Joel Bargen of Centennial slows the Norfolk Catholic runner on a kick return Nov. 20.
Sid Farley (24) takes the handoff from Wyatt Ehlers in Centennial's win over Norfolk Catholic Nov. 20.
Garrett Fehlhafer of Centennial holds his ground against Dylan Kautz of Norfolk Catholic Nov. 20.
Cole Gocke (70) and Garrett Fehlhafer (72) stop the Nofolk Catholic runner Nov. 20.
Jack Hirschfeld (3) runs through the Norfolk Catholic defense as Caleb Cast (57) and Cole Gocke (70) look for blocks.
Caleb Horne (35) runs through an arm tackle by Norfolk Catholic as Jack Hirschfeld (3) and Sid Farley (24) follow the play Nov. 20.
Wyatt Ehlers (22) congratulates Jack Hirschfeld (3) after catching a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter of the championship game Nov. 20.
Will Saunders (18) kicks a point after out of Jack Hirschfeld's hold Nov. 20.
Max Tomes of Centennial (6) gathers an interception and runs away from the Norfolk Catholic defenders Nov. 20.
Centennial's Jack Hirschfeld scores the Broncos' overtime touchdown as Kalten Bauers (78), Sid Farley (24), Quinn Butzke (68), Wyatt Ehlers (22) and Joel Bargen (28) make the touchdown call.
Centennial Coach Evan Klanecky tells his team they're going for two and the win in the overtime against Norfolk Catholic Nov. 20.
Centennial's Wyatt Ehlers celebrates his team's win over Nofolk Catholic in the Class C2 championship game Nov. 20.
Ryan Payne celebrates Centennial's win over Norfolk Catholic Nov. 20.
Wyatt Ehlers leads his teammates in a postgame celebration Nov. 20.
Coach Evan Klanecky had no doubt. The Centennial players had no doubt. They were going for two.
"When your gut says do it, you've gotta do it," Klanecky said. "There was no doubt. As a coach, there's so much to go on. There's no time for doubt."
The call worked. It gave the Centennial football team an undefeated season (13·0) and its first state championship with a 29-28 overtime win over Norfolk Catholic Nov. 20.
The Broncos won the toss in the overtime and chose to play defense first. Norfolk Catholic scored in two plays and kicked the point-after for a 28-21 lead.
Quarterback Wyatt Ehlers said the call was made even before the Broncos' touchdown. The Broncos called time out after a seven-yard loss on second down.
"Coach said when we score, we're going to go for two and go win it," Ehlers said.
Ehlers called his own number on third and goal at the 17 and picked up 14 yards on the scramble.
"I wanted to make it more manageable," he said.
On fourth down and goal, the Broncos ran a play they call pigtails. Jack Hirschfeld made the catch and spun into the endzone, setting up the two-point conversion opportunity.
The conversion was pigtails on the other side of the field.
"I don't remember anything before," Hirschfeld said with a grin. "I heard everyone go nuts. Four or five guys jumped on me, and I realized it had actually happened. It was the best 10 seconds ever."
Fellow seniors Haden Richters, who missed most of the season after breaking his leg, and lineman Caleb Cast had different thoughts.
"Don't drop it," Richters said, smiling. "But I have all the trust in Wyatt to throw it and Jack to catch it. It was all in slow motion - just like the movies."
"I was praying Jack would come down with it," Cast said. "Then I had to meet him in the endzone."
The game was back and forth throughout. The Broncos got on the board first with a 14-yard pass from Ehlers to Hirschfeld early in the second quarter. Norfolk Catholic answered with two touchdowns in the quarter and led 14-6 at halftime.
Max Tomes intercepted a Knight pass with about 10 minutes to play in the third quarter and raced 43 yards for the touchdown to cut the lead to 14-13. Tomes said they'd worked on that play all week, but he was afraid Dylan Kautz, with his great speed, might catch him.
"I know Kautz is fast, but I had a slightly better jump," Tomes said.
NCHS then put together an 83-yard drive in the third to take a 21-13 lead.
Centennial tied the score on another Ehlers to Hirschfeld touchdown and two-point conversion with 10:49 to play in the fourth.
"We knew if we could get close in the fourth quarter, we could win," Klanecky said, adding that the Knights hadn't been in any close games like that, where Centennial had been. He said the Broncos did a good job staying the course and battling throughout the game.
"We knew the game wouldn't end at 7-6 or 14-13," he said. "It's such a sweet deal for them. They earned every bit of it."
He said the win has been hard to process because it hadn't sunk in yet, but he told the players to take a minute and enjoy the moment.
Centennial will graduate 19 seniors - Jack Hirschfeld, Zeke Duntz, Max Tomes, Nate Hanneman, Ian Schlueter, Chris Medow, Wyatt Schoepf, Wyatt Ehlers, Sid Farley, Haden Richters, Theo Rodewald, Caleb Cast, Quinn Butzke, Cole Gocke, Elijah Wiezorek, Garrett Fehlhafer, Cody Bender, Tom Sheehan and Kalten Bauers.
