Nebraska’s top-ranked high school football team loaded with potential to end 38-year title drought
OMAHA, Neb. (BVM) — Omaha Westside’s football program has been close to ending its long state title drought before. The Warriors reached the championship game in 2006, 2013 and last year, only to fall short of winning it all for the first time since earning back-to-back titles in 1981 and 1982.
They set the expectation of winning the final game of the season every year, but this one might be their best shot yet. Westside has all of the experience and talent a team could want, including four standout senior difference-makers who are already committed to Division I college programs, and MaxPreps ranks the Warriors as the No. 1 high school football team in Nebraska heading into the season.
“We try not to worry about the expectations,” Westside head coach Brett Froendt said, “but we have high expectations ourselves and we just have to focus on ourselves the best we can. Of course that’s coach speak, but Thursday night we’ll find out where we are.”
That night of Aug. 27, the Warriors will play their opener at home against Creighton Prep, and it could be the start of a special season for a team that has plenty of reason to believe it will see a lot of success this fall.
One of the biggest reasons for Westside to feel confident is the return of Avante Dickerson, a senior two-way star who’s considered the best player in the state and is rated as the No. 47 overall recruit among ESPN’s top 300 rankings for the Class of 2021. The Minnesota commit is a shutdown cornerback who’s only allowed one touchdown pass in his high school career and he’s also a dynamic playmaker on offense for the Warriors, who utilize him out of the backfield, at wideout and in the slot.
“If you have a corner who can lock a receiver down that makes your whole defense better and that’s what he’s been able to do,” Froendt said. “Offensively, he gives us a lot of ability because we move him to three different positions so it’s difficult to match up against him. … That value is limitless and his talents are even better this year so we’re excited to see what he can do.”
Froendt’s offense will be led by the same quarterback for the third year in a row, a luxury most teams don’t have. Even fewer teams have a dual-threat QB like senior Cole Payton. The North Dakota State recruit rushed for over 850 yards and 15 touchdowns while also passing for nearly 2,000 yards and 24 TDs for the Warriors last season.
“Anytime you have a third-year quarterback, that’s pretty special,” Froendt said. “He’s grown athletically, he’s a man and he’s a great leader of our football team so that’s comforting coming in. He’s been under fire. He’s been in the biggest games under the brightest lights and that’s the position you want that guy in.”
Westside’s third returning all-state player is two-way senior lineman Cade Haberman. The 6-foot-2, 270-pound Northern Illinois commit anchors both the offensive and defensive lines for the Warriors. He’s also a two-time state runner-up wrestler.
“The kid’s a grappler and we made a playoff run last year because we moved him to different positions on the defensive line and he’s without question the best lineman in the state in my opinion,” Froendt said. “He went up against the best last year and did very well. He’s incredibly valuable and we’ll use him on both sides of the ball as much as we can.”
The Warriors will do the same with senior Koby Bretz, a standout 6-foot-3, 180-pound wide receiver and defensive back who recently committed to the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Froendt considers Bretz to be one of his most valuable players because of what he provides with his speed, range and athleticism on offense and defense.
“Offensively, to be able to highball a football to catch a ball and to work the space in the secondary, he’s just special,” Froendt said. “We haven’t seen his athleticism with that size around this school since I’ve been here in 30 years. He’s an exciting player and he’s going to have a great football season.”
It could be a great season for the Warriors, but it will undoubtedly be a unique one considering the circumstances of playing football amid an ongoing pandemic. Fifteen states have decided not to play high school football this fall, but Nebraska, which hosted the Shrine Bowl last month — the first football game to be held since the COVID-19 outbreak — is among the many states moving forward with the plan to play under new safety guidelines.
“Everything we do in practice, before and after, pre-game, during the game, everything is altered and that’s been a big adjustment for coaches and players,” Froendt said. “It’s going to be a totally different experience playing a great prep game in front of 500 people instead of six or seven thousand and we have to adjust our mindset to that. It’s been a difficult process to plan, it’s been a difficult process to execute, but in the end, the kids just want to play football and that’s what we’re going to do and we’re very fortunate to be doing that.”
Like all football programs playing this fall, Westside hopes to be fortunate enough to complete its entire season without interruption. But not every team possesses the Warriors’ potential, which could lead to the end of a 38-year state title drought.
“The expectation of our program is to get there and win it, so we let the team know that early on,” Froendt said. “It’s important that every team knows the history and the expectations and the kids want a title for the school and the community. Everybody said we finished one game away, but we’re 13 games away so we have a lot of work to do.”
