Defense comes up big late for Fort Osage

In this moment, the ball and the game were out of Fort Osage quarterback Skylar Thompson’s hands.

After Thompson’s pass skipped through the hands of his receiver and into the arms of Liberty North defensive back Mitchell Miller, he and his offensive teammates were left on the sideline, counting on the Indians’ defense to hold the seven-point lead.

“Coming down to the wire, there are so many things going through my head,” Thompson said.

Miller’s 33-yard interception return to the Fort Osage 30 ignited the crowd at William Jewell and gave the Eagles a last shot to win the statement game that has eluded them this season.

Then, Brian Sharp’s pass into traffic inside the 10-yard line was tipped into the air and corralled by Brennan Garrett, preserving Fort Osage’s 17-10 road win Friday.

“Our defense got the stop,” Thompson said. “They won the game.”

Thompson’s 4-yard touchdown run with 4:27 left in the third quarter gave Fort Osage the lead it held on to, even as the teams traded field goals in the fourth quarter and those final minutes were tense for the Indians, 8-0 and No. 1 in The Star’s big-class rankings.

It helps that Fort Osage has been here before against big-class contenders, winning by three at Lee’s Summit and by four against Staley earlier this season.

“We’ve been so battle-tested this year,” said Thompson, who was 14 of 21 for 153 yards and a touchdown but threw two interceptions, doubling his season total.

After a scoreless first quarter, Fort Osage took the lead with 3:53 left in the half when Thompson connected with the sliding Matt Smith near the end line for a 12-yard touchdown pass.

Liberty North, 5-3, answered with a 14-play touchdown drive that covered 74 yards in 4:11. Sharp went seven for 10 passing for 71 yards, capped by a 3-yard dump pass to Devon Davis for the game-tying touchdown with 25 seconds left in the half.

But the Eagles didn’t score again until Josh Crawford’s 26-yard field goal made it 17-10 with 5:03 left in the game.

And unlike Fort Osage, Liberty North has yet to pull out that close win against one of the area’s best.

In their five wins, against teams with a combined record of 8-27, the Eagles have been almost unstoppable, scoring 38 points per game while giving up 13 total points, including three shutouts.

The 2013 Class 4 semifinalists — now in Class 5 — have been in position to win in each of their previous losses.

Now add Fort Osage to the list.

“This was a dead-even football game and then that ball bounced up in the air and fell in their hands,” said Liberty North coach Ken Clemens. “That ultimately becomes the difference.

“That’s how winners and losers are chosen when it’s this even.”

This story was originally published October 10, 2014 at 11:29 PM with the headline "Defense comes up big late for Fort Osage."