Nebraska
Jett Thomalla, Millard South Cruise To Nebraska High School Football Title
It was the perfect culmination to an incredible career for one Nebraska high school football standout.
Jett Thomalla led Millard South High School to the Class A Nebraska high school football state championship with a one-sided 49-0 victory over Papillion-LaVista South in the finals.
The Patriots, who were the No. 4 seed due to receiving a forfeit loss during the regular season, earned wins in the playoffs by 42, 45 and 41 points to get them into the championship.
Thomalla, an Alabama commit, was flawless in leading seven first half touchdown drives to put Millard South up at the half by what the final score would eventually be.
In the first quarter, the Patriots scored four touchdowns, adding three more in the second quarter behind Thomalla.
Thomalla was 15 of 21 passing for 288 yards and seven touchdowns, though he did throw an interception. Amarion Jackson, an Iowa State commit who missed time this season, had six receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
Owen Zech, another senior like Thomalla and Jackson, caught four passes for 129 yards and three touchdowns. Both Gabe Prucha and Isaac Jensen, also seniors, caught a touchdown pass.
Prucha added a team-high 83 yards rushing.
Thomalla finished his final season of high school football by completing 193 of 266 passes fro 3,484 yards with 58 touchdowns and five interceptions. He had seven passing touchdowns in each of the last two games, throwing for at least two in every contest this season.
Five times Thomalla went over 300 yards, including a season-high 463 in a 62-21 playoff win over No. 1 seed Omaha Westside.
During his career, Thomalla played in 40 games, completing 648 of 974 for 10,253 yards. He threw 134 touchdowns against just 19 interceptions, adding 252 yards rushing and six more scores.
Over the past three seasons, Millard South went 33-4 with one of those defeats being a forfeit loss. They won the last two state championships, besting Omaha Westside in the finals last year, 27-10.
In other championship action on Tuesday, Wahoo bested Sidney, 20-6, and Bishop Neumann topped Grand Island Catholic, 37-15.
On Monday, Sandy Creek downed Crofton, 66-26, Waverly got by Gretna East, 42-27, and Wynot bested St. Mary’s in a scorefest, 71-60.
Nebraska
Cale Jacobsen scores 15 and No. 9 Nebraska beats Iowa 84-75 in overtime after blowing late lead
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Cale Jacobsen came off the bench to score 13 of his 15 points after halftime and hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer in overtime, and ninth-ranked Nebraska matched its program record for wins in a season with an 84-75 victory over Iowa on Sunday.
Sam Hoiberg, who scored 15 points and had five steals on his senior day, hugged teammate Pryce Sandfort near halfcourt as time ran out and then heaved the ball high into the stands. He and his father, coach Fred Hoiberg, embraced and a short time later the rest of the Huskers came out of the tunnel to salute the sellout crowd at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
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Nebraska (26-5, 15-5 Big Ten) led by 10 points with five minutes left in regulation but missed five of its next seven shots and a couple of late free throws to let the Hawkeyes back in it. Kael Combs scored Iowa’s last eight points of regulation, including a second-chance 3-pointer that tied it 70-all with 2.7 seconds left.
After Cooper Koch tied it at 75-all in overtime, Jacobsen made a 3 from the corner and the Huskers went on to score the final nine points. The Huskers beat Iowa (20-11, 10-10) for the first time in five meetings and split the season series.
Sandfort, who transferred from Iowa after last season, scored 15 points and Rienk Mast added 14 for the Huskers.
Combs and Koch had 18 points apiece for the Hawkeyes, who committed 19 turnovers.
Up next
Iowa: The Hawkeyes are the No. 9 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and play Oregon or Maryland on Wednesday.
Nebraska: The Huskers are the No. 2 seed and play Friday.
The first Big Ten Conference series of the year for NU ends in a sweep.
Nebraska baseball pounded Michigan State in Sunday’s series finale at Haymarket Park, 12-2, in seven innings. The Huskers improved to 10-5, while the Spartans fell to 3-11.
