The Nebraska Eight Man Football Coaches Association has announced those who have been named to the 2024 NEMFCA Eight-Man Football Hall of Fame. Two coaches and ten players will be inducted during ceremonies to be held on Saturday, June 15th at the Tom Osborne Family Sports Complex in Hastings, NE. Among the ten players being inducted is Anselmo-Merna grad Matt McGinn. McGinn played for Anselmo-Merna from 1993-1996 and was a first team Class D1 all state selection as a senior. McGinn visited with KCNI/KBBN Sports and said he was “speechless” when he received the phone call informing him of the honor.
“Speechless…I think speechless is the first thing that comes to mind. If you kind of go back since they started this and you go back and look at some of the big names and the great players and great coaches that are already in there it’s just kind of mind blowing that I made it and that I got the phone call. Just grateful.”
After graduating from high school, McGinn would walk on and play for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. Later, he would return to be the head coach of his alma mater. McGinn shared what he loves most about the sport.
“I think what’s great about football is learning to deal with adversity. I think at the high school level that is unique because I think it puts players in a somewhat safe environment where you can learn to adapt and overcome adversity. Whether that be in practice, competition, or out on the field during a game. The adversity, the momentum, the changes that happen every minute every quarter is crazy and just learning to adapt to that to me it is a sport that just teaches you so much about life and how to move on and become a great human being.”
As McGinn reminisced about his days as a player, he referenced the 1996 playoff game against North Loup Scotia which was played on Halloween night in Merna. It was a battle of two of the best eight man teams in the state and somehow, due to seeding, it took place in the 2nd round. The Coyotes would win a thriller and march through the west bracket on their way to an appearance in the state championship game which was played for the first time that year in Lincoln at Memorial Stadium.
“I think the first that comes to mind is that I was very fortunate to play on a lot of great 8 man football teams at our school and even in the 8 man all star game. But I think going back to all of them there have been so many great games and I think the one that always stands out to our community was the game against North Loup Scotia in the second round of the playoffs. How that game came to be in the second round is just crazy. The amount of college football players that were on the field that day was truly amazing. On both sides, for North Loup Scotia and for us. That was a big time game. I think that game when it was over, we were fortunate to win, and kind of took our team to the next level and then ultimately led to us playing in the state championship game my senior year.”
Joining McGinn in this year’s Hall of Fame Class will be players Steven Bazata (Howells), Chris Carpenter (Falls City Sacred Heart), Josh Frerichs (Lodgepole), Brian Hahn (Hampton), Brandon Johnson (Rushville), Jerry Leiss (Indianola), Travis Mlady (Bloomfield), Larry Tomlinson (O’Neill St. Mary’s), Jeff Veerhusen (Adams). Coaches Jon Dahl (Mead), Curt Johnson (Lawrence).
Listen to our full interview with Matt McGinn
