By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

11In the final minute, Bulldog senior Matt Bird picked off a pass near the end zone to seal the title for Quinter. Then, Nemechek snapped the ball to senior quarterback Brady Reed as Quinter ran out the clock to complete an emotional and historic 12-1 season.

"That's exactly how I dreamed it to be," Nemechek said.

The finish punctuated Quinter's first state title since 1992 as the Bulldogs moved to 22-2 since they went to the eight-man ranks two seasons ago, and ended Baileyville-B&B's 25-game winning streak. The Falcons finished 12-1.

"We knew we could stop these guys," senior running back Jordon Hargitt said. "We had faith in each other, confidence in our coaches to make the right decisions. We never took a step back. It got a little nervous there, but Matt's interception was huge. It was just great."

In addition, Quinter, led by a close-knit senior class, stayed strong after head coach Greg Woolf announced he had cancer after a Week 2 victory against Palco. Woolf missed parts of the season for treatment and Brian Roesch took over as interim head coach.

"(God) gave me the opportunity to sit and just work with the kids and allowed Brian and Jeff (Ruckman) to do the outstanding job they did as coaches and I actually had the best part of it, I thought, because I got to deal strictly with the kids," Woolf said. "They worried about X's and O's and I didn't. I had to help Brian every once in a while, but he is such a fantastic coach. He just lived, ate and breathed it for the last two months.

"I wouldn't have changed any of it because I knew how God was working in this," Woolf added. "A lot of confidence."

Quinter, after a 2-0 start, started slowly in a Week 3 game against Sharon Springs. At halftime, Woolf delivered an inspiring speech.

"That was a big turning point for the kids," Woolf said. "Allowed them to know that the cancer wasn't going to do anything to me. We lost that game, but I think that focused the kids. They knew that I was going to be OK."

"The turnaround you saw in everybody's eyes," Hargitt said. "We were going to be a team to be reckoned with. It was huge."

In the second half, the Bulldogs never allowed Sharon Springs to cross midfield. Quinter lost the contest 26-24, but the season changed. Quinter never lost afterwards and had three games within 25 points.

"From that point on, we thought, we got something here," Roesch said. "Kids are going to respond to what we say and they are going to get after it. From that point on, we challenged them every game to raise their level to another notch. If we play our team (that we had) the very first game of the season, we beat that team by 40 now. That's how much we have improved through the course of the season."

Quinter stayed strong through the regular season and during playoff victories against Clifton-Clyde and Baileyville-B&B, the two squads that reached the state championship game in 2008. The win over Clyde marked the first time in 69 games the top three Twin Valley League schools (Baileyville B&B, Clifton-Clyde and Hanover) lost outside of league play.

"We played a lot of good teams, but just as far as being physical up front and running things and getting to the ball and being big and quick, they are right up there," Falcons head coach Steve Tiernan said after Saturday's game.

The Bulldogs won the two games against TVL foes by a combined 10 points and picked up critical defensive plays in the final seconds to seal the win.

"It's just indescribable. I can't believe it," Bird said.

Saturday's game was tied three times, but Quinter never trailed. The Bulldogs received help from Sharon Springs head coach Kevin Ayers, who played under Roesch at Winona-Triplains nearly two decades ago. Ayers, who has won three state titles, talked with Roesch about preparing for a state game and helped tactically against Baileyville B&B.

"A lot of credit goes to Kevin Ayers," Nemechek said.

Quinter spread the field and opened up the offense against the Falcons' 3-3 defense, the exact same defense Clifton-Clyde ran last week. They continually ran the option, a play that worked well all contest.

"We made adjustments according to last week," Hargitt said. "According to Clifton-Clyde, they ran a 3-3 defense. We had never played that before, so that was the second week in a row that we knew they were going to bring that 3-3 stack."

Hargitt rushed for 108 yards on 26 carries and finished 11 yards short of 2,000 for the season. In addition, he caught three passes for 18 yards and threw a 33-yard halfback pass to Bird to set up another score.

