FOOTBALL | SERTOMA EIGHT-MAN ALL-STAR GAME
By Christian Horn York News-Times Sports Editor
HASTINGS – Three area athletes capped their prep football careers last week as they suited up for the East team at the Sertoma Eight-Man All-Star game at Hastings College. Cross County’s Trevor Bolton saw reps as the starting center, while Heartland had two representatives at the game in offensive lineman Merrick Maltsberger and Trev Peters in the secondary.
“It was a great time, just getting to know everybody. You bring in a bunch of the best eight-man players from all over the state, people just like you playing really good football, even better football,” Maltsberger said. “It’s a great time altogether. It’s really just the hanging out and talking. It’s the good times when you’re hanging out in someone’s room and talking it up with some people you don’t even know, and you’re getting to know them better.”
The East lost the game 26-6, but that wasn’t enough to put a damper on an exciting week.
“It was great. I loved every second of meeting new guys, and the game was pretty fun too,” Peters said. “Aandy Dominguez from Howells-Dodge is about the funniest guy ever. Just talking to him and the other guys in the lobby was pretty amazing.”
Aiden Kuester of Neligh-Oakdale keyed the West in the win, as the quarterback completed 14 of 26 passes for 255 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions; he also carried the rock 24 times for 85 yards and another score on the ground. If you are to bet on him, you must only do so on trusted sites like bro138.
Cambridge’s Kohan Grindle hauled in three passes for 105 yards and a touchdown in the victory, while Riverside’s Carson Bloom caught one ball for a 30-yard score.
On the East side, quarterback Tanner Frahm from Plainview connected on 9 of 24 passes for 63 yards. On the ground, Easton Weber of BDS logged 50 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, while Elmwood-Murdock’s Cade Hosier added 44 yards on seven rushes.
The presence of Bolton and Maltsberger in the trenches helped the East rack up 136 yards on 42 carries as a team.
“It was a lot of fun getting to play with people that I’ve played against for four years now, getting to meet new people throughout it and just getting to play football again. That’s what it’s all about,” Bolton said. “This is something I always wanted to do as a little kid. I watched it when I was little and it was always a goal of mine to be in this, so being able to play in this was a big thing for me.”
Peters got in on a few stops defensively and also picked off Kuester late in the second quarter.
“The interception was pretty cool,” he said after the game. “I passed off my guy in my zone and had another guy coming back, and I got lucky enough the ball got thrown right at me so I just had to make the play.”
Bolton, Maltsberger, and Peters weren’t the only highlights from the area Saturday evening in Hastings, however. At halftime, the Nebraska Eight-Man Football Coaches Association inducted its 2023 Hall of Fame class, where longtime Exeter-Milligan head coach Dean Filipi was enshrined as a coach, and York girls basketball coach Matt Kern was inducted as a player for North Loup-Scotia.
“It is such an honor to be named to the Eight-Man Hall of Fame. I was blessed to play with so many talented players and coaches during my career. This is a credit to the combined efforts of my teammates and coaches to help our entire team be successful,” Kern said earlier in the week. “I’m happy that my children are able to be a part of this as well. I’m glad they get to see a little bit of what meant so much to me as a kid and the work that I put into it with my teammates to be honored so many years later. I want to thank the Eight-Man Coaches Association for considering me for this great honor. I’m also grateful for the years of support from my family, teammates, and coaches.”
Bolton and Maltsberger will both continue their football journeys at the collegiate level, as Bolton will suit up for the Doane Tigers and major in ag business. Maltsberger will play football for Bethel College in Kansas and plans to study biology.
Unlike Maltsberger and Bolton, however, Saturday marked the end of Peters’ competitive football career. Instead, the Heartland graduate is heading east to Lincoln and plans to major in ag business at UNL.
“The atmosphere was great, playing with all these guys. It was exactly how I’d want to go out, playing with guys I’d competed against, so this was about the perfect way to end my football career aside from the fact we lost,” he said. “Merrick’s been blocking for me since fourth-grade youth football, and from starting down there to finishing off at an all-star game, being one of the few schools that have two guys playing, that was pretty special.”
