53 Days Until Gameday – Day #41 Hamilton County, Nebraska

We have 53 days until our first game of the 2026-2027 football season against the Ohio Bobcats on 9/5/2026.
Yesterday we looked at Hall County, Nebraska.

https://www.on3.com/boards/threads/54-days-until-gameday-–-day-40-hall-county-nebraska.8893501/

Hamilton County, Nebraska

• Established in 1867 and named after founding father Alexander Hamilton.
• License plate prefix #28.
• The population is ~9,700 (2025).
  The population has declined overall since 1890 when there were just over 14,000 residents in the county, but the population has been growing since 1960 when it reached a low of 8,700 residents.
• The county is approximately 547 square miles.
• Aurora is the county seat and only city in the county. It is not the only community in the county, as there are 6 villages in the county as well. The original county seat was located in Orville City, which is now a ghost town with no remnants.
• Hamilton County is included in the Grand Island metropolitan area.
• The Platte River flows through the county.
• Phillips, NE was built by the railroad and became an important shipping point for grain and livestock.
• Hampton is home to the first ranch in the United States to ship cattle to England.
• Giltner was originally named Huntington in 1886, but changed to Bromfield in 1887 because Huntington was “too close in name” to Hartington. In 1895, Bromfield was changed to Giltner because Bromfield was “too close in name” to Bloomfield. Both changes came at the request of the post office.
• In 1903, Giltner was the home for the Central Nebraska League, an independent minor league baseball. It hosted 5 teams and only lasted the single season.
• The Deepwell Ranch was established in 1865 with a barn capable of holding 165 head of horses, a sod house, and a hand-dug 65’ well.
• Aurora is home to the largest hailstone found. In 2003, it measured at 18.75 inches in circumference.
• Hamilton County is considered the Deepwell Irrigation Center of the Nation due to the thousands of deep wells used to irrigate the farmlands.
• It is one of the only rural communities in the country to provide fiber optic internet to its residents.
• The Hamilton County Courthouse was built to look similar to the Capitol building in Washington D.C.
• The Plainsman Museum in Aurora features over 60,000 artifacts to model how the pioneers lived in the region.

Former Huskers and Spotlights (years are letterman years)
According to University of Nebraska-Lincoln records, there have been 12 letterman football players from Hamilton County, NE.


Logan Rath – DL 2016, Giltner, NE.

• 6’4” 280lb defensive tackle wearing #97
• 2x All-State player out of Giltner HS.
• Transferred to Nebraska from South Dakota State.
• Played at Nebraska from 2013-2016, lettering in 2016.
• 2016 Academic All-Big Ten
• Provided depth along the defensive line and was a shield blocker in the punt unit.
• Played in 10 games in his career and made 5 tackles.

Austin Allen – TE 2018-2021, Aurora, NE.

• 6’9” 255lb tight end wearing #11.
• All-State player out of Aurora HS and the #1 recruit in Nebraska.
• Played at Nebraska from 2017-2021, lettering from 2018-2021.
• 2021 Team Captain
• 2021 Big Ten Tight End of the Year
• 2021 All-Big Ten
• He owns 4 position records at Nebraska
• TE single game receiving record – 143 yards
• TE season receptions record – 38
• TE season receiving yards record – 602
• TE 100-yd games in a season - 2
• Played in 43 games while starting 24. Finishing with 65 catches for 975 yards and 3 TDs.

Ian Boerkircher – OL 2021-2022, Aurora, NE.

• 6’6” 285lb offensive lineman wearing #58.
• Walk-on transfer from Nebraska-Kearney out of Aurora HS.
• Played at Nebraska from 2019-2022, lettering in 2021-2022.
• Played in 18 games in his career, primarily on special teams.

Nate Boerkircher – TE 2022-2024, Aurora, NE.

• 6’5” 250lb tight end wearing #49 and #87
• All-State walk-on out of Aurora HS.
• Played at Nebraska from 2020-2024, lettering in 2022-2024 before transferring to Texas A&M.
• Played in 39 games at Nebraska, starting 17. Finished with 19 receptions for 219 yards and 1 TD.

Joe Broekemeier – WR 2010, Aurora, NE.

