Hurley/Marion became the second team from the Cornbelt conference to claim a state  football championship Thursday, beating the previously undefeated Ipswich Tigers 42- 28 using a great running game and even better defensive play to contain the Tigers'  classic double-wing offense. It was the first championship for either town in this cooperative in their history.

Ipswich had the momentum first. They came into this game undefeated, but were facing  a HUrley/Marion team that just beat an undefeated Lyman team in the semifinals quite  handily. Hurley/Marion had the ball first, and gained one yard in three plays before  having to punt. It appeared that Ipswich would suffer the same fate on their first  turn with the ball, but Ipswich quarterback Taylor Weigel ran for 24 yards on third  and 11 to put the ball at the Cobras' 30-yard line. While that run kept the drive  alive, it was sunk when Taylor Stanage dropped Weigel for a 14-yard loss on fourth  down.

Hurley/Marion was again forced to punt, but this time the Tigers' return man, Chad  Dutenhoffer returned the kick to the Cobras' 48. Seven plays later, the Tigers' star  running back Jayson Geditz scored on an 8-yard run. The 2-point conversion attempt  failed, and the Tigers led 6-0 with 50 seconds to go in the first quarter.

Hurley/Marion didn't attain their first first down until there were 11 seconds to go  in the first quarter. WIth 9:35 to go in the second quarter, Tunge got a 22-yard run  to the Ipswich 13-yard line to keep the drive going. Three plays after that run, Jeff  Horton capped the 10-play drive with a 1-yard line plunge to tie the game. A  successful conversion made the score 8-6 in the CObras' favor with 8:30 to go in the  first half.

That touchdown gave the Hurley/Marion CObras momentum that they would not relinquish,  and Ipswich went three-and-out on thier next drive. Tunge returned the punt for 42  yards, and on the fifth play of the drive, Tunge finished what he started with an 8- yard touchdown run. The conversion failed, and the CObras had a 14-6 lead.

Dutenhoffer put Ipswich right back in the game late in the second quarter, getting 63  yards on the ensuing kickoff return. That set up a 1-yard touchdown run that Weigel  needed a second effort to punch into the end zone. The conversion succeeded as  Dutenhoffer made a great catch of a Weigel pass to square the game at 14. The Cobras  needed only two playes to recapture the lead. Tunge found the end zone for the second  of his three times on the night to give Hurley/Marion a 20-14 halftime lead.

The Ipswich Tigers could not find an answer for either Tunge or the Cobras' defense  in general in the second half, getting stopped cold on their opening drive. Tunge  scored his third touchdown on a 69-yard run on the Cobras' first play of the second  half. The conversion made score 28-14 in favor of Hurley/Marion.

The woes of the Tigers continued, as they went three-and-out again. This time it was  Darin Schoenwald that found paydirt for the Cobras, and Bo LaCroix tacked on the  conversion to give the Cobras a solid 36-14 lead with 6:20 left in the third quarter.

Ipswich went into passing mode on their next drive, and Weigel completed four of his  five passes, the last being a 5-yard touchdown to Shaun Davis. Matt Braun could not  convert the touchdown, so Hurley/Marion kept a 36-20 lead with 3:51 left in the third  quarter. Tunge was sidelined with a cramp during the drive was used sparingly as a  decoy the rest of the way.

That didn't stop Hurley/Marion's offense, however. Horton gained 23 yards on the  first play of the next drive, but the drive was stopped at the Tigers' 34, when  LaCroix first pass of the night was almost intercepted by Davis.

Ipswich continued their passing attack in the fourth quarter, but Hurley/Marion's  defense sacked Weigel twice, and the Tigers kicked the ball away. Ipswich got the  ball back, but Weigel's passes got more erratic. A near-interception, an overthrow,  ,a dropped pass and a pass that was swatted away by Tanner Gates was the result of  the next four plays, and Ipswich turned the ball over on downs at their own 47-yard  line.

Hurley/Marion proceeded to chew up another three minutes before LaCroix threw an  interception, leaving the Tigers at their own 8-yard line. Ipswich turned it into a  touchdown 3:32 later and halved the Cobras' lead with 1:54 left in the game. Wiegel  was 7-for-11 passing the ball on the 13-play drive.

On the ensuing onside kickoff, the Tigers were called for touching the ball before it  went 10 yards, which gave Hurley/Marion the ball at the Ipswich 49-yard line. Tunge  ran the ball for 32 yards on the first play of the next drive, and Horton scored his  second touchdown of the night three plays later to ice the game.

Tunge was named the Joe Robbie Most Outstanding Player, with  229 yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns, as well as eight tackles and a fumble recovery. Weigel led the Tigers with 16-for-26 passing for 207 yards and two touchdowns. Geditz was the Tigers' leading rusher, with 65 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.

Cobras hold off late Tiger charge