Aurora downs Beatrice 20-14 for Nebraska Class B state title

LINCOLN -- Aurora quarterback Tyler McDonald ran for 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Jerry Lobeda ran for 105 yards on 15 carries and another score to lead the Huskies (12-1) to a 20-14 win over Beatrice (11-2) Saturday night in the finals of the Class B state football playoffs.

"That's what high school footballs all about," McDonald said. "We showed them what we have. We came out here with something to prove."

Aurora marched 93 yards in 14 plays, eating 6:14 off the first-quarter clock and grabbing a 6-0 lead when McDonald scored from a yard away with 1:43 left in the opening quarter.

Beatrice answered by traveling 73 yards in 11 plays, finding the end zone on a 13-yard Garrett Bruhn run.

The Huskies extended the lead in the fourth quarter on two more long scoring drives.

Lobeda capped an 8-play, 84-yard drive with a 2-yard run to give the Huskies a 12-7 lead in the third period. McDonald would break through the line and trot 29 yards for a score to put Aurora on top 20-7 with 11:45 left to play.

"We just had to make plays all night," Lobeda said. "We had to show them we were still in it and deserved to be here.''"

Bruhn scored again on a 6-yard run with 6:34 left to play and Beatrice would get the ball back again with 3:34 on the clock. But the Aurora defense came up big and the Huskies held on.

"We just picked a bad night not to execute very well," Beatrice coach Bob Sexton said. "We just had too many breakdowns."

Justin Coleman ran for 51 yards, threw for 86 and added another 88 yards receiving to lead Beatrice.

Both teams were making their first appearance in the championship game.

Aurora coach Randy Huebert was the head coach at Great Bend (Kansas) High School from 1991-95 and Ralston (Neb.) in 1996. He has been at Aurora since the 1997 season. Huebert has a career record of 166-95.

Aurora upset McCook, Neb., 37-33 in the semifinals after losing to the Bison 42-7 on Sept. 12.

CLASS C-2

Blue Hill 14, Bergan 0

Turnovers helped Blue Hill beat Archbishop Bergan 14-0 for the Nebraska class C-2 football championship at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Friday.

Blue Hill's Casey Van Boening recovered a fumble that led to one Bobcats touchdown, and Bryan Adams intercepted an Archbishop Bergan pass, which led to the other.

"We did a pretty good job today. We're pretty good on defense," Van Boening said. "Everybody did their job and did it well."

The Knights (10-3) turned over the ball four times and managed just 120 yards of total offense.

The Bobcats' offense gained only 177 total yards.

The Bobcats (12-1) had been allowing only 3.5 points a game.

The turnovers gave Blue Hill short fields and the advantages it used to win its first state title after consecutive runnerup finishes.

The Blue Hill fumble recovery put the ball at the Bergan 41; the Adams interception left the Bobcats just 46 yards away from the end zone.

"Blue Hill does a nice job with what they do," Bergan coach Ron Beacom said. "They were better than we were today. We left the ball on the ground a couple of times, but we were trying to make plays."

Nathan Faimon capped a seven-play, 41-yard scoring drive with a four-yard run with 2:02 left in the first quarter. Riley Boniface would add another score from five yards away early in the fourth quarter to finish the scoring.

"People have been doubting us and didn't think we could win the big one," Adams said. "We wanted to come here and get the job done and we did."

Boniface finished with 105 yards on 29 carries for Blue Hill.

Riley Gross threw for 60 yards and Nick Lambrecht ran for 31 yards to lead Bergan.

CLASS C-1

Pierce 20. Boys Town 10

Brody Unger caught four passes for 120 yards, including an 86-yarder that was the longest touchdown reception in class C-1 playoff history, to lead Pierce to a 20-10 win over Boys Town in the state football championship.

The win gives the Bluejays their second straight C-1 championship.

Unger's record-breaking catch came with 2:51 left in Saturday's game at Memorial Stadium.

"We just wanted to get the first down," Unger said. "I just started running the ball, broke one tackle and went home from there.

"I was for sure running out of breath there for a while. I thought for sure they were going to catch me."

A 27-yard field goal form Xavier Gilcrest with 1:07 left to play in the third quarter pulled Pierce (12-1) to a 13-10 lead.

Boys Town (12-1) looked to be driving for the go-ahead touchdown when Eric Koehlmoos forced, and Blake Stonacek recovered, a Cowboy fumble at the 8-yard line.

Three plays later, Unger hauled in a pass from Anthony Lauters and raced 86 yards for the game-winner.

"I figure I had to get that," Stonacek said. "If we get the ball back, we have it made. I saw the ball on ground. If we don't get that fumble, it's a whole different game."

Isiah Gandy hit Derick Brooks in the back of the end zone from 5 yards to cap a 14-play, 70-yard drive that ate nearly 6 minutes off the clock and gave the Cowboys a 7-0 lead as the first quarter drew to a close.

The Bluejays matched the effort by marching 66 yards in 11 plays and evening the score at 7, thanks to Koehlmoos' rushing touchdown from 4 yards out. But Pierce took a 13-7 lead a short time later when Kyle Stuchlik scored from the 1-yard line.

"We got beat by a better football team," Boys Town coach Kevin Kush said. "Things just didn't work out. We had some opportunities. Maybe you punch those in and it's a different ball game. We had our chances."

Boys Town was making its first appearance in the championship game. Pierce was the defending C-1 champ. The Bluejays also won in 1978 and have made it to the final game four times.

CLASS A

Millard West 21, Millard South 8

Millard West junior Darius Evans returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and Kohlman Adema-Schulte added 96 yards and a score to lead the Wildcats to a 21-8 win over Millard South in the finals of the Class A state football playoffs on Friday.

"That got things ramped up awful quick for us. That was huge," Millard West coach Kirk Peterson said of the kick return. "People were writing and saying all week we had no chance in this game because they were on such a hot streak, winning six in a row. Well, we've won (13) in a row."

Evans took the opening kickoff at his own 6 and ran to his right before cutting back across the field and racing 94 yards for a score that put Millard West (13-0) in front 7-0 just 14 seconds into the game.

When Adema-Schulte added another score the next time the Wildcats touched the ball, the Patriots (9-4) were in a 14-0 hole from which they would not recover.

Although Bronson Marsh would pull Millard South to within 14-6 with a 1-yard run to open the second quarter, Nate Hauptmann would answer for Millard West. The defenses took over from there.

Both teams had scoring opportunities end with interceptions in the second half. Patriot safety Jordan Hale picked off a Wildcats pass in the end zone to keep Millard South within striking distance. Devin Samson then intercepted a Patriot pass with just over five minutes left to play at the Millard West 2.

"I was just trying to stick with my guy and go all out," Samson said. "It just came to me."

Although a Wildcats' botched punt would result in a safety with 4:36 left to play, Millard South's comeback would stall with an incomplete pass on fourth-and-goal from the 8. A Patriot receiver caught the ball but was ruled out of bounds.

"They came out and punched us in the mouth. We were playing a little to tentative in the beginning," Millard South coach Andy Means said. "We kind of caught our legs and came back but their defense played really well and we just didn't get the job done tonight."

Hauptmann threw for 52 yards and ran for another 52 to lead the Wildcats. Marsh threw for 187 yards and ran for another 27 to lead the Patriots.