• 6’4” 210lb wide receiver wearing #9.
• All-State player out of Aurora HS where he set the school scoring record in basketball and was the #1 high school prospect in Nebraska for the 2006 MLB Draft.
• Also pitched for the Husker baseball team.
• Battled injuries throughout his career at Nebraska in football and baseball.

Tyson Broekemeier – P/QB 2015, Aurora, NE.

• 6’1” 200lb quarterback and punter wearing #9.
• All-State quarterback out of Aurora HS and the Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year.
• Played at Nebraska from 2011-2015, lettering in 2015.
• Ran the scout team as a depth QB and switched to punter his senior year.
• Punted in 2 games during 2015 when Sam Foltz was out with an injury.

Tom Haase – QB 1990-1991, Aurora, NE.

• 6’ 185lb quarterback wearing #15.
• All-State defensive back out of Aurora HS.
• Former walk-on played at Nebraska from 1987-1991, lettering in 1990-1991.
• Was listed as QB1 in 1991 but an ankle sprain derailed the season and Mickey Joseph took over.
• Played in 15 games in his career, finishing with 39 yards passing on 5/14 passes with 1 INT. He rushed for 155 yards on 22 carries for 2 TDs.
• Member of the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame.

Todd Honas – WR 2018, Aurora, NE.

• 5’11” 210lb wide receiver wearing #89.
• All-State receiver out of Aurora HS where he set the Class B record for career receiving yards (2,353), single season receiving yards (1,180), career receptions (144) and single season receptions (73).
• Played at Nebraska from 2016-2019, lettering in 2018.
• Played primarily on special teams, appearing in 7 games.
• 3x Academic All-Big Ten.
• He is the first known deaf offensive football player at Nebraska and is an active advocate and volunteer in the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Garret Johns – DL 2016, Aurora, NE.

• 6’ 285lb defensive lineman wearing #50.
• All-State player out of Aurora HS and 2x Heavyweight State Champion wrestler.
• Former walk-on.
• Played at Nebraska from 2012-2016, lettering in 2016.
• Provided depth along the defensive line throughout his career, playing in 1 game in his career.

Andrew Rodriguez – OL 2010-2013, Aurora, NE.

• 6’6” 330lb offensive lineman wearing #63.
• All-State, #1 recruit in Nebraska and High School All-American out of Aurora HS.
• layed at Nebraska from 2010-2013, lettering all 4 years.
• Played in 40 games in his career, starting 21.
• Paved the way for Taylor Martinez, Rex Burkhead, and Ameer Abdullah to receive All-Conference and All-American honors.

Pat Shaw – LB 1986, Aurora, NE.

• 6’1” 245lb linebacker wearing #51.
• Played at Nebraska from 1984-1986, lettering in 1986.

Jim Wanek – OG 1988-1990, Aurora, NE.

• 6'1" 245lb guard wearing #66
• All-State lineman out of Aurora HS
• Played at Nebraska from 1986-1990, lettering in 1988-1990.
• 1990 Academic All-American
• 1989 Honorable Mention All-Big Eight
• Played in 35 games, starting 24.
• The 1990 OL paved the way for the Huskers to lead the Big Eight in rushing (340 ypg), total offense (444.4 ypg), and scoring (37.5 ppg).
• The 1989 OL paved the way for the Huskers' 6th NCAA rushing title at 375 yards per game.

Other Notable or Prominent People from/born in Hamilton County:

Vickie McDonald – Born and raised in Phillips, NE, she served in the Nebraska Legislature from 2001-2009.

J.P. Guilford – From Marquette, NE. A notable psychologist of the 20th century, he produced the Structure of Intellect theory in 1955 that comprises up to 180 different intellectual abilities organized within three dimensions.

Dale Jones – Born and raised in Marquette, NE. He played 1 season of professional baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1941 before joining the Navy to serve in WWII.

Joshua and James Cox – Founders of Hampton, NE. They were the first stockmen in the United States to ship cattle to England.

Silas Barton – Raised in Aurora, he was the Nebraska State Auditor from 1909-1913, and then was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1913 where he served for 2 years until he unexpectedly died at 44 years old.

