2015 Nebraska state high school football championship wrap

Video: Brayton Haley's highlights vs. Skutt Catholic

With everything on the line, 12 Nebraska prep football teams in six classes battled it out for high school football supremacy at the University of Nebraska's Memorial Stadium last Monday and Tuesday.

David City Aquinas, one of only two schools to play its way back into the championship game for at least a second-straight season, successfully defended its 2014 Class C2 state football championship with a 36-7 win over Oakland-Craig. The state title, Aquinas' fourth in five seasons, was the eighth in school history. The Monarchs have now played in the last five Class C2 state championship games.

While Aquinas was in repeat mode, Bruning-Davenport/Shickley, upped its championship game hardware color to gold with a 44-30 triumph over Burwell after falling to Hemingford in the title game a year ago.

In the other four classifications, Millard North (Class A), Elkhorn South (Class B), Columbus Scotus (Class C1) and Humphrey St. Francis (Class D2) all started what they hope is the beginning of a run of their own after winning state championships as well.


Class A – Millard North (Omaha) 21, Millard West (Omaha) 14
Through three quarters, Millard North held Millard West scoreless while putting 21 points on the board, and appeared to be well on its way to a third Class A state football championship since 2010, the school's fifth football title. But Millard West, which had been averaging 46 points a game during the playoffs, wasn't finished just yet. The Wildcats rallied to score a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, and with four seconds remaining in the championship game, were in position to tie the game. But Millard North's Jack Begley, who earlier recovered a Wildcat fumble and intercepted a Logan Anderjaska pass, fell on a fumble at the 3 to secure the win. With the win, Millard North made up for a 42-7 regular season loss to the Wildcats.

Class B – Elkhorn South 32, Aurora 21
Trailing 21-6, Elkhorn South rallied by scoring 26 unanswered points to knock off undefeated Aurora to win the school's first state football championship. The Storm cut the two-touchdown deficit to 21-13 before halftime when Brayton Haley reeled in a 43-yard strike from Braden Wright. A 13-yard run from sophomore running back Moses Bryant in the third quarter and a 17-yard score by Derrick Vander Linden in the fourth on a pass from Wright gave the champs their first lead since the first quarter. Wright then stretched the Elkhorn South advantage to 32-21 when he found paydirt from 28 yards out.

Class C1 – Scotus (Columbus) 32, Norfolk Catholic 27
Norfolk Catholic scored a go-ahead touchdown with 42 seconds left in the first half before Scotus got rolling and concluded the opening half scoring with a five-play drive that was aided by a hit out of bounds penalty. Jake Bos added 42- and 53-yard field goals in the third quarter. Trailing 25-14, Norfolk Catholic's David Engelhaupt sandwiched a Class C1 record 90-yard scoring reception and a 1-yard plunge around Cole Harrington's 4-yard scoring run for Scotus. But the Knights fell short when Engelhaupt's fumble at about midfield, with 58 seconds left, was recovered by the Shamrocks' Matt Strecker. The championship is the first for the Shamrocks since winning the Class B title in 1993, and the third in school history.

Class C2 – Aquinas (David City) 36, Oakland-Craig (Oakland) 7
The Monarchs scored the first 21 points and never looked back in successfully defending their state championship from a year ago, and winning the school's fourth championship in five years. The 29-point win may be a sign that the Monarchs are ready to move up to Class C1 next year. Oakland-Craig's only points came on Cody Mace's 9-yard scoring reception from Cole Mitchell. Four different Monarchs scored, led by Lane Napier's 7- and 1-yard runs.

Class D1 – Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (Bruning) 44, Burwell 30
Four different players scored as BDS bolted to a 28-0 advantage to open the game before holding on for the two-touchdown win and the school's first undefeated season. Burwell sandwiched four touchdowns around Kale Kleinschmidt's 9-yard run for BDS to pull the Longhorns to within 36-30 before Kleinschmidt tacked on a 1-yard run to secure the win and the championship. Victory Sikes started Burwell's rally with a 5-yard run and then he threw a 28-yard scoring strike to Devin Watts. Following Kleinschmidt's score, Ty Chaffin and Tyler Gideon reeled in scoring strikes of 47 and 11 yards, respectively, for Burwell. The championship is the first for BDS since the three schools consolidated.

