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Belt Huskies win first 8-Man championship since 1994

Belt 2022 8-Man Champions
Posted at 8:42 AM, Nov 20, 2022
and last updated 2022-11-20 11:20:02-05

ST. IGNATIUS — Belt ended a nearly three-decade drought by opening the floodgates.

The Huskies overcame a four-point deficit at the break by outscoring St. Ignatius by 32 points in the second half of the 8-Man championship game on Saturday afternoon as Belt surged to a 52-24 win to claim its first title since 1994.

The Bulldogs entered the championship game as the top seed out of the Western C while the Huskies — which shutout Flint Creek in the quarterfinals and Culbertson in the semifinals — were the No. 1 seed out of the North.

Garett Metrione led the way for the Huskies with four rushing touchdowns and Ethan Triplett added a pair of late rushing scores to seal the win.

St. Ignatius hung tough with Belt for a half and struck first when Caleb Sargent recovered a blocked punt to give the Bulldogs an early 6-0 lead.

The Huskies then responded early in the second quarter with Metrione notching his first score, a 1-yard quarterback sneak on 4th and goal to put Belt up 8-6.

The Bulldogs swung back on 5-yard touchdown pass from Kellen McClure to Kenny Ness before the lead changed again as Teaghan Fox scored on a long catch and run pass from Metrione.

That made it 14-12 Belt before St. Ignatius' Chance Bockman again swung the momentum by returning an interception for a pick-6 to give the Bulldogs a 18-14 halftime lead.

After the break, Metrione and the Huskies responded, clamped down and spoiled what was St. Ignatius' first-ever appearance in the 8-Man title game.