Cross Country
On Oct. 8, the Nemaha Central Middle School cross country team traveled to Sabetha. The weather was sunny and a bit breezy.
Several 7th grade boys placed in the top ten, including Rodolfo Rivera-Cobian (2nd) and Levi Spring (4th). The only 7th grade girl in the top ten was Lindy Mosteller, who placed 2nd.
“I had a lot of confidence and was a little nervous,” Lindy Mosteller, 7th, said.
The only 8th grade boy in the top ten was Daniel Lueger, who placed 3rd. The 8th grade girls who placed were Ivy Heinen (1st) and Hallie Heideman (6th).
Article by Riley Berkley
On Oct. 15 Nemaha Central Middle School had their Big East Cross Country meet at the Seneca Spring Creek Golf Course. It was very cold and windy that day.
For the girls team, Ivy Heinen, 8th, placed 1st, Emersyn Novotny, 8th, placed 2nd, Claire Olberding, 7th, placed 3rd, Lindy Mosteller, 8th, placed 4th, and Hallie Heideman,8th, placed 5th.
On the boy’s team, Will Stallbaumer, 8th, placed 1st and Daniel Lueger, 8th, placed 4th..
“I thought I was going to die during the very first mile of the race,” Glen Strathman said.
Article by Keagan Richards
On Oct. 20, 2026 Nemaha Central Middle School cross country team traveled to Jackson Heights to compete in a meet with 14 other schools. Participating schools were: Cornerstone, Flint Hills Christian, Holton, Horton, Jackson Heights, Maur Hill, Onaga, Pleasant Ridge, Riverside, Valley Falls, and Veritas Christian. Here are the following awards for 7th grade: Claire Olberding got 1st place with a time of 14:02, and Lindy Mosteller got 6th. For the 7th grade boys, Will Stalbaumer got 1st with a time of 11:49, Rodolfo Rivera-Cobian 3rd, Levi Spring 5th, Cooper Haverkamp 10th, Jamison Bergman 12th, Wade Niehues got 14th, Matthew Schmelzle 17th, and Wesley Stallbaumer got 18th. The 8th grade girls earned the following awards: Ivy Heinen got 3rd, Emersyn Novotny got 5th, and Hallie Heideman got 7th. The 8th grade boys earned the following awards: Daniel Lueger got 3rd, Glen Strathman got 8th, Keagan Richards got 10th and Emil Voracek got 12th. Good job runners!
“I think that the course was really long, but I also think it was pretty shady. After the race I felt happy that the season was over," said Lindy Mosteller.
Article by Emersyn Novotny
Volleyball
On Monday, Oct 5, Nemaha Central Middle School (NCMS) traveled to Royal Valley for volleyball. It was a great day as they ended the night with all four wins. The 7A team won 25-12 and 25-17. 7A did a great job of communicating throughout the game. 7B won 25-15 and 25-19. They had a great night with serves, making all of their serves over! 8A won 25-17 and 25-16. They did a very good job setting up the ball and hitting. 8B won 25-12 and 25-21.
”I think we did a good job moving to the ball and had some very good serves,” Irelynn Foster, 8th, said. It was a great day for middle school volleyball!
Article by Sawyer Lutz
On Thursday, Oct. 8th, the Nemaha Central Middle School volleyball team hosted Hiawatha. The 8th grade A-team won in two sets with a score of 25-9 and 25-4. The 8th grade B-team also won in two sets,25-20 and 25-15. The 8th graders all played very well; they did a great job having high spirits even when their scores were low. The 7th grade A-team won in three sets with a score of 25-13, 17-25, and 15-7. The 7th grade B-team won in two sets with a score of 25-20 and 25-15. The 7th graders worked hard when they had to play more sets than usual.
“I think we played great. We did a great job setting up the ball, and we did a great job returning serves,” Ellie Burkitt, 8th, said.
Article by Kylar Hill
On Oct. 10th, 2026, the Nemaha Central 7th and 8th grade played in the Big East volleyball tournament.
The 8th grade started out the day by playing Hiawatha at Jeff West, where they won in two sets, 25-8 and 25-9. The girls felt very energetic and pumped up and thought that helped them come together and be able to do better in the game. After that successful game, they played against Silver Lake. Unfortunately, they ended up losing in two sets, 24-26 and 21-25. The lack of communication seemed to contribute to the loss.
