Garden County Takes NSAA Class D6 State Championship Game Against Southwest

Any time there is a State Championship Game, history is being made. On Friday night in the Class D6 State Championship, though, either Southwest or Garden County was coming away with their first-ever NSAA football title. #1 seed Garden County came away with a victory over #3 seeded Southwest, with the final reading 41-22 at Ron and Carol Cope Stadium at UNK.

It was a brisk, fall evening for football, really, couldn't have asked for much better in late November. In the first quarter, neither team could get an edge as they traded possessions.

Early in the second quarter, Garden County got on the board first on a broken play, as the ball hit the deck, Kyan Kramer threw it to Javis Underwood on a short pass, and he took it 42 yards to make it 6-0. About two minutes later, the Eagles scored again, this time on a 31-yard rush by Wilsie Lobner. They ran it in for the one-point conversion, and it was 13-0.

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Southwest countered with a 10-play drive capped off with a three-yard touchdown pass from Houston Billeter to Deric Kelley to make it 13-6. Before the half, Garden County scored three more times: Carver Corfield with a touchdown pass to Kane Brenneman for 37 yards, Lobner on a 41-yard rush, and Lobner on a seven-yard run.

Check out the recap highlight brought to you by Prairie Girl Candle Company

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The Eagles took a 33-6 lead at halftime.

Out of the half, Southwest scored fairly quickly on a 10-play drive again, as Billeter hit Jacob Barber on a two-yard pass to make it 33-14 after the two-point kick with 6:43 to go in the third.

33-14 was the score heading into the final period. At the 7:39 mark in the fourth, Billeter threw an interception as Jase Robertson took it 61 yards to score and make it 41-14 after the two-point kick.

Southwest rounded out the scoring with 5:26 to go as Billeter found Braxten Hammond on a 44-yard pass.

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For Garden County, they take home their first-ever State Championship in football. They close out the season with a 12-0 record. As a team, they had 171 yards rushing and 96 yards passing. Garden County's Kyan Kramer had 50 yards passing, and Carver Corfield had 46. Javis Underwood had 50 yards receiving and a score. Wilsie Lobner had three total scores. Lobner had 105 yards rushing, and Kyan Kramer had 76. Kramer had 11 tackles, too. Lobner had two interceptions, and Robertson had a pick returned for a touchdown.

Southwest had 31 yards rushing and 257 yards passing. Southwest had four turnovers. Houston Billeter went 28-52 passing with 257 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions. Deric Kelley had 11 catches for 87 yards and a score, Jacob Barber had seven 72 yards and a score, Gage Hammond had 48 yards on six catches, and Braxten Hammond had one catch for 44 yards and a touchdown. Gage Hammond totaled 12 tackles, and Kelley had 10. Hammond had a sack, too, as did Damario Koetter.

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It was a historic season for Southwest, too. Finishing 11-1, their first-ever championship appearance, and their first time winning a playoff game since 2006.

Now, of course, the area and communities that make up Southwest have some great history in Football.  In 1991, Bartley won a title in Class D3, Republican Valley won one in 1982 in Class C1, and had a runner-up in 1977 in Class C2.

We chatted with Coach Christian Arterburn after the game about this team and the season. "I mean, it's been a phenomenal experience. This is a great, great group of kids, and I couldn't, couldn't imagine going, going to battle with another group of coaches or kids. So, I'm very proud of the group and what they've accomplished. Yeah, we came up a little bit short tonight, but they accomplished a lot of history."

ICYMI: Ahead of the game, we visited with Gage Hammond of the Southwest.

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