Harold Edgerton - Nicknamed ‘Papa Flash”, he was a scientist and professor of electrical engineering at MIT. Heavily involved with sonar and deep-sea photography development. Grew up in Aurora and Lincoln. UNL Alum. He is a descendant of William Bradford, Governor of the Plymouth Colony and original passenger of the Mayflower.

Bob Kremer – Born and raised in Aurora, he served in the Nebraska Legislature from 1998-2006. He was awarded the Silver Eagle Award, the Nebraska Farm Bureau’s highest honor for outstanding leadership and distinguished service to the agricultural industry.

Tom Kropp – Graduate of Aurora HS, he played college basketball at Nebraska-Kearney from 1971-1975 and was a 3rd round draft pick in the 1975 NBA draft by the Washington Bullets. He played 2 seasons in the NBA. He has been coaching at Nebraska-Kearney since 1981 and has been the head coach since 1990 with a 464-235.

Terese Nielsen – Born and raised in Aurora, Nielsen is a fantasy artist and illustrator. She worked for Landmark Entertainment and helped design themed amusement parks. She also worked for DC and Marvel Comics to illustrate several superhero trading cards, graphic novels. She has also worked for Topps and Star Wars, painting several graphic novel covers.

Baylor Scheierman – Graduate of Aurora HS, Baylor played college basketball for South Dakota State and Creighton before being drafted in the 1st round of the 2024 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. He set a Nebraska state record throwing 59 touchdowns in a season.

Harry Scott Smith – Born and raised on a farm in Aurora, Smith was an entomologist and a pioneer in biological pest control. He worked for the US Department of Agriculture and on the Boll Weevil Eradication Program and Gypsy Moth Parasite eradication.

Ron Spencer – Born and raised in Aurora, he illustrated some of the Magic: The Gathering cards. He is the brother of Terese Neilsen.

Marion Van Berg – From Aurora, Marion was a racehorse trainer and a member of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.


GO BIG RED

Resources:
https://storage.googleapis.com/husk.../ZD6pyAK8hFocPYXCFPaVccH8170tcm1uOYyc7u0R.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_County,_Nebraska
https://lopers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/tom-kropp/17
https://hamiltoncountyne.gov/
https://www.plainsmanmuseum.org/hamilton-county-history

Poster FKA schuele said:

I could be wrong, but wasn’t Tom Haase - a QB from the late 80s/early 90s from Aurora?

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Patience my friend I can only upload 10 images in a post so I have to spread these out. And then wait the time threshold between posts too. Until you see the massive Go Big Red, my post isn’t complete.

Poster FKA schuele said:

But I need my daily Husker nostalgia fix RIGHT NOW!

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I will admit, the 6 minutes between posts was long, but it doesn't copy/paste from Word into this site with the formatting I like and it takes a minute to get right. I guess if I also didn't add all the pictures of the former Huskers it would all fit in 1 post. But I thought it would be cool to get a picture of each of them if I can easily find one.

Poster FKA schuele said:

I actually just happened to log in while you were still posting, and thought it had probably been up for while. I didn't know it was just the first batch.

Another great thread - Hamilton County has produced a lot of top athletes.

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Its all good. When I get one of these counties that is going to be multiple posts, I am always concerned I get someone to comment in the middle of the postings. Good news, this is the first time it happened and we're dang near half way through the countdown! Sheesh, I can't even believe that.

Anon1752115983 said:

Kevin Penner. I thought he died when hit by that pitch

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had to look him up

He’s a member of the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame.

Nebraska high school’s athlete of the year in 1980, he was a three-sport prep standout whose fourth – and best sport – baseball, took him to the 1982 College World Series and the 1983 Pan American Games. Drafted by the Texas Rangers, he was All-American in baseball in 1985. At Aurora, Penner quarterbacked a Husky team that went undefeated in the regular season and first playoff appearance in 1979, then he earned all-class all-state honors in basketball as the Huskies went 22-3 and reached the state tournament semifinals in 1980. At the state track meet, he placed third in the 100 in 1980 and ran on school-record setting 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams.

ALLSTAR said:

Tom Kropp also played football at Kearney St and was drafted by the Steelers

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All around beast of an athlete.