Menu
Wahoo Bishop Neumann rallies for second straight C1 state title
LINCOLN -- The Chase County-Imperial Longhorns had the unenviable task of trying to knock off the Wahoo-Bishop Neumann Cavaliers, the defending Nebraska Class C1 state champions in this year's state title game.
The game was played Saturday afternoon at the University of Nebraska's Memorial Stadium at Lincoln.
For 3 1/2 quarters, the Longhorns led the Cavaliers on the scoreboard.
But Bishop Neumann rallied on a fourth-quarter touchdown and a two-point conversion pass and defeated the Longhorns 8-7 for their second straight Class C1 state championship.
Neumann posted its second straight 13-0 season and has won 26 straight games. Chase County finished the season 11-2.
Chase County head football coach George Purnell said he felt Neumann was going to settle for a tie and send the game to overtime.
He credited Neumann coach Tim Turman for making a gutsy call.
"Neumann put together a strong drive to score (12 plays, 74 yards, four minutes, 54 seconds)," Purnell said. "It was a great time to do it.
"Tim's been here before and he had the experience. I want to commend Tim and his program -- he's a great coach. The kids gave a great effort -- they can hold their heads high."
The Longhorns struck first on a 1-yard touchdown run by Aaron Fuehrer with 4:47 left in the first quarter. Matt Falla's extra point kick gave Chase County a 7-0 lead.
The drive was kept alive on two long runs by Jason Burke and a roughing the kicker penalty against the Cavaliers on the Longhorns‚ punter Will Morales.
The Longhorns‚ Michael Swanson recovered a fumbled pitchout, which gave Chase County the football at the Cavaliers‚ 42. Neumann's quarterback Jake Vasa was injured on the play and was replaced by Kyle Gerdes on the next series.
The Longhorns immediately struck first on a 31-yard pass play from quarterback Stephen Hanna to Matt Falla.
The Longhorns tried a fake field goal, but Scott Leibbrandt's pass into the end zone was knocked away and Neumann took over on downs at the 11-yard line.
Two Cavalier penalties ended their next drive at the 9 and Neumann had to punt. Chase County ran a reverse on the punt and started its next drive on the Neumann 37.
Hanna hit Burke for a 17-yard pass to the 20. However, two plays later Neumann's Matt Wagner intercepted Hanna and returned the ball to the 17.
Neumann punted the ball away three plays later to its own 37, but Hanna was picked off by Brian Miller.
Both teams punted on their next possessions.
Chase County's Tyler Stanley recovered a Jarrod Mackovicka fumble at the Longhorn 37 to end the most serious Neumann threat of the first half.
The Cavaliers threw two long passes to move upfield.
The Longhorns ended another drive with a Burke interception and the first half ended with Chase County ahead 7-0.
Neither team did anything with the ball on their first two possessions of the second half.
Chase County drove down to the Neumann 24-yard line, but the Cavaliers dropped the Longhorns for a loss on a reverse-pass option play on a fourth-down-and-16 situation.
"We called a fire play on the fake PAT field goal," Purnell said. "The kids pulled the trigger a bit early."
Neumann started at its 26-yard line and marched downfield in 12 plays, capped by an 8-yard TD run by Miller.
Vasa, the Neumann holder, tossed a two-point conversion to Jacob Mach on a fake extra point kick to take a decisive 8-7 lead.
Both defenses played solid. Chase County picked up 184 yards of total offense and limited the Cavaliers to 239.
Burke led the Longhorns in rushing with 58 yards, followed by Fuehrer with 43. Hanna completed 6-of-21 passes (with three interceptions) for 79 yards.
Matt Falla caught two passes for 46 yards and Burke caught three passes for 26.
Mackovicka led the Cavaliers in rushing with 73 yards on 21 carries, Miller added 42 yards and Vasa 30.
Vasa completed 6-of-13 passes for 63 yards and one interception. Matt Wagner caught three passes for 29 yards.
"Defensively, we thought we played well enough to win," Purnell said. "Coach (Dan) Lenners did a good job of with the kids. Our running game didn't get much support from the passing game.
"I am so proud of the kids. I am proud of the community support. I am proud of the whole program."
Chase County, making its eighth straight state playoff appearance and 15th overall, also finished second in 1997 and 1998. Neumann, making its 14th playoff appearance, won it all in 1977-2002 and placed second in 1975-80-85-2000.
| Chase County (11-2) | 7 0 0 0 -- 7 |
| Bishop Neumann (13-0) | 0 0 0 8 -- 8 |
CC -- Aaron Fuehrer 1 run (Matt Falla kick), 4:47 1Q
BN -- Brian Miller 8 run (Jason Mach pass from Kyle Gerdes), 8:29 4Q