Frewsburg’s Joel McLaughlin (44) puts pressure on Red Jacket quarterback Kyle DaMore during Saturday’s Section V 8-man football championship game. P-J photo by Scott Reagle

CALEDONIA — Frewsburg fumbled the opening kickoff Saturday.

It was that kind of day for the Bears.

Red Jacket quarterback Kyle DaMore ran for 229 yards and four touchdowns while also throwing touchdowns of 24 and 25 yards to James Sibeto as the Indians won their second straight Section V 8-man football championship with a 48-6 victory over Frewsburg at Caledonia-Mumford High School’s Hamilton Field.

“These kids play for each other and they just want to win,” Red Jacket head coach Josh Henninger said. “They don’t care who gets the trophies, they all just want the name on the block.”

The Indians have now won every game they’ve played since switching from 11-man to 8-man football before last spring’s season.

“Football is football,” DaMore said. “As long as you are playing the game that everyone loves, it’s basically the same thing, just a couple less guys.”

The Bears, who only played two games last season due to COVID-19 quarantines, cancellations and scheduling problems, wrapped up a 7-1 season that saw them earn the No. 1 seed in the postseason and dominate nearly every opponent until Saturday.

“I hope to spread that to some other teams that might be struggling,” Frewsburg head coach Terry Gray said of the team’s third year of 8-man football. “We’re in the middle of November playing football. Are you tired of losing every game for years? Come talk to us. I’d love to talk to people and promote it. It’s good for us.”

Senior linebacker Joel McLaughlin was a bright spot on a dark day for Frewsburg, in on seemingly every short-yardage stop the Bears made.

“I told that senior he’ll be able to look in the mirror and know that he laid his heart out on that field,” Gray said. “I love that kid.”

Red Jacket took the lead on its second possession of the game and never looked back. On second-and-6 from the 24-yard line, DaMore ran to the short side of the field and broke free for a 76-yard touchdown with 5:09 left in the first quarter.

“My o-line makes some great, big gaps,” DaMore said. “The offense wouldn’t work the way it does without them.”

Red Jacket then stopped the Bears on a fourth down before marching 65 yards in 10 plays for its second score of the game. The drive was capped by LaMore’s 1-yard plunge up the middle. Mason Pollot added the 2-point conversion run to make it 14-0 with 9:05 left in the second quarter.

“I think our morale dropped when we ran off-tackle and ended up in the backfield. Instead of standing up to it, I think it shocked us,” Gray said. “It didn’t shock me. They haven’t lost in three years. We’re telling them, ‘They’re going to be this good.’ They were that good and we weren’t today.”

After Frewsburg turned it over on downs again, the Indians made it 22-0 as LaMore scored on a 25-yard run and added his own 2-point conversion run with 3:24 left in the first half.

“We wanted to be aggressive and physical, and we were,” Henninger said. “The kids gained confidence and they knew we could handle their speed and their physicality.”

The Bears’ best drive of the game turned out to be their first of the second half. After a fourth-down stop, they took over at the 42-yard line and went 30 yards to set up a third-and-7 at the 28-yard line. Senior Zach Winters — Frewsburg’s single-season record holder with more than 1,600 yards this fall — was stopped for no gain on the play. He then left the game after the play and never returned.

“The whole game plan was to try to stop him,” Henninger said of Winters. “He had been their big playmaker all year long. … Our first goal was to stop No. 10.”

After a false start made it third-and-8 from the 33-yard line, Red Jacket stopped Vincent Sanfilippo for no gain and took over on downs for the third time in the game.

“I think we were overpowered everywhere,” Gray said. “We didn’t run the ball hard. We didn’t block. We didn’t finish tackles.”

The Indians faced little resistance putting the game away in the fourth quarter.

DaMore scored on a 30-yard run with 10:10 left in the game and on the next play from scrimmage, Red Jacket’s Parker Moore returned an interception 35 yards for a score to make it 36-0.

After the Indians recovered a fumble at Frewsburg’s 24-yard line, DaMore threw his first touchdown to Sibeto with 7:36 left.

“That is not the team that I thought was going to show up. I mean us, not them,” Gray said. “They were exactly who they were, led by No. 3. I thought we would have more success being able to run the ball.”

The Bears’ lone bright spot offensively came with 5:22 remaining when junior Payton Dustin scored on a 25-yard run to make it 42-6. The play was set up by a 24-yard run by freshman Chase Haglund.

“Here’s championship football: If you can take the other team out of what they do best and make them win on what they don’t do best, you have a good shot,” Gray said. “They did that.”

NOTES: Red Jacket senior Ethan Lenny was named the Most Outstanding Lineman, Indians senior Mason Pollot was named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player, DaMore was named the Most Valuable Player and Winters was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player.

Red Jacket 6 16 0 26 — 48

Frewsburg 0 0 0 6 — 6

RJ–DaMore 76 run (pass failed)

RJ–DaMore 1 run (Pollot run)

RJ–DaMore 25 run (DaMore run)

RJ–DaMore 30 run (Hanline pass from DaMore)

RJ–Moore 35 interception return (run failed)

RJ–Sibeto 24 pass from DaMore (kick failed)

Fre–Dustin 25 run (pass failed)

RJ–Sibeto 25 pass from DaMore (run failed)