Sophomore Logan Reed had 77 yards and a touchdown and senior quarterback Brady Reed accounted for three TDs, including a 17-yard run where he reversed field.

"You see our splits, they were way wide," Nemechek said. "We ran that option and Matt Bird, greatest blocks he has had all year. They knew that's what we were going to. That's our bread-and-butter. We ran it probably 30 times, so I just kept telling the boys up front, 'it's time to block. They know where we are going, it's time to block.' "

Nemechek matched up against Baileyville-B&B's all-state senior center Nathan Haug, the 245-pound lineman that helped Baileyville outscore opponents 633-70 and have just one game within 30 points.

Nemechek had a picture of Haug with him nearly all season ­-- "he has his rip move going. I could draw the picture for you right now," -- and looked at it everyday.

"I was so excited coming into this game," Nemechek said. "I knew that kid had great potential. I told everyone I was excited. I am ready to have the pressure be put on me because I want him going against me. He is the best player. I want him going against me."

Nemechek helped Quinter tally 28 points, the most Baileyville-B&B had allowed all season. In addition, he picked up a sack, two tackles for loss, batted down a pass and led the way on a fourth-and-goal stop from inside the Quinter before the end of the first half.

"Zach did an amazing job," Hargitt said. "Honestly, he was owning the guy from what we saw. He could get his hands on him, he could push him around where he wanted to. That opened up holes for me, Logan and Brady. It just changed the course of the game."

Logan Reed scored the first TD of the game, a 47-yard run with 4:03 left in the first quarter. However, Baileyville B&B tied the game at 6 on an 11-yard pass from senior quarterback Kyle Haverkamp (10-for-18, 149 yards) to senior Ryan Huerter (team-high 91 rushing yards). Quinter scored a few minutes later after a 33-yard halfback pass from Hargitt to Bird set up a 2-yard run from Brady Reed.

On the pass, a play Quinter had never run in a game and had recently started practicing, Reed pitched out Hargitt. Bird paused, then took over down the left sideline and beat the defensive back.

"We just had that in our back pocket in case we needed it," Bird said.

Haverkamp scored on a 1-yard run to tie the game at 14, before Quinter took a 20-14 lead on a 17-yard run by Reed. Reed went back to pass, rolled to the right sideline, then broke two tackles, ran all the way down the left sideline and scored just inside the pylon.

"Just a broken play," Roesch said with a smile.

Just before the end of the first half, the Falcons had first-and-goal at the Bulldog 8. Two running plays and a Nemechek off-sides penalty moved the ball just inside the one.

"I turned around and Thatcher Deaton goes, 'I guess it makes it that much harder,' " Nemechek said. "Not a single head dropped on that play."

Haverkamp rushed twice on third and fourth down, but couldn't get to the end zone. It marked the second straight week Quinter had come up with a crucial goal-line stand.

"Nemechek had us going," Hargitt said. "We all had faith in each other that we could stop this team on the 1-yard line and how huge it would be. When they came up there for the last play, we knew we were going to attack the middle. We just all pushed back with all of our might. Zach got a huge push."

B&B scored early in the third quarter on a 1-yard run from Huerter to tie the game at 20, but Brady Reed picked up another score on a 1-yard run. Baileyville had its final score on a 3-yard pass from Haverkamp to sophomore Cody Heiman, but Quinter senior Joe Simon knocked down the two-point conversion pass and Quinter led 28-26 with 11:56 left.

Baileyville, though, turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions. The Falcons had one final drive and started at their own 5 with 55 seconds left. Five pass plays moved the ball down to the Quinter 20.

"We've been working so hard all year long," Bird said. "We knew this was the drive. We needed to stop them. Even though, they were driving on us, we just needed to stay confident and hopefully make a play in the end."

Bird did, picking off the championship-clinching pass at the end zone as Nemechek raised his arms skyward in celebration. A kneeldown ended a dream season for Nemechek and the Bulldogs.

"That's exactly what I wanted," Nemechek said.