With Sunday’s victory, NU moves to 3-0 in the league.
- The Game
- The Stats
- What’s Next
- Nebraska Baseball’s 2026 Schedule
The Game
Down 2-0 in the series, Michigan State needed a spark early to try to salvage at least one win in Lincoln. In the top of the first inning, first baseman Randy Seymour took a 3-1 pitch from Gavin Blachowicz to right center and over the fence.
But, for the Spartans, that spark was quickly extinguished.
Nebraska loaded the bases with no outs on a walk, a single, and a single. Case Sanderson then doubled to score them all. He would cross home plate two batters later when Preston Freeman smacked a 1-0 pitch down the left field line for a two-run homer.
Already up 5-1, Dylan Carey lifted a two-run home run in the second inning. The Huskers would tack on one run in the third, one in the fourth, two in the fifth, and one more in the sixth. At the end of the game, Nebraska scored in every inning in which it went to the plate.
Blachowicz sat down 11 batters from the second through fifth innings. A leadoff double in the sixth inning helped Michigan State add one more run to its tally.
In the top of the seventh inning, with a 10-run rule waiting to be enacted, the Spartans got a one-out single before being put down via a fly out and a fielder’s choice to end the game.
The Stats
Blachowicz pitched the entire 7.0 innings Sunday afternoon. He allowed two earned runs on three hits, walking one and striking out 11.
The Huskers, who rattled off 11 hits, were aided by five Spartan errors. That helped bring home extra runs, with four of the 12 runs scored being unearned.
Carey led the way at the plate for the Big Red. The shortstop went 3-for-4 with four RBI, two home runs, and three runs scored.
Nebraska left seven runners on base, while Michigan State stranded just two.
What’s Next
Nebraska’s nine-game homestand continues with a midweek contest against North Dakota State.
The Bison are 1-14 on the year and coming off a sweep at Vanderbilt. The lone victory was 5-1 over Monmouth at the Stetson Tournament on Feb. 21.
First pitch from Haymarket Park on Wednesday is slated for 6 p.m. CDT. The game will be streamed on B1G+.
Have a question or comment for Kaleb? Send an email to kalebhenry.huskermax@gmail.com.
Nebraska Baseball’s 2026 Schedule
- Feb. 13 Nebraska 12, UConn 2 [7 inn.] (MLB Desert Invitational)
- Feb. 14 Nebraska 7, Northeastern 4 (MLB Desert Invitational)
- Feb. 15 Nebraska 9, Grand Canyon 1 (MLB Desert Invitational)
- Feb. 16 Stanford 11, Nebraska 6 (MLB Desert Invitational)
- Feb. 20 Louisville 4, Nebraska 2 (Amegy Bank College Baseball Series)
- Feb. 21 Kansas State 3, Nebraska 3 FloCollege (Amegy Bank College Baseball Series)
- Feb. 22 Nebraska 10, Florida State 1 (Amegy Bank College Baseball Series)
- Feb. 27 Nebraska 9, Auburn 8 [10 inn.]
- Feb. 28 Auburn 15, Nebraska 4 [7 inn.]
- Mar. 1 Auburn 12, Nebraska 3
- Mar. 3 Nebraska 8, Omaha 5
- Mar. 4 Nebraska 5, South Dakota State 4
- Mar. 6 Nebraska 5, Michigan State 4 [10 inn.]
- Mar. 7 Nebraska 3, Michigan State 1
- Mar. 8 Nebraska 12, Michigan State 2 [7 inn.]
- Mar. 11 vs. North Dakota State 6 p.m.
- Mar. 13 vs. Maine 6 p.m.
- Mar. 14 vs. Maine 2 p.m.
- Mar. 15 vs. Maine 12 p.m.
- Mar. 17 at Wichita State 6 p.m.
- Mar. 18 at Wichita State 2 p.m.
- Mar. 20 at Michigan 3 p.m.
- Mar. 21 at Michigan 1 p.m.
- Mar. 22 at Michigan 12 p.m.
