EWING, Neb. — Humphrey St. Francis faced its first deficit of the season here Monday, but it didn't last long.

After Ewing's Josiah Switzer opened the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, the Flyers wore down the outmanned Tigers — who suited up only 13 players — to claim a 48-19 win in an Eight Man-2 semifinal.

“Our running game is pretty solid, and a lot of our success has been our line,” St. Francis coach Eric Kessler said. “We were hoping our front five would be able to wear them down a little bit, and I think that was the case.”

The Flyers bullied their way to 358 rushing yards on 59 carries — led by the 34-carry, 215-yard performance of senior running back Matt Korus. Korus — who entered the game averaging 10.1 yards per carry —also scored four touchdowns as the Flyers erased memories of a 49-24 loss to Ewing in last season's state championship game.

“We were hoping to get off to a good start,” Kessler said. “We obviously didn't, and it kind of brought back shades of last year's championship game. But I think we were focused because we were in the state semifinals — it didn't matter who we were playing. It was never about revenge.”

Ewing's defense came out full of adrenaline, forcing St. Francis to punt on the first possession of the game. But it would be the last time the Flyers would punt all night.

After the Switzer score, St. Francis moved the ball 65 yards in just more than three minutes to pull to within 7-6 on an 18-yard run by Korus. Kyle Christensen caught a 2-point conversion pass from Trent Classen to make the score 8-7.

Kenny Kuchar added a 5-yard touchdown, and Korus also score from 5 yards out on their next two possessions as the Flyers built a 22-7 lead with 5:58 left in the first half.

Ewing responded, however, moving the ball to the St. Francis 25-yard line after quarterback Philip Thramer hooked up with Austin Kaczor on a 37-yard bomb down the sideline. Facing fourth-and-13 from the 28, Thramer bought time before heaving the ball into the end zone.

But Kaczor — being defended by a pair of Flyers — wasn't able to come down with it, and it fell into the hands of St. Francis' Kyle Christensen, who returned it to the Ewing 22-yard line with 3:07 left.

“That was a big play because Austin is a great athlete, and he got up for the ball,” Korus said. “We knew Austin was going to make some big plays, and we just needed to buckle down and stop some of those. Kyle made a great catch and ran it back — that was huge for momentum.”

After the St. Francis offense sputtered at the start of the ensuing possession, Trent Classen lofted a pass over Kaczor's outstretched hands and into the hands of Christensen, who carried it into the end zone to give the Flyers a 28-7 halftime lead.

“That pass kind of took the wind out of our sails,” Ewing coach Brock Eichelberger said. “Going in at half down by 14 would've been a lot better than 21 confidence-wise.”

The game was Ewing's last. The school will join O'Neill High School in a football cooperative next season.

“I was proud of the guys. They didn't give up,” Eichelberger said. “I told the guys that everybody who strapped on a Ewing Tiger uniform is very proud of what they've accomplished this year playing with 13 guys most of the season. To finish having won 16 wins in a row coming into this game is an accomplishment that not many other teams have ever witnessed.”

Humphrey St. Francis...............14 14 6 14—48
At Ewing.....................7 0 6 6—19

E: Josiah Switzer 24 run (Casper Riis kick)

HSF: Matt Korus 18 run (Kyle Christensen pass from Trent Classen)

HSF: Kenny Kuchar 5 run (Pass failed)

HSF: Korus 5 run (Korus run)

HSF: Christensen 25 pass from Classen (Pass failed)

E: Kaczor 20 pass from Philip Thramer (Kick failed)

HSF: Classen 8 run (Pass failed)

HSF: Korus 5 run (Korus run)

E: Thramer 2 run (Pass failed)

HSF: Korus 31 run (Run failed)

Individual leaders

RUSHING: HSF, Matt Korus 34-215, Trent Classen 14-90, Kenny Kuchar 8-53. E, Philip Thramer 14-23, Josiah Switzer 9-56.

PASSING: HSF, Classen 2-3-0 35; E, Thramer 14-27-1 174.

RECEIVING: HSF, Kuchar 1-10, Kyle Christensen 1-25; E, Austin Kaczor 12-149, Troy Thramer 1-17, Switzer 1-8.

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