There are some places on the map that just feel like high school football towns.

The tradition and the football field. The school colors throughout town. The way it seems as if everybody is at the game on Friday night, because there's only one team in town.

In Nebraska, Howells would be on that list, and Pierce, too.

He's a little biased, but to coach Randy Huebert, Aurora sure feels like a high school football town.

"The atmosphere, the excitement," Huebert said. "There is a tradition here with coaches Rollie Carter and Jack Guggenmos that happened before I ever got here. There is tradition and high expectations."

Something that helps tradition is appearing in the state championship game, and Aurora will do that again Tuesday night when the top-ranked and unbeaten Huskies play second-ranked Omaha Skutt in the Class B title game.

Aurora defeated Beatrice 20-14 in the championship game last year to finish 12-1 and win its first state title. Aurora was state runner-up in 1981, '86 and '95.

While Skutt coach Matt Turman is well known as a former Husker backup QB, Huebert is the coach with the most success. In his 12 years at Aurora, the Huskies have gone 94-37 and missed the playoffs only once.

It was partly Aurora's tradition that prompted Huebert to make a move that surprised some when he left Class A Norfolk. Huebert coached at Norfolk in 1996 and '97, when Norfolk was only a few years removed from winning a state title, and Huebert also took the Panthers to the playoffs.

As a young coach, he never thought of Aurora as his dream job, but Huebert knew it was a place he had to check out. He grew up in nearby Henderson, where his brother was the quarterback on the school's 1981 state championship team.

"Aurora is a great community, and they support all athletics and activities in this school," he said. "We have a lot of great parents and kids that know how to work hard."

Huebert's first head coaching job after graduating from NU was at Coleridge, before stops at Malvern, Iowa, and Great Bend, Kan. His career record is 178-95.

This year, Huebert and his staff have developed an NCAA Division I lineman recruit in Andrew Rodriguez and a first-year starter at QB in junior Tyson Broekemeier.

"I've been fortunate to have some great assistants to work with here," Huebert said. "It's a great place to coach football, I know that."

Reach Brent C. Wagner at 473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com.

Tuesday's championships preview