March 29, 2024

Nerness shines for championship team

ISU recruit adjusts to 11-man game at private school in N. Carolina

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Transferring to a private school in North Carolina turned out to be a good experience for former Murray player Seth Nerness.

The senior defensive end, a verbal Iowa State commit, earned all-state honors for the private school Division II state championship team. His South Lake Christian Academy team defeated three-time defending champion Davidson Day, 21-14 in overtime, in the championship game.

South Lake trailed 14-0 in the game before a punt return touchdown ignited a rally that forced overtime at 14-14. Nerness had nine tackles in the game, including eight solo, five for losses and a quarterback sack.

As a first-team all-stater, the 6-5 230-pounder totaled 90 tackles, including 68 solo, 30 for losses and 13 sacks.

Already with offers from ISU, Kansas State and Western Illinois coming off his junior year at Murray, Nerness now has drawn interest from Army, West Virginia, Louisville and North Carolina.

“He’ll come back home after finals this week and we’ll have a lot to sit down and talk about,” said his father, Daryl Nerness of rural Osceola. “Iowa State has been out visiting him twice. He told them he’s not decommitting, but he’d like to consider taking other official visits.”

South Lake had a 12-1 season in winning the state title.

“It was a good experience to play against this type of competition in 11-man football after playing eight-man,” Nerness said. “Plus, I got to know my cousins a lot better.”

Nerness has been residing with the family of Daryl’s brother, John, who is wrestling coach at South Lake Christian Academy in Huntersville, N.C.

“We thought it would give him a good year of growth playing 11-man football there,” Daryl Nerness said. “They have seven other Division I-recruited athletes including the number two running back in the nation in the junior class (Robert Washington). It gave him a chance to play in a high-caliber situation and it’s worked out well for him.”

Before playing for a North Carolina state championship, Nerness was part of three playoff teams at Murray, including a state runner-up finish and state semifinalist in the UNI-Dome. The exciting title game finish, with Davidson Day tackled on the half-yard line on fourth down in overtime, wasn’t his only brush with postseason dramatics.

Nerness was a sophomore on Murray’s semiifnal team that lost 78-76 in overtime to Gilbertville Don Bosco in Iowa’s highest scoring playoff game of all-time.

He recorded 71 tackles during his junior season, including 21 solo for loss and seven solo sacks. He also rushed for 856 yards with 14 touchdowns, averaging 8.9 yards per carry for the 8-3 Mustangs.

“In all honesty, playing eight-man is harder, especially going both ways,” Nerness said. “When I was just playing defense this year, only going 50 snaps, that seemed a lot different. I’ll always remember where I started. We had a great group of guys at Murray. I played with some great competitors.”

Nerness will also run track at South Lake, specializing in the 200 meters. He has run 23.5 during his Iowa seasons and runs the 100 meters in about 11.7.

Not bad for a defensive end who projects to 260 pounds as a collegiate defensive end.

“Stan Eggen, the Iowa State defensive ends coach, said he’s athletically gifted for that position and reminds him of Von Miller,” Daryl said.

The football signing date is Feb. 4 and Nerness hopes to have completed his visits and have a final decision on ISU or another school made by then.