Teams set for 47th Sertoma 8-man football All-Star Game

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) – Both the East and West teams held their final day of practice at Central Community in Hastings ahead of Saturday’s matchup.

“On the football field, kids have picked up stuff fairly well, we’re going to try to play to our strengths, we think we’re a little bigger and a little more physical than the other team, we’re going to need to run the ball a little bit and play good defense and not turn the ball over,” said Mike Kozeal, West Team coach (Twin Loup).

“They’re smart, they’re talented, they pick up everything really fast, its a real honor, because what they’re really doing is learning a new language and putting it into practice, so they’ve done a really good job,” said Mitch Shepherd, East Team coach (Thayer Central).

For all athletes, it’s the last time they’ll have the opportunity to represent their high schools on the gridiron. For some it will even be the final time they take the field as a player.

“It’s been fun to get the helmet on one last time you know once its over you kind of miss it quite a bit and you wish you could have one more game, you can always play basketball or track or anything, you can do that once you’re done, but you can never put the pads back on again, so to do it one more time is really special,” said Trey Connell, West Team quarterback (South Loup).

“Definitely fun to represent my school one last time, I mean obviously played for them for four years, just a sense of pride, I like representing our community,” said Breckan Schluter, East Team running back (EMF).

The 2024 Sertoma 8-man football All-Star Game will be played at Hastings College on Saturday at 6 p.m.

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