In a title fight, it's usually the last punch that rings the final bell.
Olathe South hit Heights where it counted and went home with the 6A state title in Topeka, 41-37 Saturday, at Yager Stadium at Washburn University.
"They score as much as we do," said Rick Wheeler, Heights head coach. "Their offense is as good as ours. They played a really good game, we played a really good game; we just came up short."
Up 34-27 with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Marquel Moore looked to put Heights up for good with a touchdown run but was stripped at the goal line. Olathe South responded with a left hook that landed hard on a 99-yard touchdown pass to tie the game, again.
Malichi Hoyer put Heights up 37-34 on the Falcons next possession, relying on the defense to hold Olathe South (11-1) for the victory but on 4th-and-10, Heights gave up the biggest play of the game on a wide open swing pass. A fresh set of downs gave Olathe South life and Jordan Ward supplied the strong right hand to send Heights home with its first loss of the season.
"These are 16-17-18-year-old boys," said Wheeler. "Sometimes things don't work out the way they want."
Heights (11-1) hadn't trailed all season except against Derby and Olathe South put them down early with a Teddric Colbert 63-yard run in the first quarter. Marquel Moore put Heights on the board after their first possession with a 3-yard touchdown run, then Kenny Iheme scampered in from 15 yards, erasing that quick lead by Olathe South. The Falcons finished with 565 yards of offense, 479 coming on the ground. Matt Reed was three of four passing for 86 yards. Nine passes were thrown the entire game.
Ward punched it in again but the failed extra point kept Heights in front and gave them new life, recovering the ensuing kickoff before the first quarter expired. Moore galloped in from 24 yards to lead 21-13 in the second quarter. Heights defense couldn't stop anything on the outside, forcing Olathe South to go inside or pass over the top before halftime. Ward scored once more, to get within two, 21-19, but Justus Moreland landed a solid tackle to stop Olathe South on the two point conversion, and Heights led at halftime, 21-19.
A good second quarter led to a self-destructive second half for Heights, fumbling it seven times and losing three of them. Olathe South made quick work of one of them with another Ward touchdown run, this one for 83 yards and a 27-21 lead. Olathe South churned out 550 yard of total offense, 367 of them coming on the ground.
Iheme and Matt Reed combined to put Heights up 34-27 and were on their way to putting the game out of reach, using Moore, in addition to Reed and Iheme to put Heights in the red zone inside of eight minutes to play but Moore was stripped on the goal line. The rest of the game will haunt Heights for some time to come.
"The same kids that were making mistakes got us to 25 wins and got us back to the title game so I'm extremely proud of them," Wheeler said.
