On Friday night, most eyes in the football-fan world were glued on Iowa State's stunning upset of then No. 2-ranked Oklahoma State. That was a heck of a game, but it was probably only the second-best game of the night, if that.
That's because a state just to the east, Missouri, hosted a game in which two high school teams fought out a stunning, quadruple-overtime, 76-70 game in the Class 5 state semifinals. As reported by the Kansas City Star and shown in great highlight detail by Fox Sports Midwest, the game featured 11 touchdowns by one team's dynamic duo and a furious 14-point comeback by the other with fewer than six minutes remaining in the matchup. It was a rally which concluded with a touchdown pass with less than a second remaining on the clock, forcing overtime.
In the end, it was Staley (Mo.) High that emerged as a six-point victor against playoff rival Lee's Summit (Mo.) West High, which topped Staley in precisely this round in 2010 with a final-minute touchdown.
"It is the best game I've ever played in my life," LS West senior Evan Boehm told the Star. "The state championship game we played last year does not compare to this game. All credit goes out to Staley's players and their coaching staff. They did it. They took us down."
The LS West comeback in 2011 was arguably even more impressive, in large part because the defending state champion's trailed 49-35 halfway through the fourth quarter. Piloted by veteran quarterback Luke Knott, whom the Star reported ran or passed for eight scores in the game, LS West scored on touchdown passes to receiver Shaq Harrison on two consecutive drives to force overtime.
Given the offensive fireworks both teams had put up -- none more impressive than the dominant display produced by Staley quarterback Trent Hosick and running back Morgan Steward -- it was only fitting that one overtime wasn't enough to deliver a result. As it turns out, neither were two or three extra periods.
Finally, on the fourth extra period LS West fumbled away the football, with Staley scoring on the subsequent handoff to Steward, who refused to go down before finally reaching the end zone and giving his team a berth in the state title game.
"I did not expect that," said Hosick, who smiled, turned and pointed to the scoreboard after the game. "But I will tell you: We knew they were a great team."
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