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Hayes Center ready for state
The last person out of Hayes Center next Monday morning, make sure to shut off the lights and lock the doors.
The tiny community located about a half-hour northwest of McCook will likely resemble a ghost town Monday, when the Hayes Center Cardinals travel to Lincoln for the Class D-2 state high school football championship.
Hayes Center will face Humphrey St. Francis for the state title at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 10:15 a.m.
The Cardinals are making their first-ever trip to the Capital City for a state football final. St. Francis lost in the D-2 state championship game last season, dropping a 49-24 decision to Ewing. The Flyers, 12-0, avenged that loss last Monday with a 52-20 win over Ewing in the playoffs semifinals.
Coach Scott Jorgensen's Cardinals reached the title game by handing Pleasanton its only loss of the season, a 14-0 decision last Monday at Hayes Center.
Jorgensen said the entire community is buzzing about his team's state title trip.
"They're excited for everybody, and the boys are still pretty excited," Jorgensen said."They realize that we've still got another game to play. It kind of sounds like we're going to have a lot of support down there, like we we always do. We're looking forward to it."
Hayes Center missed a shot at the state finals last season when the Cards lost to Ewing, 36-27, in the semifinals. After coming so close to the title game, Coach Jorgensen thinks his team wants to take advantage of this year's opportunity.
"They realize, especially for the seniors, that it might be a once in a lifetime thing, and it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we've been given here," he said. "It will be a good time.
"It will be a neat experience for everybody, and hopefully the shock and awe of it all ends pretty quick and we can get ready to play a game."
The Cardinals face a tough test Monday. St. Francis has six players with at least 234 rushing yards this season. The leader is Matt Korus with 1,903 yards on 202 attempts, an average of more than nine yards per carry. Korus has scored 46 touchdowns, including 44 rushing.
Potent rushing attack
The nickname is deceiving, as the Flyers employ a ground-oriented attack. St. Francis has attempted just 45 passes all season. But St. Francis averages over 20 yards per reception.
The high-scoring offense scored an average of 57 points-plus per game during the regular season, and 58 points per game in four playoff victories.
"They are very similar to us," Coach Jorgensen said of Monday's opponent. "They've got a great backfield, they have a great line, they block really well. They are mainly a running team. They throw the play-action pass at you if you are favoring the run too much. They just play a lot of power football, just run right at you, try to out-man you." They try to run over you. That's a lot of the similar characteristics that we have for our team."
Hayes Center one loss
The lone loss for Hayes Center was a 50-25 setback at Class D-1 Arapahoe in the third week of the regular season. The Cardinals averaged over 45 56 points per game in the regular season, then scored at least 42 points in their first three playoff wins before the shutout win over Pleasanton last Monday.
Hayes Center senior Keifer Messersmith has rushed for 2,196 yards this season, including a 269-yard effort in the semifinal win over Pleasanton. Messersmith leads the Cardinals with 36 touchdowns (35 rushing). His backfield mate, senior Tyler Clifford, has 661 rushing yards with 18 touchdowns.
Sophomore quarterback Tyler Rehbein has completed 22 of 48 passes for 356 yards and seven touchdowns. Senior Senior Brady Rosno leads Hayes Center receivers with 25 receptions for 453 yards and five TDs.