- Mar. 24 at Kansas State 6 p.m.
- Mar. 27 vs. Indiana 6 p.m.
- Mar. 28 vs. Indiana 2 p.m.
- Mar. 29 vs. Indiana 12 p.m.
- Mar. 31 at Creighton 6 p.m.
- Apr. 3 vs. Penn State 6 p.m.
- Apr. 4 vs. Penn State 2 p.m.
- Apr. 5 vs. Penn State 12 p.m.
- Apr. 7 vs. Kansas 6 p.m.
- Apr. 10 at Oregon 7 p.m.
- Apr. 11 at Oregon 4 p.m.
- Apr. 12 at Oregon 2 p.m.
- Apr 14 vs. Creighton 6 p.m.
- Apr. 17 vs. USC 6 p.m.
- Apr. 18 vs. USC 2 p.m.
- Apr. 19 vs. USC 12 p.m.
- Apr. 21 at Kansas 6 p.m.
- Apr. 24 at Illinois 6 p.m.
- Apr. 25 at Illinois 3 p.m.
- Apr. 26 at Illinois 1 p.m.
- Apr. 28 vs. Kansas State 6 p.m.
- May 1 at Ohio State 5 p.m.
- May 2 at Ohio State 2 p.m.
- May 3 at Ohio State 12 p.m.
- May 8 vs. Iowa 6 p.m.
- May 9 vs. Iowa 2 p.m.
- May 10 vs. Iowa 1 p.m.
- May 12 at Creighton 6 p.m.
- May 14 at Minnesota 6 p.m.
- May 15 at Minnesota 6 p.m.
- May 16 at Minnesota 1 p.m.
- May 19-24 Big Ten Tournament
Home games are bolded. All times central.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Press release courtesy of LOVB Nebraska:
The state of Nebraska once again proved why it’s the Volleyball Capital of the U.S. as a sold-out Heartland Events Center played host to a LOVB Nebraska sweep of LOVB Salt Lake (29-27, 25-16, 25-22) on Saturday night in Grand Island, Nebraska.
Outside hitter Jordan Larson shined once again for Nebraska (5-7), recording her third-straight match with 15+ points. The Hooper, Nebraska, native tallied 14 kills on a season-high .385 hitting efficiency, tacking on 13 digs for her second double-double in three matches.
“I think I’ve always kind of played like this,” said Larson. “You never know when the last could be, and so to me it’s just like how can I continue to leave it all out there. How do I continue to show up and let my body do it? I’m really trying to enjoy this as much as I can.”
The other half of Nebraska’s dominant outside hitting tandem, Anne Buijs, was close behind Larson, securing 13 points on 13 kills. Opposite hitter Kimberly Drewniok rounded out a trio of Nebraska athletes in the double figures for points and kills, also scoring 13 points on 13 kills.
The true highlight of the match were the fans that filled the Heartland Events Center. Central Nebraska showed up and made it known, creating a tough environment for Salt Lake while continuously energizing the home bench.
“We’re thrilled to be in Grand Island. That’s the best crowd we’ve had all season,” said Nebraska head coach Suzie Fritz.
“You could feel the energy. I think they helped us with a couple points. They really do make a difference and it’s really impactful for us to hear that and be a part of it,” said Larson.
“When Jordan got announced in the starting lineup, I told her I got goosebumps because the fans were just so amazing,” said Drewniok.
Salt Lake (8-6) continues having midseason struggles, extending its losing streak to five matches and now falling one game back of first place. Outside hitter Claire Hoffman led all athletes on the floor tonight with a match-high 16 points and 15 kills.
“Unfortunately, really frustrated after the match,” said Salt Lake head coach Tama Miyashiro. “We gotta look forward and no one’s feeling sorry for us. We’re going to try to get back to work and fix a couple things.”
LOVB Nebraska will look to continue its hot streak next Thursday, March 12, against LOVB Madison for a 7 p.m. Central first serve at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The contest will stream on ESPN+.
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