Three yards for a state championship
In this article:
Although every play impacts the result of a game, and one play shouldn’t define a game – sometimes there is one play that is so big – it overshadows everything else that happened before it. That was the case with four minutes to go when the West Central Area/Ashby Knights lined up for a two-point conversion and the lead – instead of an extra point and a tie. The Knights had had success in the second half with a power running attack and went with that one more time. This time, the Chatfield Gophers were ready and stuffed the inside run short of the goal line – preserving the Gophers’ 14-13 lead and eventually the Class AA state championship.
The Chatfield Gophers were behind the eight-ball before their game even started. They were going to be without one of their best players. Teams in a position like this usually go one of two ways – they don’t adjust to their new situation and play poorly, or they do what the Gophers did – rally together and put on a state championship performance.
The Knights started the game with excellent field position, but Chatfield’s defense came up huge, forcing a turnover on downs.
Chatfield quarterback Parker Delaney found some room around the corner to get into Knights’ territory. The Gophers then faced a third and long, but Kailan Schott picked up the first down behind a block from Ethan Ruskell. The Gophers were suddenly set up with a first down at the Knights’ 25-yard line. A big push by the left side of the Gophers’ offensive line and a great lead block by Grady Schott helped Kailan grind out a first down. That set the stage for a Delaney five-yard touchdown run.
Down 6-0, West Central Area/Ashey gambled at mid-field on fourth and six. The Gophers helped them out with an offsides penalty, and then Knights’ running back Anthony Sykora Anthony Sykora 5'10" | 185 lbs | ATH West Central Area | 2023 State MN crashed into the line, off tackle for the first down. The new set of downs opened the door, allowing quarterback Evan Paulson to throw deep to Cole Anderson for a 30-yard touchdown. The Knights ended the first quarter with a 7-6 lead.
The teams traded punts, but the Knights were winning the field position game – getting the ball back near mid-field. Ruskell put pressure on the quarterback and hit the quarterback as he threw. The ball fluttered weakly into the air, and Chatfield’s Isaac Erding grabbed the wounded duck for the interception. The Gophers looked like they were about to re-take the lead when Jackson Schild bounced the next play to the outside for six yards, and the line opened a big hole up the middle allowing Schott to convert on a fourth and one. However, the Knights made sure the game remained a one-point contest on the next play. Nas Dotts picked off a pass – giving the ball back to the Knights.
Chatfield’s Campbell Berge forced a fumble on the next play, and his teammate – Carter Daniels – caught the fumble in mid-air, returning it 31 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion gave Chatfield a 14-7 second-quarter lead.
West Central Area/Ashby converted a huge fourth-down when Ryder Staples made a diving catch for six yards and a first down. But what would become a theme for the Knights, they turned the ball over. Daniels tipped a pass, and Eli Hopp picked it off.
The Knights’ defense gave the ball right back to its offense when Reubens Swanson hit the quarterback – forcing a poor throw and an interception by Hunter Norby. No one seemed like they wanted the ball because the very next play, the ball was back on the ground. Chatfield’s Cole Johnson forced the fumble, and the Gophers were back in business.
Chatfield would pick up a couple of first downs but ran out of time in the first half.
The Knights rolled the dice coming out of half-time and cashed in, recovering an on-side kick to open the second half. Paulson hit a 40-yard completion to Norby for a first and goal one play later. The Chatfield defense was not phased; they turned the Knights back three times, and after Paulson’s fourth-down pass was high, Chatfield dodged a massive bullet out of the locker room.
Chatfield would not score off the goal-line stand, but they flipped field position after a punt. Ruskell made sure they kept the field position advantage. He was in the backfield, forcing a run for no gain. On the next play, he hit the quarterback and forced an incompletion and eventually a punt.
With both defenses playing well, the Knights finally put together another drive. They picked up a first down via penalty, and then Sykora’s halfback pass to Anderson picked up a first down at the Gophers’ 42-yard line. Sykora ran off the right side for eight yards. The Knights picked up a first down via a wide receiver screen to Matson Hoff. Sykora picked up another first down, broke a tackle, and got to the eight-yard line. Paulson burrowed his way into the end zone a few plays later to cut the deficit to one point. The Knights’ coaching staff decided to settle things right here and not play for overtime. Going for two with four minutes to play, the Knights tried to pound the ball between the tackles, but the interior of the Gophers’ defensive line stuffed the Knights short of the goal line.
Schott picked up a huge first down at the 44 to keep the clock moving and the ball away from the Knights. West Central Area/Ashby did force a punt, but they faced 94 yards of field in front of them with less than two minutes to play.
On a fourth and six, a hook and ladder from Hoff to Sykora picked up a first down at the 36, but an interception by Erding led to a couple of kneel-downs and a 14-13 state championship victory for Chatfield.