Oakland-Craig loses C-2 State Championship to David City Aquinas

Noah Pelan and Lane Napier combined to rush for 306 yards and three touchdowns, Spencer Maguire connected with Kenton Kobza for a 71-yard TD and No. 3 David City Aquinas defeated No. 6 Oakland-Craig 36-7 in the Class C2 championship game at Memorial Stadium on Tuesday.


Aquinas’ wing-T offense amassed 476 yards as the Monarchs (12-1) won their second straight state title and fourth in five years.

Cole Mitchell completed 17 of 34 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted four times for Oakland-Craig (11-2), which was playing in its first final since 1997. Garrett Seagren caught eight passes for 83 yards and Cody Mace seven for 67.

 

Pelan led the Monarchs with 193 yards on 14 carries, including an 85-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Napier went over 1,000 yards for the season, running for 113 yards on 23 carries.

 

The Knights had an uphill battle in this game. It was a tough go of things for Oakland-Craig from the start. The Knights simply dug themselves too deep a hole to climb out of.

 

It was still a great season for Oakland-Craig though. Reaching the State Championship game is a big deal, and the Knights definitely played to their potential this year.

 

Oakland-Craig parts ways with Mitchell, Cody Mallette, Bob Gatewood, Tommy Nelson, Mace, Jon Nickerson, Neil Larsen, Conner Thiele, and Reid Fuerhoff.

 

These nine seniors meant a lot to this program, and the Knights wouldn't have been as good without them, there's no doubt about it.

 

These seniors led this team to a great amount of success this year, and should be commended for their efforts.

 

At the same time, Oakland-Craig has to be excited about what they return next season.

 

Hos Smith, Seagren, Ben Ward, Josh Dixon, and others return for the Knights in 2016.

 

It should be another fine season for Oakland-Craig next year, but the returning players can't become complacent and satisfied with what they did this season.

 

The ultimate goal has to be to win the state championship, and that means the returning players have to work just as hard this offseason as they did last offseason, if not harder.

 

I think the Knights were sort of the Cinderella story in Class C-2 this year. Not many expected Oakland-Craig to earn a berth in the state championship.

 

Teams will be ready for the Knights next year, if they weren't already. That means Oakland-Craig has to bring it night in and night out in 2016 just like they did in 2015.