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Hayes Center blanked in D-2 title game
LINCOLN -- Humphrey St. Francis seemed to to be a step quicker than Hayes Center during the Class D-2 state high school football championship game Monday.
The Flyers blanked Hayes Center 34-0 in the D-1 title game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
"Early on their defense did give us some fits, but we made some adjustments and we did have some success on them once we made those adjustments," said Hayes Center head coach Scott Jorgensen in a phone interview Monday evening. "But their defense is very similar to what our defense has been most of the year -- bend but not break. We had the ball inside their 20-yard line several times. They would just tighten up at the last second, and not let us get that extra yard that we needed.
"We had several pass plays where either (Tyler) Rehbein or Keifer (Messersmith) was throwing the ball and our receiver was open. They had an extra step of closing speed, and they would come up and get a finger on the ball just at the very last second.
"We had several pass plays where we were in the right spot, the ball was thrown right where it needed to be. It was just that at the last second, (St. Francis) had a guy there that would just barely tip the ball at the very last second."
Running back shines
St. Francis running back Matt Korus had an outstanding game. Korus scored all five touchdowns for the Flyers, with 37 carries for 207 yards.
"Korus had a great game, but their line did a good job of neutralizing our line," Jorgensen said. "Our kids gave a great effort our there every play. We were battling to the very, very end. It just seemed like every time they just had our number."
Hayes Center moved the ball to midfield and beyond three times in the first half but came up empty every time. St. Francis held the Cardinals on downs twice and intercepted a pass to end the other Hayes Center threat.
The Flyers were moving the ball in the first half, feeding the Cardinals a steady diet of running with their big back. Korus scored on runs of 7, 3 and 2 yards to boost St. Francis to a 22-0 halftime cushion. Korus added short scoring runs of 2 and 3 yards in the second half.
Shock and awe
St. Francis lost in the 2008 D-2 title game at the Huskers' stadium, while Hayes Center was making its first-ever trip to Lincoln in the championship finals. Coach Jorgensen was concerned entering the game about the "shock and awe" of his team playing in the huge arena for the first time.
"It might have (affected the Cardinals) early on, but I think we got over that fairly quick," he said. "After one of their scores, I called all the boys over. I thought we were trying to play too hard, trying to do too much. We were overplaying the situation at times. It wasn't all the time -- just here and there. We were trying just a little too hard. In my opinion it was just because it was the state championship game and we were playing in Memorial Stadium.
"I told them that we've got to settle down out here and just play football. At halftime in the locker room I just re-emphasized that. Let's just take a minute and just catch our breath and just regroup.
"With all the excitement and all the hoopla that's going on out there let's just relax a second here, let's gather ourselves and let's just have some fun and just play some football. I think we did a much better in the second half for sure than we did in the first half and the first quarter."
Adjustments
The Hayes Center coaches made some offensive adjustments, and those chances helped the Cardinals find some success, Jorgensen said. But St. Francis kept coming up with big plays on defense to stymie Jorgensen's squad.
"We spread out the field a little bit more," he said. "We were basically running our same plays, but it was just out of a little different formation. We felt that we could get a little bit better edge there than if we were in our tight 'I' formation."
"When we made that adjustment I was real happy with the progress that was being made. We did a great job of moving the ball. We were getting five, six yards a carry. Then they would tighten up just that little bit.
"They were just a half a step ahead of us in a lot of things -- that's why they're the state champions, I guess."
Hayes Center drove inside the St. Francis 20-yard line in the third quarter. The Flyers held on downs and intercepted a pass to stop both Cardinal possessions. Hayes Center also missed a field goal attempt in the final period.
Final statistics
St. Francis compiled 382 yards total offense, compared to 132 for Hayes Center. The Flyers rushed for 373 yards, while the Cardinals had 108 yards on the ground.
Senior Keifer Messersmith led Hayes Center with 79 yards on 19 carries.
Proud coach
Coach Jorgensen was proud of his team's effort in the state final.
"Overall I'm still very pleased with the effort that the boys gave today," he said. "They left it all on the field and that's all a coach can ask whether it's a championship game or any game. They left it all out on the field and that's something that they need to be proud of.
St. Francis completed an undefeated season with the state title. Hayes Center finishes an outstanding season with 11 wins and two losses.
"It was a tremendous year, and that's one thing that I told the boys after the game," Jorgensen said. "I told the boys that they need to be proud of making it to Lincoln. I told them when we take a look back here in a couple weeks, a couple months, even a couple years from now, when we look back at the grand scheme of things, there's going to be a lot of little things that we did this year that we can hang our hats on and be proud of. For instance, the amount of team unity that we had. Being able to work together, with individuals cooperate with one another to accomplish a common goal -- that's something that is going to carry with them throughout life.
"Being able to work with others and accomplish tasks and communicate well with each other. Things like that are going to be huge further down the road in their lives. That's something that they definitely need to be proud of. There's going to be a lot of fun memories that the boys are going to have when they finally kind of come down and take a look at the big picture of the season. There are going to be a lot of good memories come out of this season, that's for sure."
Community support
The Hayes Center coach also thanked the great support the Cardinals had from their fans, in Monday's state championship game and "We couldn't do this without the community support throughout the year. That was very huge," he said. "We've always had great community support and this year was no exception for sure. I'm really grateful to have that support from the community for these boys.
"The overall extracurricular activities that we have at the high school, it's nice to have that support. I'd really like to thank our fans for everything they've done so far this year.
"I imagine there wasn't a whole lot moving around in (Hayes Center) today."
Jorgensen said the crowds from both teams were very loud in the huge stadium during Monday's game.
"That's one of the little things there that I'll always carry with me," he said. "Hearing the roar of the crowd in that stadium was just amazing."
NEBRASKA HIGH SCHOOL CLASS D2
STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Monday at Memorial Stadium
Humphrey St. Francis 8 14 6 6 -- 34
Hayes Center 0 0 0 0 -- 0
HSF -- Matt Korus 7 run (Britton Tasa pass from Trent Classen).
HSF -- Korus 3 run (Calvin Klassen pass from Classen).
HSF -- Korus 2 run (pass failed).
HSF -- Korus 2 run (run failed).
HSF -- Korus 3 run (pass failed).
A -- 1,344.
Humphrey St. Francis statistics
RUSHING -- Matt Korus 37-207, Trent Classen 8-87, Kenny Kuchar 6-40, Chad Haiar 1-19, Blake Wegener 5-13, Dillon Bender 1-6, Caleb Sjuts 1-(-1).
PASSING -- Trent Classen 1-5-1 9 yards.
RECEIVING -- K. Christensen 1-9.
Hayes Center statistics
RUSHING -- Keifer Messersmith 19-79, Tyler Clifford 6-23, Brady Rosno 4-23, Tanner Dow 4-(-6), Drew Harms 1-(-11).
PASSING -- Keifer Messersmith 4-10-2 24 yards, Tyler Rehbein 0-4-0 0 yards, Tyler Clifford 0-1-0 0 yards.
RECEIVING -- Brady Rosno 2-21, Tyler Clifford 1-4, Adam Lawson 1-(-1).