HUTCHINSON – Trailing 34-28 with :52 second remaining in Friday’s Class 1A state championship game, Sterling’s Logan Isaac hit Jacob Lewis on a 24-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. Lane Weigel then connected on the ensuing PAT to lift the Black Bears to a 35-34 victory over Rossville.
The Black Bears dominated early and, with that late score, overcame a determined second-half effort from the Bulldawgs to win the schools’ second state football championship, and first since 1982.
Rossville scored three consecutive touchdowns spanning the second and third quarters to turn a 21-6 deficit in to a 28-21 advantage. Quarterback Canann Mitchell’s two-yard touchdown run on the final pay of the third quarter gave the Bulldawgs their first lead.
Sterling answered less than a minute later as their standout running back Zane Farney broke several tackles to turn in a ridiculous 40-yard run into Rossville territory. A couple of plays later, he broke free for an 18-yard scamper to tie the game at 28-28.
Rossville would respond with a drive taking nearly four-and-a-half minutes off the clock and ending in another short Mitchell touchdown run – his third of the game. However, the Black Bears blocked the PAT leaving Rossville’s lead at 34-28.
Sterling would eat up the bulk of the remaining time in the fourth quarter on its final drive – converting a pair of fourth-down plays to reach the Rossville 27-yard line nearing a minute to go. The Black Bears faced another critical 4th-and-2. They went back to Farney who gained three yards to earn a new set of downs and prompted a timeout by Sterling Coach Brent Schneider to stop the clock with :57 seconds left.
While the attention of the Rossville defense focused on Sterling’s ground game and their star running, the Black Bears went a different direction with the game on the line. Isaac faced a handoff and lofted a pass in the middle of the field towards Lewis who leaped between two Rossville defenders and made the catch diving into the end zone.
It was Sterling’s only completion of the game.
Rossville reached the Sterling 32-yard line in the final seconds, but a sack and a late intentional grounding penalty ended the Bulldawgs final desperation attempt.
The Sterling rushing attack seemed unstoppable early. Farney broke off 53 yards on the game’s first play from scrimmage, which eventually set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Wyatt Newberry on fourth-and-goal.
After a Rossville punt, the Black Bears again marched the field with Farney punching it in on a short scoring run for a 14-0 lead.
The Bulldawgs grabbed some momentum at the end of the first quarter as Mitchell scored the first of three touchdowns to pull within 14-6.
But Farney would answer again, grabbing a fortuitous fumbled snap off the turf in stride and sprinting 66 yards for a score and a 21-6 lead with under three minutes in the first half.
Rossville scored the first of its three consecutive touchdowns as Mitchell hit Connor Bush on 26-yard wheel route with :14 seconds in the half to pull within 21-14.
The Bulldawgs second-half momentum was spurred from some success in slowing down the Sterling ground game. The Black Bears gained 235 of their 347 rushing yards in the first half.
Farney carried 27 times for 279 yards and three touchdowns in his final high school game. He pushed his season totals to 2,326 rushing yards and 42 touchdowns and surpassed 6,700 career yards with 90 scores.
Newberry added 48 yards and a touchdown for the Black Bears, and Jace Darnauer continued to be a catalyst with several punishing blocks on the edge.
For Rossville, Mitchell completed 14 of 20 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown. He carried 28 times for 149 yards and three scores.
Lewis paced the Sterling defense with 18 tackles, while Andre Johnson registered 21 stops for Rossville.
Sterling finished a perfect 13-0 on the season. Rossville finished 11-2.
Sterling 35, Rossville 34
Sterling (13-0): 14 – 7 – 0 – 14 | 35
Rossville (11-2): 6 -- 8 – 14 – 6 | 34
Scoring Summary:
First quarter:
9:55 | Sterling – Wyatt Newberry 5-yard run (Lane Weigel kick), SHS 7-0
4:07 | Sterling – Zane Farney 6-yard run (Weigel kick), SHS 14-0
:46 | Rossville – Canann Mitchell 2-yard run (Austin Dohrman kick), SHS 14-6
Second quarter:
2:44 | Sterling – Zane Farney 66-yard run (Weigel kick), SHS 21-6
:14 | Rossville – Conner Bush 26-yard pass from Canann Mitchell (Mitchell run), SHS 21-14
Third quarter:
7:58 | Rossville – Andre Johnson 1-yard run (Dohrman kick), Tied 21-21
:00 | Rossville – Canann Mitchell 2-yard run (Dohrman kick), RHS 28-21
Fourth quarter:
11:01| Sterling – Zane Farney 18-yard run (Weigel kick), Tied 28-28
6:36 | Rossville – Canann Mitchell 4-yard run (kick blocked), RHS 34-28
:52 | Sterling – Jacob Lewis 24-yard pass from Logan Isaac (Weigel kick), SHS 35-34
TEAM STATISTICS
STERLING ROSSVILLE
Rushing 48-347 53-227
Passing (Comp-Att-INT) 1-2-0 14-20-0
Passing Yards 24 193
Total yards 371 420
First Downs 18 26
Turnovers 1 0
Punts-Avg 1-17 2-22.5
Penalties 4-33 4-55
Time of Possession 22:38 25:21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING:
Sterling – Farney 27-279; Newberry 9-41; Darnauer 3-20; Isaac 8-8; Team 1-(-1)
Rossville – Mitchell 28-149; Landon Lewis 5-28; Conner Bush 12-35; Cael Horgan 1-10; Andre Johnson 3-7; Jack Donavan 4-6
PASSING:
Sterling – Isaac 1-2-0-24
Rossville – Mitchell 14-20-0-193;
RECEIVING:
Sterling – Lewis 1-24
Rossville – Bush 5-73; Donavan 3-25; Cameron Miller 2-41; Cale Horak 1-29; Andre Johnson 1-10; Lewis 1-9; Horgan 1-6
TACKLES: (solo/assist|total)
Sterling – Lewis 6/12|18; Newberry 6/7|13; Deryn White 4/8|12; David Myers 3/9|12; Landon Aguilera 4/6|10; Nolan Wellman 3/7|10; Tucker Haas 0/5|5; Farney 4/0|4; Isaac 1/3|4; Darnauer 0/3|3; Cale Thomas 0/3|3; Derek Krone 0/3|3; Cody Schweizer 0/2|2; Kevin Ploutz 0/2|2; Noah Drinnen 0/2|2
Rossville – Johnson 7/14|21; Bush 1/12|13; Kelton Lacock 1/8|9; Horak 1/8|9; Charles Chance 0/5|5; Eden Thompson 1/3|4; Landon Lewis 0/4|4; Easton Webb 0/3|3; Horgan 2/0|2; Donovan 2/0|2; Droegenmeier 1/1|2; Caleb Lehman 0/2|2; Lakin Gentry 0/1|1; Gabriel Fund 0/1|1; Dalen Dick 0/1|1; Michael Cooney 0/1|1
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