Class D2 – St. Francis (Humphrey) 22, Chambers/Wheeler Central (Chambers) 20
After falling behind 20-6 in the third quarter, the Flyers may have been suffering from a case of deja vu. You see, St. Francis lost to CWC 28-6 in September. But the Flyers got a little payback and now get to enjoy the school's first state football championship trophy since 2009. Following Kyle Wemhoff's 4-yard run to open the scoring for St. Francis, Brenden Pelster rallied CWC with runs of 1 and 2 yards. Nick Haburchak then added a 1-yard plunge giving the Renegades a 20-6 advantage. The Flyers rallied by outscoring CWC 16-0 in the final 12 minutes of the contest on Damien Baumgart's 18- and 5-yard passes to Wemhoff and Carson Weidner, respectively, pushing St. Francis over the top. The Flyers now own four state championship trophies.

Championship coaches
Class A – Fred Petito, Millard North
Class B – Guy Rosenberg, Elkhorn South
Class C1 – Tyler Linder, Columbus Scotus
Class C2 – Ron Mimick, David City Aquinas
Class D1 – Christopher Ardissono, Bruning-Davenport/Shickley
Class D2 – Eric Kessler, Humphrey St. Francis

State championship team stat leaders
First downs: David City Aquinas (C2), 21
Return yards: Columbus Scotus (C1), 122
Total yards: David City Aquinas (C2), 476
Total plays: Burwell (D1), 76
Time of possession: Millard North (A), 31:19
Rushing yards: David City Aquinas (C2), 405
Passing yards: Elkhorn South (B), 282
Fewest total yards allowed: Humphrey St. Francis (D2), 242
Points scored: Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (D1), 44
Fewest points allowed: David City Aquinas (C2), 7

State championship individual stat leaders
Rushing: Kale Kleinschmidt, Bruning-Davenport/Shickley 29-218 (3 TDs)
Passing: Victory Sikes, Burwell 19-38 275 (3 TDs)
Receiving: David Engelhaupt, Norfolk Catholic 5-161 (1 TD)
Tackles: Tanner Meyo, Elkhorn South 20
Interceptions: Conner Kranda, David City Aquinas 3

Record breaker
C1 touchdown pass play – 90, Myles Vrbka to David Engelhaupt, Norfolk Catholic (vs. Columbus Scotus)

Nationally ranked
As of Monday, several Nebraska football teams find themselves ranked rather high in MaxPreps' national computer rankings following last week's state football championships. Our rankings are subject to change, however, as other states complete their state championship contests. All of the Nebraska schools listed in the 6, 8 and 9-Man rankings play 8-Man football except Riverside, who won its-second straight 6-Man title. Now let's take a look.

11-Man
No. 202 – Elkhorn South, 13-0
No. 216 – Columbus Scotus, 12-1

6, 8 and 9-Man
No. 16 – Humphrey St. Francis, 12-1
No. 19 – Bruning-Davenport/Shickley, 13-0
No. 27 – Chambers/Wheeler Central, 12-1
No. 29 – Creighton, 11-1
No. 53 – Burwell, 11-2
No. 55 – Riverside (Cedar Rapids), 11-0
No. 62 – Guardian Angels Central Catholic (West Point), 10-1
No. 77 – High Plains (Polk), 8-3
No. 79 – Wynot, 10-2

They said it
"It was the line. They kept pushing their hardest," Millard North running back Adrian Kellogg told the Lincoln Journal Star after his second effort on a 7-yard run gained a first down and allowed Millard North to continue to run off the clock. "Even though some of them are bummed up, they kept pushing, they kept pushing."

"They were leaving the middle of the field open and we have Moses, the fastest player in space in Class B right now," Elkhorn South quarterback Braden Wright told the Omaha World Herald. "Put him in space and just get him the ball."

"One of the things we say in our program is, ‘Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games," Columbus Scotus coach Tyler Linder told the Columbus Telegram of Jake Bos' all-around performance on offense, defense and special teams. "You saw a big-time player make big-time plays in a big-time game."

"The biggest thing the first half, we didn't tackle very well," Oakland-Craig coach Joe Anderson told the Omaha World Herald following the Knights' 36-7 loss to David City Aquinas in the Class C2 championship game. "Four-yarders turned into 8-yarders, and it was tough to get them behind the chains."

"He just gave us that first down, that extra bit of motivation we needed, helped us kick it in gear," Bruning-Davenport/Shickley's Benjamin Elznic told the Lincoln Journal Star of his injured teammate Riley Tegtmeier. "It's like he says, ‘I'll go get it for you.' He's hurting, so we had to make a play."

"It was nerve-wracking, honestly. We didn't know if we could capitalize, score and come back and win the game," Humphrey St. Francis signal caller Damien Baumgart told the Norfolk Daily News after the Flyers rallied from a 20-6 deficit to win the Class D2 football title. "You've got to stay together, as a team, and that's what we did."