HAYS -- Fans could not have asked for a more exciting 1A state championship game, a high-scoring affair that ended with St. Marys defeating Inman 44-41 and capturing their first state title.
It was the fourth state championship game appearance for St. Marys and the second for Inman. The matchup proved to be a true offensive battle with the lead changing hands a total of seven times. The final lead change came with just 13 seconds left in the game when the Bears’ senior quarterback Keller Hurla scored on a 1-yard run, capping an epic 99-yard drive.
“I have no words,” St. Marys coach Kyle Schenk said. “I don’t know if I’ve been a part of a great game quite like that before, it was a blast. I’ve got great coaches and great young men.”
Neither team made much happen on their opening drive of the game. The Teutons fumbled on their very first play, while St. Marys ended its first drive with a punt. Inman’s offense got going first as the Teutons ended the first quarter in the lead, 12-0. Tanner Heckel started the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run and then hit Harrison Brunk on a 42-yard touchdown pass.
Inman's Brant Mikulecky celebrates a big play in Saturday's Class 1A state championship game in Hays.
However, the Bears stormed back in the second quarter, outscoring Inman 22-7 in the period, putting them on top at halftime, 22-19. Keller Hurla broke touchdown runs of 1 and 47 yards and then hit Abe Huaracha with a 7-yard TD pass for a string of 22 straight points before Inman answered late in the half with a 30-yard touchdown run by Heckel.
“I think we did a great job of regrouping, bouncing back and finding what worked for us,” Hurla said. “There were a lot of momentum shifts. We did a great job bouncing back from their momentum and then regaining ours.”
Both teams put together a huge third quarter, trading touchdowns until St. Marys took a 38-33 lead into the fourth quarter. Inman got a 4-yard touchdown run from Samuel Shober and a 48-yard touchdown pass from Heckel to Brunk while St. Marys countered with a pair of 28-yard touchdown passes from Hurla, one to Nate Hutley and the other to Huaracha.
Inman took the lead for the last time early in the fourth quarter with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Hickel to Brunk. The Teutons had one more chance to score after stopping the Bears on defense, but driving in for a game-clinching score with just under three minutes left, Heckel was tackled at the goal line and fumbled the ball with St. Marys recovering.
St. Marys defense recovered three Inman fumbles in Saturday's Class 1A state championship game, including one in the fourth quarter that set up the game-winning 99-yard touchdown drive.
Starting at Inman’s 1-yard line, St. Marys drove the length of the field in two minutes and 32 seconds, aided by two penalties at the end, to score the game-winning touchdown on Hurla's 1-yard run with 13 seconds left.
“We just kept saying, ‘Stay calm. We’re still in this. Don’t get too excited or too down, just keep playing,'” Schenk said.
This is the second year in a row that Inman has finished runner-up in class 1A with the Teutons falling to Olpe in last year's championship game.
“(St. Marys) is a good team,” Inman coach Lance Sawyer said. “I thought we battled back, we did a really good job coming back from down 22-12. They had all the momentum right there before half but we had a shot.”
St. Marys quarterback Keller Hurla threw for 403 yards and 3 touchdowns and also ran for 3 TDs, including the game-winner with 13 seconds left to lead the Bears to a 44-41 win over Inman in Saturday's Class 1A state championship game in Hays.
As a team, Inman finished with 173 rushing yards and 267 passing for a total of 440 yards. While St. Marys had less rushing yards with 111, Hurla had a monster passing game, throwing for 403 yards to give the Bears 514 yards of total offense. Hurla also ran for 94 yards and 3 TDs.
Inman’s Zachary Martisko led all defenders with 15 total tackles.
“Inman is a great team,” Hurla said. “They’ve got some great athletes and are really well coached, so we knew it would be a battle coming into this. To come out on top just feels great.”
St. Marys celebrates the first state championship in program history after beating Inman 44-41 in Saturday's Class 1A state championship game.
CLASS 1A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
ST. MARYS 44, INMAN 41
St. Marys (11-2) … 0 … 22 … 16 … 6 … – … 44
Inman (11-2) … 12 … 7 … 14 … 8 … – … 41
Inman – Tanner Heckel 5-yard run (pass failed)
Inman – Harrison Brunk 42-yard pass from Heckel (run failed)
St. Marys – Keller Hurla 1-yard run (Hurla run)
St. Marys – Hurla 47-yard run (Hurla run)
St. Marys – Abe Huaracha 7-yard pass from Hurla (run failed)
Inman – Heckel 30-yard run (Farnebo kick)
Inman – Samuel Shober 4-yard run (Farnebo kick)
St. Marys – Nate Hutley 28-yard pass from Hurla (Hurla run)
Inman – H. Brunk 48-yard pass from Heckel (Felix Farnebo kick)
St. Marys – Huaracha 28-yard pass from Hurla (Hurla run)
Inman – H. Brunk 28-yard pass from Heckel (Eli Brunk pass from Heckel)
St. Marys – Hurla 1-yard run (Hurla run)
TEAM STATISTICS
... SM ... INMAN
First downs ... 25 ... 16
Rushes-yards ... 31-111 ... 35-173
Passing yards ... 403 ... 267
Passing (Comp-Att-INT) ... 21-33-3 ... 9-15-1
Total plays-yards ... 64-514 ... 50-440
Fumbles-lost ... 1-1 ... 4-3
Penalties-yards ... 9-99 ... 7-68
Punts-avg. ... 1-29.0 ... 1-39.0
Time of possession ... 26:37 ... 21:23
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – St. Marys: Hurla 25-94, Rezac, J. 1-14, Griffin 1-4, Rezac, H. 3-1. Inman: Heckel 18-137, Shober 9-29, Schrag 4-4, Buller 4-3.
PASSING – St. Marys: Hurla 21-33-3, 403 yards. Inman: Heckel 9-15-1, 267 yards.
RECEIVING – St. Marys: Hutley 8-153, Huaracha 7-149, Gomez 5-74, Rezac, H. 1-27. Inman: Brunk, H. 6-243, Brunk, E. 2-25.
