LINCOLN, Neb.—Ewing quarterback Brett Kaczor ran and passed his Tiger teammates to a 49-24 victory over Humphrey St. Francis to win the state class D-2 eight-man football championship on Thursday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
The football championship is Ewing’s first.
Kaczor threw for 160 yards and three touchdowns, completing 10 of 11 passes. He ran for 118 yards and two more touchdowns.
While on defense, Kaczor recorded 17 tackles.
“This is a great feeling,” said Kaczor, a senior. “This was a great tribute to our defense. We put a lot of heart into the defense.”
The Flyers (12-1) had been allowing just over 142 yards of total offense and just under nine points per game. The Tigers (12-1) were well on their way beyond both numbers before the first quarter ended.
Ewing rolled up 122 yards of offense and a 21-0 first-quarter lead on a six-yard Kaczor run and a pair of touchdown passes to Austin Kaczor.
Beau Fry would score from three yards out between second-quarter Flyers’ touchdowns by Austin Wegner and Jameson Wener.
The score was 29-12 Ewing at the half.
“We had a bad first quarter,” said Humphrey St. Francis coach Eric Kessler. “They came out and stuffed us right away and then converted.
“It was just an uphill battle after that.”
The Tigers’ defense came up big time and time again, although the Flyers amassed 358 yards in the game. A pair of Flyer fumbles helped the Tigers, who also made four stops on fourth-down attempts—including two on a fourth-and-one from inside the 15.
“That’s just momentum swing right there,” Brett Kaczor said. “They thought they were going to pick it up, and you stuff them. It was a great feeling for our defense and just got our offense rolling.”
The Tigers finished with 372 yards of total offense and got second-half touchdowns from Josiah Switzer and two from Brett Kaczor.
St. Francis’ Matt Korus scored two touchdowns.
Ewing was making its 11th appearance in the playoffs. For Humphrey St. Francis, the game marked its third runner-up finish, having lost title games in 1988 and 1998.
The Flyers won titles in 1995 and 1996.
