MANSON — Corey Birkey stood on the Manson Northwest Webster sidelines grinning from ear to ear.

He and his fellow 1994 Cougar teammates had been honored during the regular-season finale against No. 3 (Class 1A) Emmetsburg for winning the football program’s last district title.

The capacity crowd gathered cheered as the former standouts waved. But when the clock hit zeroes and this year’s MNW squad knocked off the perennial power E-Hawks, 20-14 in an overtime classic, none of that mattered to the elder Birkey.

He was watching his son, senior Kamden Birkey, celebrate a District 2 championship of his own.

“My dad had been giving me some good-natured ribbing me a little during the season about winning a district title,” Kamden said, smiling himself. “We talked about doing something like this from the start of preseason camp. We knew we could be here.

“Man, what a feeling,” Kamden added. “It’s great to celebrate this with this bunch of guys.”

The Cougars improved to 5-0 in the district and 7-1 overall. Birkey’s role was a large one, as he carried the ball 18 times for 144 yards and scored the eventual winning touchdown on MNW’s overtime possession.

On defense, Birkey also came up with a key interception on Emmetsburg’s final drive in regulation.

After Birkey’s score and a near-miss on a two-point run from senior Matt Condon gave the home squad the 20-14 edge, the E-Hawks’ powerful rushing attack had an opportunity. Working against the Cougar defense, senior running back Carson Baak and junior backfield mate Brayden Yates pushed the ball to the MNW three-yard line.

Cougar head coach Zach Noffsinger, his team, and the fans watched as Baak took the ball and headed around the right side, but he couldn’t find any space. Baak was stopped on the 3-yard line, and a wild celebration ensued.

“I’m so proud of this team,” Noffsinger said. “We went toe-to-toe with one of the best programs around (Friday) and found a way to win.

“You could sense our confidence growing throughout the year as wins kept accumulating. I told the guys this week just play our game and stay together.”

Birkey said the Cougars had a strong gameplan heading into Friday’s tilt.

“The word from Monday on was defense,” Birkey said. “We knew how electric their offense was going to be. We just had to step up and make plays.”

The Cougars did that and more. They held the visitors on downs once, recovered a fumble inside the 5-yard line on a potential scoring drive and added in two interceptions.

Meanwhile, a short 1-yard keeper for senior quarterback Logan Moline secured a touchdown and a 6-0 first-period edge. The big-play capabilities of Condon were then seen again, as he took a snap, cut quickly to the right and bolted 56 yards for a second touchdown to break a 6-6 tie in the third quarter.

Emmetsburg, dipping to 7-1 and 4-1, answered both Cougar scores on the ground. The E-Hawks posted better than 200 rushing yards, with junior back Owen Householder scampering 35 yards on the first second half possession for six.

Yates stretched three yards into the end zone in the final three minutes of regulation, with Baak driving in the two-point conversion to set up overtime.

Class 1A postseason pairings are set to be announced on Saturday. The Cougars will be a first-round host.

MNW EBURG

First downs 11 14

Rushes-yds. 36-189 49-207

Passing yds. 84 18

Total yds. 273 211

Return yds. 39 105

Penalties-yds 7-60 3-35

Fumbles-lost 5-0 1-1

Punts-avg. 5-27.6 36.6

Emmetsburg 0 0 6 8 0 – 14

Manson-NW 6 0 8 0 6 – 20

Scoring Summary

MNW – Moline one-yard run (run failed)

E’Burg – Householder 35-yard run (run failed)

MNW – Condon 56-yard run (Condon run)

E’Burg – Yates four-yard run (Baak run)

MNW – Birkey four-yard run (run failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing – MNW: Birkey 18-144, Condon 5-54, Cooper Harman 5-18, Moline 7-9, Grayson Klocko 1-(-2); Emmetsburg: Baak 19-68, Yates 13-47, Householder 6-76, JJ Fiene 5-15, Collyn Trembley 2-5, Matthew Malm 4-(-4).

Passing – MNW: Moline 6-10-84; Emmetsburg: Malm 1-4-18.

Receiving – MNW: Condon 5-48, Mason Anderson 1-36; Emmetsburg: Ryan Wirtz 1-18.