Making History!
Patriot Football Team Wins D-1 State Title
This year’s Clarkson-Leigh football team had one thing on their mind from the start of the season: win a state championship.
And on Monday, November 21 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE, the boys did just that, capturing the Nebraska Class D-1 State Title for the first time in Patriot program history and bringing great pride to both schools and communities in Leigh and Clarkson.
The occasion marked Clarkson’s first time in the championship game since they were runner-up in 2007. Leigh had not been to the title game since they won a championship in 1984.
Now, together as Patriots, this championship run is one to remember.
It didn’t come without hardship. The Patriots began the playoffs by defeating Wisner-Pilger and Crofton in Round 1 and Round 2.
Then they faced a red-hot Weeping Water team, defeating them 46-18 in the quarterfinals.
This win advanced the #7 Patriots to the state semi-final game against the #3 Stanton Mustangs in Stanton on November 11. It was a cold, windy night, but that didn’t stop Patriot fans from showing up in droves, and it certainly didn’t stop the Patriot team from handing out a 54-12 beating to the Mustangs.
Against Stanton, it was a slow start for the both teams, and it was a scoreless ball game after the first quarter. But after that, the Patriot defense held tough while their offense exploded, putting up 22 points in the second quarter and shutting out the Mustangs going into halftime.
The third quarter was a back-and-forth battle, but C-L still outscored Stanton 16-12 by converting on their two-point conversions. The Pats then finished the game strong, putting up another two touchdowns and two-point conversions in the fourth against a stunned Mustang team.
Senior Kyle Kasik played a phenomenal game against Stanton with 6 touchdowns and 6 two-point conversions. Quarterback Ryan Brichacek ran the show efficiently and put in for one touchdown as well.
“Coming into the Stanton game, we knew it was going to be cold. We knew we couldn’t control the weather, but we could control bringing it to ‘em and making sure the better team was victorious,” junior Dylan Higby said.
Defeating Stanton led the Patriots to the championship game against the Neligh-Oakdale Warriors on November 21.
The Warriors entered the matchup 11-1 just like the Patriots, having lost their very first game of the season to Howells-Dodge. The Patriots knew their biggest obstacle would be the senior phenom Aiden Kuester, who became the first player in Nebraska to reach 5,000 yards rushing and passing in one season and broke national records in career yards.
“Coming into this game, we knew it was obviously the biggest game of our lives,” senior Dalton Zulkoski said. “No players on this team have ever made it into November football, let alone the championship.”
But after a rocky 0-14 start, the Patriots held their composure and battled back with a vengeance, holding Kuester to just 111 yards rushing and effectively shutting down the Warriors game offensive plan.
“Even when we gave up a couple turnovers to put the Warriors up by 14, we still fought through adversity and got some stops on defense while the offense started to score,” Zulkoski said.
On offense, Kasik led the way again, again scoring 6 touchdowns and 6 two-point conversions, just as he had done against Stanton. In all he carried the ball 40 times for 320 yards.
Against the Warriors, the Patriots ran Kasik out of the Wildcat formation more than they had during any other game this season, and it worked. And just like the Stanton game, the Patriots didn’t throw a single pass.
The Patriots led the Warriors 24-14 at halftime, and after half, it was ALL Patriots. Clarkson-Leigh’s defense gave up just one more touchdown in the fourth quarter, while their offense put up 32 second half points for a final score of 48-20!
Senior Drew Beeson, who led the team in tackles, recording 12 in each game against Stanton and Neligh-Oakdale, said, “The atmosphere for the championship game was just crazy. There’s nothing like it, and nothing will ever compare.” We went out there knowing it was a winnable game, and we just had fun together.”
“We had a rough start in the first-quarter, but after we got used to the environment at Memorial Stadium, we got back to normal Patriot football,” Kasik said. “It feels great to win a championship with this team.”
“We are proud to bring the trophy back home to our schools and communities,” Zulkoski added.
Head Coach Jim Clarkson could not be prouder of his team.
“This was an amazing win for our program and our communities,” Clarkson said. “These kids played hard and worked hard and have been really committed to this team from start to finish. They definitely deserve this championship.”
Game Stats vs. Stanton Mustangs (Semi-finals)
Score:
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
C-L 0 22 16 16 54
Stanton 0 0 12 0 12
Rushing Stats (Carries-Yards): Kyle Kasik: 36-294, Ryan Brichacek: 11-92, Drew Beeson: 3-14, Joey Steffensmeier: 1-5
Passing/Receiving Yards: none
Tackles (Solo, Assisted, Total Tackles):
Mason Whitmore: 2, 2, 4; Kasik: 7, 1, 8; Beeson: 7, 5, 12; Jaden Stoklasa: 0, 1, 1; Tucker Matthis: 1, 1, 2; Dylan Higby: 5, 1, 6; Trey Steffensmeier: 3, 1, 4; Jackson Koehn: 4, 4, 8; Kyle Holmberg: 1, 0, 1; Christian Hamernik: 1, 0, 1; Samuel Pocasangre: 0, 1, 1; Korbin Lemburg: 2, 1, 3;
Fumble Recoveries: Kasik: 1, Holmberg: 1
Punts: Brichacek: 1–31 yards
Scoring (Touchdowns, 2-pt Conversions, Total Points): Kasik: 6, 6, 48; Brichacek: 1, 0, 6
Game Stats vs. Neligh-Oakdale Warriors (State Championship)
Score:
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
C-L 0 24 8 16 48
Neligh-Oakdale 14 0 0 6 20
Rushing Stats (Carries-Yards): Kyle Kasik: 40-320, Ryan Brichacek: 10-16, Drew Beeson: 6-27, Dylan Higby: 2-7
Passing/Receiving Yards: none
Tackles (Solo, Assisted, Total Tackles):
Mason Whitmore: 2, 1, 3; Kasik: 5, 0, 5; Beeson: 8, 4, 12; Dalton Zulkoski: 4, 0, 4; Jaden Stoklasa: 0, 1, 1; Tucker Matthis: 1, 0, 1; Dylan Higby: 2, 2, 4; Trey Steffensmeier: 1, 1, 2; Jackson Koehn: 1, 4, 5; Kyle Holmberg: 0, 2, 2; Samuel Pocasangre: 0, 1, 1; Korbin Lemburg: 4, 0, 4; Wyatt Crosley: 0, 1, 1; Jacob Koehn: 1, 0, 1; Garrett Stodola: 1, 0, 1; Nathan Bahns: 1, 0, 1
Interceptions: Kasik: 1, T. Steffensmeier: 1
Punts: Brichacek: 1–30 yards
Kickoff Returns (returns, yards): Jase Indra: 2-16
Scoring (Touchdowns, 2-pt Conversions, Total Points): Kasik: 6, 6, 48