NEWTON, KS - Behind senior Maverick LeRock’s five touchdowns, the Osborne Bulldogs (13-0) totally dominated the Hodgeman County Longhorns (12-1), winning 56-8 in a championship contest shortened by the 45-point mercy rule with 7:17 remaining in the fourth quarter. With the win, Osborne took the Kansas 8-Man Division I championship, the second championship in school history and first since 1983.
The Bulldog defense held the Longhorns in check most of the day, yielding one touchdown in the third quarter for Hodgman County’s only score. The Bulldogs offense was able to score on the ground and through the air with a very potent attack. LeRock scored three touchdowns on runs of 14, 1 and 12 yards to go along with two touchdown receptions of 24 and 71 yards.
“It’s an awesome feeling,” LeRock said. “It’s amazing. I am glad we can bring (the trophy) back. We have got a great bunch of seniors. We all work hard and love the sport.”
The Osborne air attack was led by sophomore quarterback Jake Tiernan, who completed 7 of 9 passes for 189 yards and four touchdowns.
“Our line is great - they blocked their butts off the whole time," Tiernan said. "The defense can’t get through and our receivers catch the ball."
Tiernan hit LeRock for the only score in the first quarter on a 24-yard pass with 7:44 to go. Osborne scored another 20 points in the second quarter with LeRock scoring on a 71-yard reception and a 14-yard run. Kenton Ubelaker’s 22 yard touchdown catch from made it 28-0 at half time.
LeRock and Ubelaker scored on runs of 1 and 62 yards, respectively, to give Osborne a 42-0 lead in the third quarter. In response, Hodgeman County’s quarterback Alex Kreger scored on a 46-yard scamper and Kolt Washburn ran in the two point conversion for the Longhorns only scores of the day.
After this, however, Ubelaker scored another touchdown on a 32-yard reception, and LeRock followed up with his fifth touchdown, putting the game beyond the 45-point margin.
Osborne’s head coach Steve Tiernan, was surprised by the margin of victory, saying, “We made it look a lot easier than it was. Hodgeman County is a great team.”
Hodgeman County was led by quarterback Alex Kreger’s 116 yards on 17 carries. Osborne’s defense held the Longhorns to a total of 159 yards of offense while the Bulldogs amassed a total of 542 yards with 353 on the ground and 189 in the air.
On the year, Tiernan finished with 100 completed passes out of 129 attempts for 1,590 yards and 28 touchdowns, with only five interceptions—making him the leader in completion percentage rate in Kansas 8-man history with 77.5 percent. The Osborne offense broke the Kansas single-season scoring record for 8-man teams by scoring 760 total points on the year—demonstrating its dominance in this championship season.
