Creston HS football All-time team

In the latest edition of EA Sports' college football video game, NCAA Football 2010, you can create a team online and make it available for others to download to their XBOX 360s or Playstation 3s.

Once downloaded to your game system, you can then play with the created team in Dynasty mode, which allows you to schedule and play your own games, set depth charts and recruit new players to fill voids each year.

This generated a lot of talk during the long work days at Creston Park and Recreation. Who are the best players in Creston/Orient-Macksburg football history?

After extensive research, sifting through program statistics dating all the way back to 1898 and consulting with longtime head coach Dick Bergstrom, we have come up with the best of the best. So, without further adieu, here is your All-Creston/Orient-Macksburg football team, which has also been created for use in NCAA '10.

OFFENSE
 
Leading the group of quarterbacks is Kyle McCann. No surprise there. McCann passed for 3,785 yards in his stellar career, adding 36 passing touchdowns from 1994-96. Also on the list at quarterback is Scott Driskell (1988-89) who held the highest single season passing total before McCann. Current single season leading passer (2,014 yards) G.G. Harris also makes the list for his outstanding 2005 season. Casey Bryant's 1985 season lands him on the roster as well, throwing for 1,234 yards and 14 touchdowns. Tim Somers also made a name for himself at quarterback in 1987.

"Kyle, as talented as he was, his best attribute was his smarts. He had great, what I like to call, athletic sense," Bergstrom said. "We were able to do things we couldn't with anyone else because Kyle was smart enough to do it. Kyle probably stands out from that group because of his ability to go on and play at the next level, but the others were probably just as good in high school. Bryant was a really good leader."

Running back appears to be the throwback position on our roster. In 1930 and '31 Hal Sadler rushed for a combined 2,651 yards, averaging 11.6 yards per carry in '30 and 13.4 yards per carry in '31. Joining Sadler on that '31 team was Warren Halton who added another 1,601 yards on 11.3 yards per carry. Halton also accounted for 207 points that year.

All-time leading rusher Dennis Shaw (1987-89) makes the roster. Tyler Hanson (1997-99) was cut short by an injury in '98, but still rushed for 2,812 yards. Gabe Stofferahn (2000-02) split time between running back and quarterback, but still accumulated 2,622 yards and 34 touchdowns. Also deserving of mention includes Will Carroll (1994-95) and Kasey Downing (1993).

"Dennis, Tyler and Gabe were all three-year starters for us. They all had tremendous skills," Bergstrom said.

One of the deepest positions is wide receiver. Leading the charge were Ben Gerleman (1995-96) and John David Weber (1994-95). Gerleman totaled 971 yards in those two seasons with six touchdowns. Weber had 936 yards in two seasons with nine touchdowns. Trevor Conner recorded 412 yards and a touchdown in 2004 and had a solid 2005 season but statistics were not available for that season.

J.D. Schroder (1999-2000) totaled 962 yards and 10 touchdowns. Jason Hyde (2000-2001) caught seven touchdowns and had 695 receiving yards. Joe Calvin (1991-1992) had 909 yards and nine touchdowns. Jeff Hundley (1977-79) accumulated 1,287 receiving yards at a time when offenses ran the ball more. Others worth noting include Luke Schroder (2006-07), Mike Mansour (1996-97), Brian Parkins (1988), Chad Briley (1988), Rick Van Pelt (1993) and Doug Lang (1976-77).

"A lot of these guys we're talking about were outstanding athletes and they were good at football because of it," Bergstrom said.

Jim Ide leads a solid group of tight ends. Ide (2003-04) amassed 752 yards and 10 touchdowns. Neil Lang (1999-2000) provided a tall receiving target and totaled 501 yards and five touchdowns.  Jeff Levine (2001-02) was the stopgap between Lang and Ide. Levine totaled 475 yards and seven touchdowns. Matt Somers (1985-86) caught five touchdowns and 446 yards.

The offensive line is anchored by Eric Owens (1994-96) who went on to start four years at Southwest Missouri State. Joining him in the trenches are fellow All-Staters Casey Tanner (2007), Roger Powell (2006), Dane Wardenburg (2005), Ryan McKim (2003), Matt Chapman (1993), Chad Hightshoe (1988), Sean Dunphy (1987). Others making the roster include T.J. Dunphy, Tim Foglesong, Ken Foglesong, Corey Luther, Roger Baker and Zack Hood.  Hood earned a scholarship from Kansas University to be their long snapper. This year, Wardenburg is starting for NCAA Division II runner-up Northwest Missouri State, and Powell is a tackle for Graceland University.

Kicking for the Panthers is a trio of solid legs. Greg Irr (2006) averaged 50.1 yards per kickoff attempt and also made 2-of-3 field goals and 24-of-25 extra points. He now kicks for Graceland. Also making the list is Anders Lund (1992), a foreign exchange student from Scandinavia. Kevin Downey also once held the state record for longest field goal, nailing a 54-yard field goal in 1975.