Pierce roars back to win C-1 crown

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By RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star

Pierce won its first state football championship since 1978 with an overtime touchdown, but the Bluejays actually turned the tide much earlier.

Aron Eddy took a pitch around the right side and ran 10 yards to lift second-ranked Pierce to a 34-28 victory over No. 3 Bishop Neumann Saturday at Memorial Stadium in the Class C-1 championship.

After Bishop Neumann took a 28-7 lead, the Bluejays scored two touchdowns in a 47-second span late in the third quarter to cut the margin to 28-21.

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Pierce's Eric Koehlmoos (5) brushes aside Wahoo Neumann's Alex Kuhfahl (10) in first-half action. (Ted Kirk)

Pierce's Eric Koehlmoos (5) brushes aside Wahoo Neumann's Alex Kuhfahl (10) in first-half action. (Ted Kirk)

Eric Koehlmoos took a pitch from Tony Lauters and then heaved a pass to Jacob Navrkal, who spun away from a defender and raced into the end zone on the 64-yard scoring play.

Two plays after the kickoff, Kevin Paulsen pounced on a bad pitch at the 3-yard line and Koehlmoos scored two plays later.

"When they were up 28-7, I was just hoping we could be prideful and finish halfway decent so we wouldn't allow it to get out of hand, because we weren't playing well at that time," said Pierce coach Mark Brahmer. "We had a little bit of a momentum switch. The trick play kind of turned the tide a little bit and then Kevin Paulsen gets a good fumble recovery down here and they give us a short field."

Bishop Neumann coach Tim Turman agreed.

"That trick play was the start of it and got everything going," he said. "We had good coverage there and just got twisted around and didn't make the play. And then we followed that right up with an error down in our end and that's momentum there."

The Bluejays still had work to do. Twice, they forced three-and-outs on Neumann and then Koehlmoos mixed the run and the pass to drive Pierce to the tying touchdown. Colton Stepp capped the 57-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge over the right side with 4:43 left in regulation.

Neumann drove from its 17-yard line to the Pierce 31, but a penalty, a scramble and two incomplete passes ended the threat.

The Cavaliers (12-1) went first in overtime. Two running plays netted four yards and then Brock Stonacek broke up Dylan McGill's pass to Ben Fisher in the end zone. Keith Chvatal lined up for a 23-yard field goal attempt, but the high snap bounced away from holder Ben Fisher.

"It was going to be a fake. It was the same play we ran in 2003," Turman said of his team's two-point conversion in an 8-7 victory over Chase County in the title game. "But the snap was high and we bobbled it and didn't get a chance to run it."

Pierce's first play didn't gain anything and then Eddy ran in for the score.

"I got the ball and I just ran hard," said Eddy. "I wanted to get this thing over with. I want to go home and celebrate."

Neumann built its lead on the arm of McGill, who rolled up 205 yards through the air on 12-of-17 passes when he hit Fisher with a 7-yard score in the third quarter. He was just 3-of-9 the rest of the way for 36 yards.

"Our defense has been doing it for us all year long. They came up big there at the end," Brahmer said. "We were lucky they had kind of a poor snap there at the end on the field goal try. Then Aron Eddy did a great job when we ran the toss."

Koehlmoos, a junior who played quarterback, running back and kicked out as a receiver for the Bluejays, finished with 76 yards rushing and a touchdown and 155 yards on 8-of-11 passing, including the 64-yard half-back touchdown pass.

"Anywhere you put him on the field, he's tremendous," said Eddy. "You can't say enough good things about that kid. Even if he has a bad play, he comes back and makes up for it every time."

Koehlmoos, who was an all-state running back last year, said the Bluejays just had to keep battling.

"We didn't come out as strong as we wanted to, but we made the big plays at the right time," he said. "We fought through a big comeback. We were tired, but we just had to fight through it."

Brahmer said the twists and turns of events in the game made the victory even more special.

"I thought possibly we had a team that could win it. Then you go down 28-7 and come back and win in overtime like we did, it's unreal," he said. "It's something I'll never forget. It's the happiest day of my life except for the birth of my children and when my wife said 'yes.' This is pretty good."

Reach Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambleton@journalstar.com