The West Platte football team was inches away from snapping a decade-long losing streak to East Buchanan on Friday, Sept. 24.
In a highly anticipated contest between a pair of undefeated KCI Conference football teams, a missed PAT kick that hit the uprights by the Blue Jays with 4:56 remaining was the deciding factor. The West Platte football hasn’t beaten East Buchanan since 2010 and the streak continued when a late go-ahead score by the Bulldogs gave them a 21-20 victory.
“I am disappointed, but I am not discouraged,” West Platte head coach Jim Newsted said. “Our kids played a heck of a ball game tonight. We had a couple of balls not fall our way with that missed field goal and a couple of bad punts, but that is just the way football is.”
The Blue Jays only trailed the Bulldogs for the final 1:37 as West Platte controlled the scoreboard for most of the contest and it led 14-6 at the break. In a defensive battle, East Buchanan eventually tied the game with a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Blue Jays didn’t panic and responded with a long drive resulting in a touchdown and more than 7:00 taken off the clock. After driving all the way down to the 13-yard line, Tanner Rowe connected with Trent Taylor in the end zone with 4:56 remaining, but the kick hit the crossbar, and West Platte led 20-14.
“That is the way the game of football is, you have ups and downs and sometimes you capitalize and sometimes you don’t. I think it shows that our team is better than people thought we were,” Newsted said.
In the ensuing possession, East Buchanan marched down the field and tied the game with a 38-yard rushing touchdown by Trevor Klein with 1:47 remaining. West Platte called a timeout to try and ice the opposing kicker, but the Bulldogs converted on the PAT to take a 21-20 lead.
West Platte star running back Trent Taylor stuffed the stat sheet against East Buchanan on Friday, Sept. 24, when the senior ended with 116 total yards from scrimmage, one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown.
West Platte relied heavily on the running attack in the contest, so the Blue Jays didn’t have enough time to answer with a score of their own. On 4th and 8, Rowe was unable to complete a pass and East Buchanan got the ball back and kneeled the clock out to secure the victory.
The game started off rocky with both teams fumbling in their opening possessions. Cameron Williams picked up an East Buchanan fumble and returned it 76 yards to the 12-yard line to set up the first score of the night.
Taylor rushed in for a 2-yard touchdown and the Blue Jays led East Buchanan 6-0 with 4:23 remaining in the first quarter. East Buchanan tied the game later in the first quarter and West Platte regained the lead with 11:53 remaining in the first half when Emmett Sullivan ran in for a 6-yard touchdown and Taylor rushed in for the 2-point conversion.
“We got the lead early; we moved the ball and we stopped them in the red zone two or three times. They have a good running back and quarterback and we did the best we could, but sometimes the ball doesn’t fall your way,” Newsted said.
Taylor ended the night with 104 rushing yards on 29 attempts, one rushing touchdown and one reception for 12 yards and a touchdown. Sullivan added 94 yards on the ground on 17 attempts and a touchdown.
Defensively, West Platte held East Buchanan to a season low in points scored and rushing yards as the Bulldogs ended with 100 yards rushing. Lamar Henderson had nine tackles, five quarterback hurries, and two sacks while Zayne Truxal led the defense with 11 tackles.