Overtime two-point conversion sends Blue Valley to Kansas Class 6A state title game

Faced with the prospect of another overtime period against Shawnee Mission East, or a cemented spot in the Kansas Class 6A state championship game, the choice was easy for Blue Valley: Go for it.

In overtime, down one point after a touchdown and extra point from the Lancers, Blue Valley elected to try for the win instead of the tie. Blake Brown hauled in the conversion, moments after Harrison Van Dyne had scored the touchdown that started the whole process, and Blue Valley’s bench flooded the field.

“We just felt it was the right time,” Blue Valley head coach Eric Driskell said. “We hadn’t run it all year, so we felt like it was a good time to run it.”

Blue Valley came away with a 35-34 home win.

The timing of late-game, two-point-conversion situations have actually historically worked for Shawnee Mission East and head coach Dustin Delaney: The Lancers, down one point, went for two in the 2014 state semifinal game, and made it. Two weeks ago, they did the same thing against Gardner Edgerton.

“It probably (stinks) as bad as it did for Olathe North a couple years ago,” Delaney said. “It (stinks) pretty bad to be on the wrong end of the game. We battled a ton of adversity tonight, but our kids just kept battling.”

The Lancers had tied it up at 27-27 with a minute remaining in regulation, after a near-seven minute drive, driven by running backs Nigil Houston and Milton Braasch.

It was a drive characteristic of Delaney and the Lancers: full of gutsy conversions. On fourth-and-one at East’s own 12-yard-line, Braasch fell forward for a crucial first down. Several plays later, Nigil Houston squirted through the right side of the line for a 13-yard touchdown to pull the Lancers within two. Trevor Thompson faked a couple of defenders and made it in for the two-point conversion and the 27-27 tie.

Blue Valley had led nearly the entire second half, after taking a 20-13 lead on a Will Evans one-yard touchdown run with 9:21 remaining in the third quarter, his third score of the game.

And the Tigers had nearly put the game out of reach, holding onto an eight-point margin after quarterback Matthew Dercher tossed a 40-yard touchdown to Brown, who found space down the sideline, spun around a defender, and made it to the end zone untouched.

That margin would hold, until East roared back with its drive that took up over half the fourth quarter.

But in the end, it was undefeated Blue Valley, 12-0, that solidified its spot in the Class 6A championship game next week against Derby at Emporia State University.

“It was mano y mano, hit for hit, back and forth, just a great battle,” Driskell said. “I’m proud of our kids for making the plays when they counted.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2016 at 10:47 PM with the headline "Overtime two-point conversion sends Blue Valley to Kansas Class 6A state title game."