Millard West wins Class A state football championship

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BY KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star

Millard West scored on the opening kickoff and ran away from archrival Millard South for 21-8 victory in the Class A state football championship Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

Darius Evans scored on a 94-yard return and teammate Vincenzo Guido hit Tyler Niederklein on a 31-yard halfback pass to give Millard West an early 14-0 lead.

Millard South (9-4) finally answered on a 1-yard touchdown by quarterback Bronson Marsh with 10:02 left in the first half, but Millard West answered quickly on a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Nate Hauptman to pad the lead to 21-6.

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Millard West's Darius Evans breaks away from Millard South on the opening kickoff return for a touchdown during Thursday's Class A championship game at Memorial Stadium, November 21st, 2008. (Jacob Hannah)

Millard West's Darius Evans breaks away from Millard South on the opening kickoff return for a touchdown during Thursday's Class A championship game at Memorial Stadium, November 21st, 2008. (Jacob Hannah)

Millard West, the 2001 champions, counted on a strong defense, led by defensive end Matt Longacre, who had 2½ quarterback sacks in the third quarter. The Wildcats limited Millard South to 69 yards rushing, including 11 plays for zero yards or losses.

Millard West (13-0), which posted a 15-12 win over Millard South earlier this year, stopped the Patriots on downs when Longacre sacked Bronson Marsh for a 5-yard loss near midfield in the middle of the third quarter. Millard West defensive back Devin Samson later intercepted a Marsh pass at the Wildcat 3-yard line with 6:25 left in the game.

Millard South scored a safety after a bad snap on a punt, but the Patriots couldn’t convert and were stopped on downs again when Marsh tried a pass to Zachary Vickers on the side of the endzone. Vickers caught the ball but was ruled out of bounds and Millard West ran out the clock to win the title.

Kohlman Adema-Schulte led Millard West with 96 yards rushing and quarterback Nate Hauptman paced the Wildcats with 52 yards passing and 52 yards rushing.

But the eight tackles, including four quarterback sacks by Longacre, plus 2½ sacks by Brandon Yost, along with two interceptions by the Millard West defense proved to be a difference-maker.

Marsh, who completed 18 passes, threw for 187 yards and led the Patriots with 27 yards rushing.