Hazelwood East wins!
It was about 11:15 on Friday night at Edward Jones Dome when Hazelwood East quarterback Eric Brown tossed up a Hail Mary toward the end zone that was snagged by Tarrell Downing as time expired.
The scoreboard read “Hazelwood East 39, Raytown South 34” as the Spartans rushed off the sidelines and onto the field to celebrate the school’s Class 5 football championship — the school’s third state football title.
Downing’s 29-yard touchdown reception was the third score in the final two and a half minutes of a thrilling back-and-forth content and capped off an improbable finish that was hard to comprehend and believe.
Hazelwood East took a 33-28 lead with 2 minutes, 39 seconds remaining when Brown connected with Courtney Ward along the right sideline for a 27-yard touchdown pass. The 2-point conversion pass failed, and the Spartans led by five points.
Raytown South marched down field on the ensuing possession, with quarterback Dennis Tanner breaking loose for a 51-yard scramble down the left sideline to the Hazelwood East 10 yard line. Two plays later, Sean Wheaten scored from 3 yards out on a draw play to take back the lead with 30 seconds remaining.
Tanner was then sacked attempting a 2-point conversion pass and the Cardinals fans were celebrating the team’s 34-33 lead in anticipation of the school’s first football state championship.
Hazelwood East advanced to the Raytown South 29-yard line with 4 seconds remaining for one final play. Brown rolled to his right and heaved up a prayer toward the end zone that was caught by Downing as time expired.
Hazelwood East wide receiver Tarrell Downing catches a Hail Mary pass as time expires. (Chris Lee/P-D)
Here are some links to the game coverage:
Post-Dispatch game story and links to post-game audio
Link to Post-Dispatch photo gallery
Link to Kansas City Star photo gallery
Hazelwood East’s victory snapped a 10-game losing streak for the St. Louis area in football championship games against non-St. Louis area teams. Joe Lyons has a nice sidebar in today’s Post-Dispatch about this subject, but I can’t find a link to the story online yet.
The plan is to have a follow-up story on Hazelwood East in Sunday’s Post-Dispatch.
The Spartans’ victory late Friday night sets up the second day of the state football championships nicely. One storyline to watch tonight will be Hazelwood Central quarterback Kerry Gibson, who will lead the Hawks against Blaine Dalton and Blue Springs South in the Class 6 title game on Saturday night. Gibson played at Hazelwood East as a sophomore before transferring to Central for his junior year.
Last night the Spartans did what so many thought was impossible or at best shot improbable. Many bloggers on this site counted them out every week. So many said that they would lose to Ray South by 40. As a true fan of the game and being totally non-bias I have to say it was the most incredible ending to one of the most incredible games I’ve ever seen. Only the Lord himself could write a script this good. And boy did he “part The Red Sea” last night. In one toss and catch the effective “monkey” was lifted off the back of a team,a school,a conference and one of the largest metro areas in the country. Many who know me and have followed my blogs throughout the playoffs are expected me to gloat. (and I should). However, I say this. Hats off to RS you guys are champions too. I love my guys at East every one of you. WE DID IT!!! If anyone still wants to [i]hate[/i] that’s your problem. Way to go Spartans and thank you Jesus!
Congrats to the both teams. You both put on a great game. I hope that both side Seniors will get an opportunity to college football money based on the way they both played the game. I had quite a few folks from the Hazelwood side come up and offer their congrats and say both teams played a great game.
These kids, these teams proved they deserved to be in the place- best game ever!!! Mike Jones- your first you in and you made it happen for Hazelwood. Congrats to the Hazelwood team.
Hopefully we will get a rematch in class 5 A next year!