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Down seven points and 76 yards away with just more than six minutes left, Hutchinson had Derby right where they wanted them.
“We were calm and confident” said Hutchinson quarterback Trevor Turner. “We’ve been there before and we knew we could do it.”
13 plays later, Turner toppled into the end zone to pull the Salthawks to within one with 56 seconds left. Hutch coach Randy Dreiling had long since made up his mind.
“I told them when we score, we’re going for two”.
He called Turner’s number and the senior executed a perfect bootleg to give the ‘Hawks a 29-28 lead. When Derby was picked off three plays later, the game was over and Hutchinson was on schedule for their 8th state title in 9 years.
The game was a classic example of punch-counterpunch. Neither team giving any ground in a game with precious little to choose from. It was a physical matchup of two programs with decades of history.
Both teams turned it over in the first quarter, both scored twice in the first half. They traded touchdowns in the third quarter before Derby finally took a lead on a 9-yard pass from Chandler Shantz to Deandre Goolsby with 6:05 remaining.
Derby lost for only the second time this season, both to Hutchinson, and by a total of four points.
Head coach Brandon Clark declined comment after the game, after his team led or was tied for the lead for 47:04 of a 48:00 minute game.
Turner threw for a touchdown and ran for two others, but it’s the two pointer he’ll remember most.
“I thought it was a little risky,” he said. “”but we really blocked it and the edge was open”.
An edge that provided to be the winning edge in a classic matchup that won’t be soon forgotten, try as Derby may.
Hutchinson advances to take on Shawnee Mission West as the Salthawks look to win their fifth title in 6A, and eighth overall.