The 7th grade played in Holton. First, they played against Perry, where they lost in three sets, 25-11, 18-25, and 15-17. After that they played St. Marys, but unfortunately lost in two sets, 9-25 and 19-25. The lack of movement, being prepared, and getting their serves over really stopped them from being able to win.
“I feel like we could have tried harder and tried to get our serves over,” Addi Heiman, 7th, said.
Article by Irelynn Foster
Football
On Thursday, October 1st, the Nemaha Central (NC) football boys trekked down to St. Mary’s in the pouring rain to compete in their 5th game of the season against the Bears. The Thunder had lots of energy even through the high winds and dumping rain.
The game started very well for NC, with Sam Tangeman, 8th, recovering a forced fumble to set up a Dayton Hernandez, 8th, 21-yard run, and a successful 2-point conversion punched in by Hernandez as well. With 1:43 left in the 1st quarter, Hernandez ran in his second touchdown of the night, this time from 55 yards. The 2-point conversion was successful for him as well, rounding out the end of the first quarter, 16-0.
“I think we dominated in this game because we had a lot of enthusiasm and wanted redemption from our last game,” Hernandez said after being asked what led to his standout performance.
Later in the 2nd quarter, Hernandez ran in yet another 1-yard touchdown, this time topped off by a Landry Hiltgen, 8th, 2-point conversion run. With only 30 seconds left before halftime, once again, Hernandez raced to another touchdown from 21 yards. The 2-point conversion was no-good, ending the first half 30-0, NC leading.
After only a minute of play in the 3rd quarter, unsurprisingly, Dayton Hernandez sprinted in his 5th and final touchdown, ending his impressive night at running back. The 2-point conversion was unsuccessful, and neither the Thunder nor the Bears scored in the 4th quarter, concluding the rainy night with NC 36-0.
Article by Graham Lueger
The Nemaha Central Middle School football team played at home to take on the Hiawatha Redhawks for their 6th game of the season. The weather was fairly hot, with clear skies and temperatures around 85 degrees, but the boys knew that wouldn’t stop them from working hard.
In the first quarter, Hiawatha started with the ball and held the ball for the majority of the quarter. To start the second quarter, Nemaha had the ball. Landry Hiltgen, 8th, had a 2-yard touchdown run, making it 6-0. For the 2-point conversion, Hiltgen passed it to Latham Kramer, 7th, making it 8-0. Next Hiawatha had the ball, but Hiltgen got an interception, running 80 yards for a touchdown, making the score 14-0. For the 2-point conversion, Hiltgen handed it off to Dayton Hernandez, making it 16-0. Nemaha played good defense, leading to a turnover. Nemaha had the ball, and Hiltgen handed it off to Dayton Hernandez, 8th. He took it to the house for a 40 yard touchdown, making it 22-0. For the 2 point conversion, Hernandez ran it in, making it 24-0. That led to the end of the second quarter.
To start the second half, NCMS started with the ball. Hernandez got the ball handed to him, and he broke loose taking it for a touchdown, making it 30-0. They also got the 2-point conversion, making it 32-0. We then played good defense and got the ball back. Hiltgen handed it off to Hernandez, and he ran it in for a touchdown, making it 38-0. Nemaha ran the ball in for the 2-point conversion, making the score 40-0. That completed the third quarter.
To start the 4th quarter, Hiawatha started with the ball. Nemaha shut them down once again, getting the ball back. They marched it down the field getting in a good scoring position. Hiltgen scrambled out of the pocket and made a good pass to Kramer for a touchdown, making it 46-0.
“It was pretty crazy because I fell down, but got up and still caught it,” Kramer said. The team couldn’t complete the 2-point conversion so the game ended with a score of 46-0.
Article by Miles Kuckelman
On Oct.15, 2026 Nemaha Central Middle School football team played at Silver Lake to see who would place 3rd and 4th in the Big East League.
In the second quarter, Dayton Hernandez (8th) ran 5 yards to score a successful touchdown followed by a 2-point conversion pass to Miles Kuckelman, making the score 8-0. With 39 seconds left on the scoreboard, Hernandez(8th) scored a 64-yard touchdown and a 2-point conversion, making the score 16-0.
The score remained the same in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Silver Lake scored a touchdown with a two-point conversion making the score 16-8. Hernandez scored a 54-yard touchdown with a 2-point conversion, making the final score 24-8.
Congratulations to the NCMS football team for placing third overall in the Big East League.
Article by Carlos De Los Rios