-Beemer

Mike Brands, Oakland-Craig

Mason Bruggeman, Stanton

Gavyn Clause, Elkhorn Valley

Haustyn Forney, Humphrey St. Francis

Cole Greek, Boone Central

Lucas Hammer, Plainview

Brayden Hanley, Norfolk High

Julien Hearn, Neligh-Oakdale

Zach Huwaldt, Osmond

Colton Klabenes, Neligh-Oakdale

Ryan Kramer, Boone Central

Justin Leifeld, Humphrey St. Francis

Eli Lingle, Tekamah-Herman

Peyton Mathews, O’Neill

Tyler McBride, Wisner-Pilger

Jace Meinke, Battle Creek

Adam Miller, Elkhorn Valley

Mason Mink, Battle Creek

Caden Nelson, Oakland-Craig

Lance Paprocki, Clarkson-Leigh

Derek Petersen, Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur

Zach Pfeifer, Lindsay Holy Family

Sutton Pohlman, Stanton

Edgar Rodriguez, West Point-Beemer

Joe Rodriguez, West Point-Beemer

Dalton Ruth, Norfolk High

Logan Sanford, Chambers/Wheeler Central

Joshua Schamp, Norfolk High

Cody Steffen, Guardian Angels Central Catholic

Brett Uhing, Logan View/Scribner-Snyder

Diedrick Ulrich, Norfolk High

Anthony Umphress, Summerland

Zach Vander Griend, West Point-Beemer

Mason Walsh, O’Neill

Karter Welch, Humphrey St. Francis

Red Team players are:

Nicholas Arenas, Wakefield

Hunter Bennett, Ponca

Garrett Boelter, Lutheran High NE

Blake Brown, Wakefield

Jaxson Cadwallader, West Holt

Jackson Clausen, Norfolk Catholic

Cayden Cunningham, Norfolk Catholic

Adam Ectenkamp, Lutheran High NE

Justin Erb, Wakefield

Layne Evans, Wayne

Anthony Haberman, Wynot

Justin Haselhorst, Randolph

Kobe Heitman, Hartington-Newcastle

Kerby Hochstein, Cedar Catholic

Nolan Hunke, Wayne

Anthony Isom, Allen

Eli, Knapp Lutheran High NE

Victor Kniesche, Wayne

Reid Korth, Wayne

Alex Luze, Ponca

Garret Meier, Pierce

Austin Meikle, Norfolk Catholic

Tristan Miller, Pierce

Logan Moeller, Pierce

Quinn Pape, Lutheran High NE

Wade Paxton, Stuart

Alex Prim, Norfolk Catholic

Rumen Rentschler, West Holt

Shawn Rinkel, Pierce

Myles Thoene, Cedar Catholic

Austin Tramp, Crofton

Sam Vortherms, Creighton

Rylan Weaver, Wakefield

Isaiah Wiese, St. Mary’s

Peyton Wieseler, Wynot

Jaden Zimmerman, Crofton