Brogan Benes still has things he wants to accomplish at Boone Central.

He already owns the school record for the most rushing yards in a game following a magnificent performance against Battle Creek, in which he went for 308 yards on just nine carries.

He won a Class C1 state championship with the team in 2023 as the starting cornerback, and he earned himself a scholarship to the University of Sioux Falls.

But there are still a few things left on his to-do list before his time ends in Albion.

Benes now sits at 2,635 career rushing yards. The Boone Central career-rushing record is 4,196.

This season, he’s at 620 yards, which is 1,382 yards away from the season-rushing record set in 2002. Both of those are records he wants to break.

To accomplish those feats, Benes would have to average 197 yards in seven games to reach the season record and 223 yards in as many games to reach the career record.

With only five games left in the regular season, it may be state championship or bust if Benes is to top the Boone Central leaderboards.

“I think we might shock some people — get some people back that aren’t quite healthy yet and try to make a run at state,” Benes said. “If not state, my own personal goal is trying to get the most rushing yards in a season and in a career.”

The Cardinals’ star has had quite a journey. It’s one that started late in his sophomore season. In a blowout game against St. Paul, Benes came in and took a carry 47 yards to the house.

He had shown flashes of being the back he is now in practices and junior varsity games, but that moment cemented him as the next great Cardinals back.

“It was one of the later games in the year,” Boone Central coach Mark Hudson said. “We had an all-state running back (Parker Borer), and we subbed him out because we knew Brogan was pretty good. And we gave him a couple of carries, and he hadn’t had a ton of varsity carries. I think he popped a (47-yard) run for a touchdown as a sophomore. He had something special there.”

Two years later, and that’s proved to be the case. It’s not always easy to fill the cleats of someone like Borer, but Benes has put in the work and has done so successfully.

Not just on the field, either. Over his four seasons, Benes has blossomed into a true team player and leader as well.

“We changed some things in the weight room,” Hudson said. “He had a really good summer. He went through the recruiting process and understands where he fits. He’s just a total team guy, and he wants to win.

“The first week was a little frustrating. We had to fix some things on the line after reshaping that last year. He led them through that time and didn’t get down on anybody. He wants to be successful as a team.”

Since opening their season 0-2 with losses to Cedar Catholic and Norfolk Catholic, the Cardinals have evened out to .500.

Boone Central’s wins over Battle Creek and Wood River were big, with the Cardinals outscoring each opponent by at least 28 points. Benes was, of course, a big part of those games. And it’s fair to say his teammates are happy that he’s on their sideline and not their opponents’.

“The thing I keep remembering saying is, ‘Man, I’m glad he’s on our side,’ ” Cardinals’ lineman Edwin Naranjo said. “I don’t know how I’d feel if I was against him. Knowing you have a guy with his speed and his strength being able to break tackles, (if I had to stop him) I’d make sure to close the run game as best as you can and hope they don’t pass the ball.”

In reality, there hasn’t been a whole lot of stopping Benes.

Teams were able to mitigate his effectiveness by stacking the box a year ago. In a spread offense, however, Hudson said he hopes that finding other options to change things up a little bit will help keep teams more honest in their defense.

That will be a key as the Cardinals look to get back to the state playoffs again this season. Coming off a year when Benes rushed for 1,637 yards en route to making the all-state team, Benes has only built on that, something he’s done for four years alongside his brothers.

“I’ve seen him just grow consistently,” Naranjo said. “He keeps getting better and better. But even when I saw him as a freshman, I could tell he was very different from the rest of us.

“When you walk in as a freshman, you don’t know what you’re doing. You’re completely new to this, and you get a complete change from what middle school football was like. I could tell as soon as Brogan stepped on the field, he was ready to go.”

When it’s all said and done, Benes will certainly be remembered as another great Cardinal, something he wouldn’t change, even if given the chance.

For Benes, he’ll remember all those Friday night games and competing with his Boone Central family.

“(I’ll remember) playing Friday night football with these guys,” Benes said. “It’s our team this year, so (I’m) just enjoying my senior year with everyone who’s on the field with me.”

O’Neill easily defeated Ponca 69-0 last Friday. After advancing to 4-0, the Eagles maintain their spot at No. 1 for the third week in a row.

Coming in at No. 2 again this week, I have Norfolk Catholic. The Knights seem to have found their stride, rattling off three straight after losing to Bishop Neumann in week one. Nathan Timmerman and Callen Marshall continue to be excellent for Norfolk Catholic.

Brady Hochstein went for 176 yards on 11 carries against Tekamah-Herman to help keep Cedar Catholic in the third spot. The Trojans continue to build momentum for a postseason push.

Boone Central has mounted a two-game win streak. This is a team that I have maintained my faith in through the first four weeks, ranking the Cardinals each week.

I again have them in the fourth position, and I think they’ll continue getting better.

Rounding out Class C, I have Pierce, meaning no changes to my Class C rankings heading into week five. Despite the Bluejays losing their first game, a key loss from Battle Creek helps keep them in the rankings.

West Point-Beemer is a close ratings contender. Pierce gets a slight advantage after beating Logan View/Scribner-Snyder by 27 points, compared to 14 by West Point-Beemer.

There has been volatility in Class D1 through the first four weeks. And that continues again heading into week five.

For the first four weeks, I have stayed steady in my ranking of Crofton as the best team in Class D1. But a loss against Bloomfield on Friday pushes it down to No. 4 on my list, with the 4-0 Bees moving their way up to No. 1.

Despite both teams coming off wins in week four, I have Hartington-Newcastle jumping Plainview into the No. 2 spot. The Wildcats remain undefeated on the season, while Plainview fell against Crofton in week three.

Hartington-Newcastle remaining undefeated is my defining reason for moving it up.

Rounding out my top five Class D1 teams, I have Pender. After a close week one loss to Plainview, the Pendragons have turned up the heat.

Over the previous two weeks, they have held both Clarkson/Leigh and Tri County Northeast to just eight points each.

Hartington-Newcastle (4-0)

This is by far our most competitive division with each week being a battle.

As it has done all season long, Archangels Catholic took care of business again. With a 46-8 win over Riverside to advance to 4-0 on the season, it’s a no-brainer to keep the Defenders at the top of the list.

After that tough loss to Archangels Catholic in week three, Wynot got right back to business against Randolph.

The Blue Devils took care of Randolph 67-6 and got a lot of younger players involved in the blowout. The Wynot offense continues to be an exciting watch and is a big reason it maintains its spot at No. 2.

Heading into St. Mary’s game against Creighton, Cardinals coach Tony Allen said it was only a matter of time before Ben Barlow got going.

Barlow went for 143 yards while quarterback Gage Hedstrom continued to be excellent. I have the Cardinals maintaining their third spot.

In my final two spots, I once again have Howells-Dodge and Neligh-Oakdale, respectively, after both teams remained undefeated this season.

The Jaguars rode a 138-yard rushing and three-touchdown performance from running back Hunter Luther to a win over Nebraska Christian, while Neligh-Oakdale put the ball in the hands of its sophomore quarterback, Cooper Arehart.

Arehart rushed for 138 yards and five touchdowns and threw for another one. That performance maintains the Warriors as a ranked team for the second consecutive week.

Archangels Catholic (4-0)