Three OHS football players receive post-season honors
OSMOND — Three members of the Osmond Tiger football team were selected for post-season recognition. They included seniors Alexis Solorzano, Josh Gansebom and Landon Stelling.
These three gentlemen were recognized as All-District D2-4 players and they were mentioned in the areas papers as all-state honorable mention.
Alexis Solorzano
Alexis Solorzano was the team’s lone first team All-District player. He also received recognition as being all-state honorable mention in the following papers: Huskerland Prep Report, Lincoln Journal Star, Norfolk Daily News and Omaha World Herald.
As a player, Alexis was one of the most consistent players the Tigers have had for the past four years. He has been a starter on offense and defense since he was a sophomore and had significant playing time as a freshmen.
Alexis was a steadying force and the Tigers’ best lineman on both the offensive and defensive lines. He was an excellent specialist as well. He was a kicker, punter and a long-snapper.
“We were all very grateful to get to work with Alexis,” Tigers Head Coach Scott Morrison said. “Alexis never had tremendous stats because of the positions he played, but he made an incalculable difference on the team on and off the field.
Solorzano was an integral part of three state playoff teams. He was selected as a first team All-District performer in 2018 and as an All-District honorable mention player in the 2017 season. The 2019 season was cut short for Solorzano, who was injured in the Tigers’ game at Humphrey-St. Francis.
The play that he was hurt on epitomized Solorzano’s high school career: He was blocking 20 yards downfield on a screen pass that sprung a big gain. It was GREAT individual effort, Morrison said.
He finished the season seven in tackling (47) despite missing more than half of the season. He had a fumble recovery and a blocked kick.
Solorzano had a great 2018 season with 158 tackles (10 for a loss); he had four sacks, three caused fumbles, and three fumble recoveries — the most notable came in the second half against Diller-Odell in the first round of the playoffs.
He performed well individually in every game that he played, but perhaps the most memorable came in 2018 against Plainview.
Defensively, Solorzano had a monster game with 11 unassisted tackles, three tackles for a loss, a sack and a caused fumble.
“Alexis was not only a pleasure to work with from a coach’s perspective, he was also a great person to be around on a day-to-day basis,” Morrison said.
Josh Gansebom
The next Tiger to receive post-season accolades was Josh Gansebom, who earned honorable mention recognition for District D2-4 and also received honorable mention All-State for the Huskerland Prep Report, Lincoln Journal Star, Norfolk Daily News and Omaha World Herald.
“Josh had a great season. He stepped up in a number of different positions, had a great attitude, and proved to be extremely resilient,” Morrison said.
Josh led the team in scoring with 50 points (six TD, two 2-PT conversions). He was second on the team with 389 rushing yards, and he was third on the team with 74 tackles; he also led the team with 298 kickoff return yards.
Gansebom had a huge game against Winside with 246 all-purpose yards (166 rushing, nine receiving, 77 return yards). He scored three touchdowns and three two-point conversions.
Josh proved his toughness in the Laurel-Concord-Coleridge game and the St. Francis game. In the LCC game, Gansebom had 18 total tackles. Against St. Francis, Gansebom had 75 return yards and 12 total tackles.
Gansebom also had some big games in his 2018 season. One of his biggest games statistically came at Wausa, where racked up 122 receiving yards and a touchdown. He scored four touchdowns against Winside, three of which were more than 35 yards.
He also played a huge role in the homecoming game against Wynot as he scored a touchdown on a kickoff return. He had 19 total tackles at Plainview. He had 15 total tackles against Diller-Odell.
“I’ll always remember a play Josh made against Diller-Odell,” Morrison said. “They ran the ball outside, and he came up and put a great hit on the running back. It was a nice momentum setter.”
Landon Stelling
The final player who received post-season recognition for the Tigers was Landon Stelling, who earned honorable mention All-District D2-4 and also received honorable mention All-State for Huskerland Prep Report, Lincoln Journal Star, Norfolk Daily News and Omaha World Herald.
The recognition came as Stelling’s second consecutive appearance as honorable mention.
“Landon is a great person who is motivated to do well in all of his endeavors in life,” Morrison said. “In particular Landon really worked hard to make sure he did well with his academics and with football.”
In the time Landon had in high school, he completely transformed himself, dedicating himself to improving and becoming the best he could be. Throughout his senior season, Landon was the steadiest captain on the team.
“Much of the time Landon was the vocal leader on the team who helped keep everyone moving the same the direction,” Morrison said.
Landon was consistent throughout the season. He stayed healthy and played nearly every single down if not all of them.
Stelling was an anchor on the offensive line. He did well to communicate to his teammates; he picked up more responsibility after Solorzano was hurt.
Defensively, Landon had a tremendous impact on the team throughout the year. He accumulated some impressive statistics as well.
He was second on the team with 98 tackles. He had three sacks and an interception.
Stelling had an outstanding game against Winside with 17 tackles, five of which were for a loss. He also had a sack and an interception in the game as well.
He also had a great game defensively against Wausa. He racked up 16 tackles and had two tackles for a loss.
The year 2019 wasn’t Landon’s only solid season. He also performed very well in 2018, where he amassed 117 tackles, five tackles for a loss, six sacks and fumble recoveries.
He had a great game against Riverside as he racked up 17 total tackles and had two sacks.
