Nevis makes every inch matter vs. Kingsland, wins Nine-Player football state title

In a version of football heavy on offense, Nevis used defense to win a state title Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Nevis defeated Kingsland 14-12 to win its first Nine-Player Prep Bowl championship.

The Tigers (13-0) had just 97 yards of offense and three first downs in the game. Touchdown runs of 1 yard by quarterback Eli Lewis and 32 yards by Ayomide Ogundeji provided the points.

On defense, Nevis stopped the Knights (13-1) on fourth down three times inside their own 40, recovered a fumble at their own 10 and intercepted a pass at their goal line as time expired in the first half.

The biggest stop of the game came on a fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line in the game's final three minutes. Kingsland quarterback Kaaleem Reiland was slowed at the line of scrimmage on a sneak but fell onto the goal line. He was ruled down just short. After a lengthy video review, the call stood.

Kingsland coach Matt Kolling said it was "clear as day" that the ball crossed the goal line.

The 26 points scored ties for the third lowest in a Nine-Player Prep Bowl game. It matches the 1999 Prep Bowl won 18-8 by Stephen-Argyle over Nicollet. The only lower totals are a 7-6 Chokio-Alberta victory over Goodridge/Grygla in 1991 and a 20-0 Deer Creek victory over Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in 1977.

"Defense wins championships," Nevis coach Shawn Klimek said. "That's what we preached all year. I'm an offensive guy. I'm always the guy that wants to run all these fancy plays. But this defense made me change how I coach football this year. I punted the ball more than I ever did. I relied on the defense. At the end of the day, the defense won this football game."

The Knights scored on a 52-yard touchdown pass from Reiland to Ayden Howard and a 6-yard touchdown run by Reiland. Kingsland's Beau Wiersma ran for 162 yards, including 70 in the third quarter.