As Advertised
By Bruce Viergutz
News Sports Writer
Lincoln - They will be
erecting a new sign outside the town of O'Neill.
The undefeated Cardinals turned out to be as good
as advertised.
St. Mary's bumped off Lindsay Holy Family 22-8 to
win the Class D2 state championship on a raw and windy Thursday in
front of 1,854 fans at Memorial Stadium here.
The football championship for St. Mary's is the
school's second by the first 8-man title in school history. The
Cardinals defeated Grant 39-15 to win the Class C2 (11-man)
championship in 1984.
There are two signs honoring the 13-0 '84 team
that
O'NEILL ST. MARY'S Ryan Hickey runs
around Mitch
Korus of Lindsay Holy Family during Thursday's Class D2
state championship game played in Lincoln.
sit just outside the east and west sides of town on highway
275.
"We already got one that's about 17 years old,"
said St. Mary's senior linebacker Kiel Neumann. Neumann led the
Cardinals with 17 tackles, including nine solo stops and he
intercepted a pass. "We needed an update for the town. (Plus), we
have a day named after us now in honor of St. Mary's football. The
deal was, if we won today, we had a day named after us."
And did Cardinals snatch the keys to the city as
well?
"Yep, we did," Neumann said with a smile.
St. Mary's offense may have borrowed those keys to
open some holes after finding themselves in an unexpected 8-8
defensive struggle at halftime.
The Cardinals, a high-octane team during the
regular season, drove down the field on their first possession of the
second half to take the lead for good.
It took St. Mary's three plays to score when
senior quarterback Mike Simons broke loose for a 31-yard touchdown
run with 9:18 remaining in the third quarter.
Simons ran to his left and dove in while extending
the ball to make contact with the flag on the near side of the end
zone. Simons finished with 86 yards on 19 carries.
"We were having a little trouble there at the
start," St. Mary's coach Tony Allen said. "We just weren't staying on
out blocks long enough. We had some plays that were ready to break. I
don't know if (Holy Family) wore down, but it just seemed tat all
year as the game went on, we'd get stronger and stronger."
The 13-0 Cardinals' final score came after Holy
Family punter Tyler Kurtenbach took advantage of a 35 mph north wind,
and booted a 56-yarder late in the third quarter.
Seven plays later, St. Mary's senior running back
Ryan Hickey broke several tackles before scoring on a 27-yard run.
Simons' two-point conversion run increased the Cardinals lead to 22-8
2 with 10:37 left in the game.
"It was a draw play and their ends bit on it,"
said Hickey who led St. Mary's rushers with 88 yards on 17 carries.
"I had good down-field blocking and things were just wide open. I
made a few cutbacks and there it was. We figured if we could take up
some time, and end up scoring a touchdown on that drive, the game
would be over, but pretty close."
Holy Family, which won the D2 title two years ago,
made a last-ditch effort to get back in the game. The Bulldogs
reached the St. Mary's 7-yard line before senior running back Nick
Kurtenbach fumbled after a 6-yard gain.
On the play, St. Mary's Hickey spun Kurtenbach
around and the ball squirted loose where safety Dan Haggerty pounced
on it at the one.
Kurtenbach ended the game with 112 yards on 33
carries, including a 5-yard touchdown run that helped tie the contest
at 8-8 late in the first half. Running back Jed Givens' 5-yard
touchdown put St. Mary's on top 8-0 with 4:10 remaining in the first
quarter.
Holy Family (11-2) got the ball back
one more time, but quarterback Matt Weeder was picked off by Haggerty
on the Bulldogs' first play from scrimmage. The Cardinals then
ran the final 3:49 off the clock.
"Turnovers killed us," Holy Family coach Rusty
Rautenberg said. "They came at bad times."
The Bulldogs had three passes intercepted and a
fumbled ball seven times, losing three.
"I thought our defense played well today,"
Rautenberg said. "St. Mary's is a very good offensive team. We were
in a position to have a chance and that's what we wanted going into
the third quarter. Unfortunately, we didn't finish the deal.
NICK KURTENBACH (with ball) is tackled by a host
of O'Neill St. Mary's players, including Ryan Kelly (left)
and Kiel Neumann (middle) during Thursday morning's
Class D2 championship game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.