By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Springfield, Mo. — A Missouri high school football program had never won six consecutive state titles, until today. Six seasons. Six championships. On a grey Friday at Plaster Stadium, Lamar made its own history.
The Tigers’ 26-18 Class 2 championship win over Trinity Catholic put the five consecutive state titles by Webb City (2010-2014) and Valle Catholic (1988-1992) into the passenger seat.
“It feels like we’ve had a long run of really good football players at our school,” Lamar head coach Scott Bailey said. “We use two words when we talk about our football players over and over again: fortunate and blessed. Fortunate and blessed to coach a lot of kids over a lot of years who play high-level football.”
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The win marked the 35th consecutive overall for Lamar (14-0) and the 35th consecutive postseason win. It also marked one of the most challenging games over this unprecedented stretch.
The Tigers entered the second quarter with a 7-0 lead over Trinity Catholic (12-1) after scoring on the final play of the first quarter, but a 10-0 halftime lead evaporated in under seven third-quarter minutes in front of the shocked eyes and suddenly silent mouths of a sizeable Lamar crowd.
“We told our kids in the locker room to weather-the-storm,” Bailey said. “There’s a ton of emotion. We’re dealing with high school kids on a big stage. This was the sixth time we’ve played for a state championship, but the first time in our backyard. We kept saying, ‘Weather-the-storm, weather-the-storm.’”
With the weight of a rare deficit looming over Lamar’s end of the field and star halfback Luke Hardman on the sidelines with an ankle injury, the Tigers weathered the Titans’ momentous gust and blew back.
Lamar drove 67 yards in 5:09 on the following drive, converting on a fourth-and-one from the Trinity two-yard line for a first down on the final play of the third quarter before retaking the lead, 18-12, on a one-yard Stuart McKarus run on the first play of the fourth.
Lamar’s Anthony Wilkerson intercepted Trinity Catholic quarterback Isaiah Williams on the fourth play of the next drive on a first-and-ten pass from midfield deep into double coverage, giving the Tigers the ball at their own 13.
Wilkers’ interception was one of five for the Tigers of Williams, a sophomore quarterback with offers from 10 schools—including Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin—who came into the game with just nine interceptions on the season.
“We made plays and made mistakes,” Trinity Catholic coach Cory Patterson said. “It’s hard to make mistakes and beat a really good Lamar team. When you do, they’re going to hold it and grind it out.”
Just 1:30 after Wilkers’ interception, Lamar went up 26-12 on an 11-yard Cooper Lucas run, capping an 87-yard drive highlighted by a 33-yard run by Lucas and a 48-yard run by Michael Danner.
But Trinity responded when Williams brought the Titans within 26-18 on a five-yard run with 1:27 remaining. The Titans, however, chose to attempt a pooch kick instead of an onside, and failed. Despite fumbling the snap on first down, Lamar managed to control the ball and run out the clock.
The Tigers totaled 418 yards on the ground.
Lamar fumbled the ball six times in the game, recovering three, and threw an interception. Even with the four turnovers, the Tigers still won the turnover battle, six to four.
“In this run [of championships], our offense gets a lot of ink, and our defense a lot of times gets overshadowed,” Bailey said. “I think today, you saw what probably is the backbone of our program: being able to play good defense that can keep teams out of the endzone.
“To think you can keep a team like Trinity out of the endzone all game is unrealistic. They’ve got too much firepower. We had to be able to limit something to be in the game, and there’s no way to stop that offense, so you’ve got to be able to limit it.”
Lamar certainly bent, but instead of breaking, broke Trinity, with three interceptions coming deep inside Lamar territory.
Two of just eight seniors on a 40-man Trinity roster, linemen Jabriel Green and Larry Boyd commented on the loss.
“It hurt to get all the way here and not finish,” Boyd, who has committed to Illinois, said. “We preach finish, finish. But today we didn’t. But I’m not gonna put my head down and cry, because I know that everybody at this table right here started a legacy, and it’s going to go on for a long time.”
“It’s heartbreaking,” Green said. “But my guys fought like dogs. I’m happy for them. I know they’re going to be back next year if they keep fighting.”
Trinity had a chance to take a lead early in the first quarter after recovering a McKarus fumble at the Lamar six-yard line but instead was driven back 10 yards and missed a field-goal attempt.
Lamar’s decorated senior class will not be back, but they too created a legacy that will be talked about in Lamar for a long time—a legacy defined statistically with four state titles and a 57-2 record.
“This senior class has probably faced more adversity this season than others that have come through,” Bailey said. “The ability to overcome is what they’ve shown me. They haven’t had a lot of adversity from the time they started playing football in third grade. That sense of we’ll find a way to make a play. If things aren’t going their way, they feel like something is going to happen between that point and the end of the game.”
SCORING
Trinity Catholic 0 0 12 6
Lamar 0 10 0 16
1st Quarter
0:00 LAMAR – Stuart McKarus 11 yd run (Eduardo Montayo kick) 7-0 LAMAR
2nd Quarter
2:11 LAMAR – Eduardo Montayo 22 yd FG 10-0 LAMAR
3rd Quarter
8:39 TRINITY – Isaiah Williams 37 yd run (Brendan Larkin kick failed) 10-6 LAMAR
5:20 TRINITY – Marcus Washington 65 yd pass from Isaiah Williams (Brendan Larkin kick failed) 12-10 TRINITY
4th Quarter
11:57 LAMAR – Stuart McKarus 1 yd run (Michael Danner pass from Tanner Phipps) 18-12 LAMAR
9:04 LAMAR – Cooper Lucas 11 yd run (Tanner Phipps rush) 26-12 LAMAR
1:27 TRINITY – Isaiah Williams 5 yd run (Isaiah Williams pass failed) 26-18 LAMAR)
LAMAR STAT LEADERS
PASSING
Stuart McKarus: 1-4, 53 yards, INT
RUSHING
Cooper Lucas: 15 car., 110 yards, TD
Stuart McKarus: 22 car., 97 yards, 2 TD
Michael Danner: 3 car., 76 yards
Matt Whyman: 6 car., 66 yards
Luke Hardman: 4 car., 51 yards
RECEIVING
Anthony Wilkerson: 1 car., 53 yards
DEFENSE
Travis Bailey: 8.5 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 TFL
Tanner Phipps: 7 tackles, INT
Luke Hardman: 3.5 tackles, INT
Michael Danner: 3 tackles, INT
Cooper Lucas: 3 tackles, 1.0 sack
Anthony Wilkerson: 2.5 tackles, INT
Trey Mooney: 1.5 tackles, INT
TRINITY CATHOLIC STAT LEADERS
PASSING
Isaiah Williams: 17-30, 277 yards, TD, 5 INT
RUSHING
Isaiah Williams: 17 car., 87 yards, 2 TD
RECEIVING
Marcus Washington: 6 rec., 153 yards, TD
Bryce Childress: 5 rec., 72 yards
DEFENSE
Bryce Childress: 7 tackles, 2 FF, 1 FR
Darion Bolden: 4 tackles, 1 FR, INT
Josh Johnson: 1.5 tackles, 1 FF
