Title game loss stings seniors

For as long as he could remember, Jordan Chrisman has dreamed of winning a state championship at Blue Springs High School.

The same could be said of fellow seniors Keeston Terry, Jared Lanpher and the rest of the 41 seniors on the Wildcats football team.

For one half, the Wildcats managed to hang with a quicker-than-that Hazelwood Central team. But in the end, the Hawks’ speed was too much for Chrisman and the Wildcats as they fell 35-24 in the Class 6 Show-Me Bowl state championship game at the Edward Jones Dome.

“I didn’t think my senior year would end like this,” said Lanpher, who held an impromptu news conference on the 50-yard line following the most disappointing loss of his stellar Blue Springs career.

“We thought we were ready. We were confident, but we didn’t think that all we had to do was show up to win. It was a good, close game for one half. Then, we just couldn’t do anything in the second half and they get the big punt return.”

The Hawks went into the fourth quarter trailing 24-21, but scored two quick touchdowns – one on a 5-yard run by Alonzo Chappelle and the game-breaker on a 76-yard punt return by Spencer Davis – to give themselves a 35-24 edge the Wildcats could not overcome.

“They were just so fast,” said Lanpher, who was 22 of 46 for 161 yards, but many of his completions were shovel passes to running back Darrian Miller. “We couldn’t get the plays down the field. They used their speed to get into our backfield and our guys were covered. We had to keep giving the ball to Darrian.”

Miller, who was upended and flipped on his backside on a dramatic fourth-and-one carry near the goal line, setting up a 1-yard Lanpher touchdown, gained 131 yards in the first half and 51 in the second for a total of 182 yards and a 3-yard score on the night.

“You can’t say enough good things about Darrian,” Wildcats coach Kelly Donohoe said. “He was pretty special tonight. We just couldn’t get much else working on offense. And he got some tough yards.

“They were putting nine and 10 guys in the box.”

The Hawks’ win means the defending Class 6 state champs have defeated two Blue Springs schools in the state championship game the past two years. They downed Blue Springs South 25-20 in last year’s state championship contest.

“They’re as good a team as I’ve ever played,” Lanpher said. “When they needed a big play, they made it.”

And when the Wildcats needed a big play, they made it – for one half.

The score was knotted 21-all at halftime, but Blue Springs simply couldn’t get anything going in the second half.

And the punt return was an exclamation point to a win that will sting for days and weeks to come.

As the Blue Springs players exited the field, the look of disappointment was etched on their faces.

Tears flowed and many sat outside of the locker room, pondering what had just happened.

This had been a season to remember.

But for now, all they will remember is the heartbreak of what took place in the Dome.