LINCOLN, Neb.—Clint Belina ran for 332 yards and six touchdowns on 22 carries to lead second-ranked Howells to a 68-28 victory over No. 5 Giltner in the Class D1 state final at Memorial Stadium on Monday.
The Bobcats (12-1) won their eighth championship in 10 years.
Trent Mastry started the scoring for Howells when he raced in from 66 yards with 7:11 left in the first quarter. From there Belina scored on runs of 41, 60, 46 and 35 yards, and quarterback Brian Prusa added a 19 yard TD to give the Bobcats a 40-6 lead at the half over the Hornets (11-2).
Belina finished the first half with 265 yards on 20 carries, then opened the second half with touchdowns on consecutive carries. The first went for 44 yards, the second for 23. Belina then headed for the bench for the rest of the day.
“We knew we could run the ball on them because that’s our bread and butter,” Belina said. “The offensive line did a great job and allowed me to have some pretty easy runs. I love those guys. They do everything for me. It makes it pretty easy.”
Giltner coach Jeff Ashby said the Bobcats were just too strong.
“There’s not a whole lot you can do against them,” he said. “We were just hoping we could score with them. I knew we weren’t going to stop them.”
Nate Most completed 19 of 27 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, to lead the Hornets’ offense.
The Bobcats returned to eight-man football this season after playing in Class C2 in 2006-07. They didn’t win state titles those years.
They have won a championship in Class D1 every other year since 2000.
Howells’ 68 points were the most scored by one team in the D1 finals. The previous record was set by Lawrence in a 67-8 win over Ansley in 1982.
