Fort Osage football survives against Staley on game-winning field goal with no time left

Fort Osage’s 17-14 victory at home against Staley on Friday evening in the Missouri Class 5, District 8 semifinals had all the drama of a Hollywood movie that is almost unbelievable.

Staley, the underdog that lost to Fort Osage 36-21 in early September, had the script of getting revenge. The Falcons led by two touchdowns at halftime. But Fort Osage, which improved to 9-1, stormed back in the second half.

The game came down to a 31-yard field goal with 3.7 seconds left in the game. Sophomore Xander Shepherd pushed his kick just to the right of the goalpost. Overtime seemed inevitable, except a penalty flag was tossed.

Shepherd got a second chance with no time remaining on the clock. He made the 26-yard field goal. Fort Osage moves to the district championship game next week.

“The first one I knew it wasn’t right, but I saw that second chance and I had to take the opportunity,” Shepherd said. “It was amazing to make that field goal. I don’t think I have ever experienced anything that can match that.”

Staley ended its season 4-6 but made significant strides during the second half of the season under coach Steve Rampy. After Friday’s tough loss, Rampy allowed all the seniors to talk to the team. Each one expressed belief in the underclassmen and the bright future ahead.

“They are such a great group,” Rampy said. “They came such a long way. We are really trying to create a family culture.”

The game-winning field goal was set up by a daring punt return by junior Larenzo Fenner with less than a minute left. He made a running catch in traffic and darted 44 yards to Staley’s 36.

“I just wanted to get the ball and get as many yards as I could and get my team in good field-goal range to execute like we did,” Fenner said.

But it was a defensive stop at the most crucial moment in the third quarter for Fort Osage that finally sparked the offense.

The Indians trailed 14-0 to start the third quarter. Staley moved the ball inside the 10 but failed to get any points.

“The defense gave the offense an amazing pump up,” Fenner said. “We were ready to go after that. We told them we were going to get them one and we got them one.”

Given new life, the Indians went on a 12-play, 80-yard drive capped with a 15-yard run by Fenner that made it 14-7 with 2 minutes, 12 seconds left in the third quarter.

With momentum on their side, the Indians stopped Staley on three plays and got the ball back.

Needing 55 yards to get back in the end zone, Fort Osage went on another scoring drive that ended with Greg Menne’a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown. The extra point tied the game at 14-14 with 8:10 left in the fourth quarter.

Staley started the game with a big play, and with a little over 10 seconds left until halftime, the Falcons made a game-changing play and took a 14-0 lead into halftime.

After the game-opening kickoff, Fort Osage had the ball at its 44. A hard hit by the Staley defensive line forced a fumble on the Indians’ first offensive play.

Staley took over at the Fort Osage 43 and moved to the Indians’ 2 but was stopped on downs. The Falcons had good field position the rest of the quarter and eventually took advantage of it.

Early in the second quarter, Staley started a drive at its 42 and methodically moved downfield and scored on a 2-yard run by junior quarterback Cole Robertson with 7:43 left.

The highlight-reel play came in the closing 20 seconds. It started with Robertson pitching the ball to wide receiver John Randle IV, who then stepped back and tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to junior Brett Fleming.

Fleming also caught the two-point conversion pass from Robertson, giving the Falcons a 14-point lead.

This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 10:46 PM.