HAYS -- On two occasions, the La Crosse High School football team believed they had taken the lead in the final minute of the Class 2-1A state championship game against Centralia.
With the score tied at 14, senior Austin Webs completed an 80-yard halfback pass to junior Clayton Basgall with 53 seconds left. Centralia senior Michael Glatczak tackled Basgall at the Centralia six-yard line.
"I actually thought he was going to score," Webs said.
Then, La Crosse senior quarterback Tayler Stull rushed around left end and was downed inches from the goal line.
"I thought I had crossed it," Stull said. "I was excited."
On the next play, Stull fumbled inside the Centralia 1-yard line, La Crosse's sixth fumble in the game. Centralia recovered and eventually won, 20-14 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Fort Hays State University's Lewis Field Stadium.
"Definitely crushes you on the inside," Basgall said. "You work so hard for it. To see them over there celebrating, wishing we could be the ones over there celebrating, it's the worst feeling."
In overtime, Glatzcak found sophomore Samuel Steinlage for a 10-yard score and the final margin. On defense, Centralia forced La Crosse into a short run and three incomplete passes. Glatczak defended Stull's final pass that sealed the win.
Centralia won the second state football championship in school history and finished 10-3. La Crosse, playing in the first football state championship contest in program history, went 12-1. In 2009, the Panthers won their first title when they ended Smith Center's state record 79-game winning streak with a 20-12 overtime victory at FHSU.
"I don't know what it is," Centralia coach Larry Glatczak said. "There is somebody upstairs that tends to watch over us. Kids are a tough bunch. They do not give up, just blue collar. They are not going to be very many of them that are playing college football. They just give us everything they have got."
"This one, I think was a little more intense (than '09)," Michael Glatzcak added. "The crowd noise -- I could barely hear the plays. Our defense was a stone wall at the end of regulation and at the end of overtime."
La Crosse, which led virtually all game, never could pull more than eight points ahead. The Leopards entered Saturday with a state record 34 interceptions and a plus-24 turnover margin this season. However, La Crosse had four turnovers, including three lost fumbles, on a cold and windy day. Centralia had zero turnovers.
"I feel bad for the kids," third-year La Crosse coach Jon Webster said. "We were in position where if a couple calls go our way, I think we have got this game won. The biggest thing is, we didn't take care of the football. ... That killed us. I thought our defense played well enough to win. I thought our offense played well enough to win minus the turnovers."
Centralia took a 6-0 lead on a 22-yard run by senior John Steinlage with 5:09 left in the first quarter. La Crosse scored twice early in the second quarter on a 10-yard pass from Stull to junior Kip Keeley and a 31-yard run by junior Levi Morss (team-high 74 yards). At halftime, La Crosse outgained Centralia 172-91, but led only 14-6 because of three turnovers.
"We beat ourselves," Webster said. "You can't give a team as good as Centralia that many opportunities."
Centralia closed to 14-8 on a safety with 41 seconds left in the third quarter. On third down from the Leopard 1-yard line, Stull fumbled the snap and the Panthers tackled him in the end zone. Stull had four fumbles (two lost) Saturday. He had four fumbles in the first 12 contests.
"I don't know if it was the ball being slick or what," Stull said.
Glatczak, who rushed 34 times for a game-high 153 yards, gained 105 yards in the second half, including an 8-yard run that tied the game at 14 with 5:09 left.
"I think it was just a matter of time until we finally wore them down," Coach Glatczak said. "Mike don't need much of a crease. John Steinlage (102 yards) ran extremely well on those read plays. Just enough to get it done."
With 73 seconds remaining in regulation, La Crosse stopped Glatczak on fourth down at the Leopard 14-yard line. On the first play of La Crosse's drive, Webs threw the halfback pass down the left side for Basgall.
It marked Webs' first pass of the season on a play La Crosse put in this week. Basgall outjumped Centralia sophomore Devin Rempe and raced down the sideline before Glatczak made the stop.
"I saw he got free, and I knew I had to catch him before he scored," Glatczak said. "It was the game."
Then, Stull narrowly missed the potential game-winning score on his run.
"I saw the ref run down right by the pylon," Webs said. "I guess his foot was on the inch yard line."
Next, La Crosse tried to run a quarterback sneak for the score, but Stull mishandled the snap, and Centralia recovered.
"We just lost it. It's not Kyle's fault," Stull said, referring to senior center Kyle Sramek. "It's not my fault. It just happened at the worst time."
After Centralia scored in overtime, La Crosse could get no closer than the 7-yard line in the disappointing loss.
"That was probably the best high school game I have ever seen in my life," Webs said. "Too bad we were on the wrong side of it. It was a great game by both teams."
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