By Chris Parker
Just one more stop.
In a game full of momentum-changing moments, the Class 2 state semifinal between Lamar and Bowling Green came down to one play.
With Lamar leading 27-26 with 57 seconds left in the game, Bowling Green went to the line of scrimmage to go for two and the lead.
For Lamar senior Eli Hull, that final play came down to one thing: heart.
“How bad do you want it? It is everything you have for one play. It is all heart,” Hull said. “It is getting off the ball and who had the bigger heart in that moment, and we did.”
Lamar stopped the Bowling Green runner just shy of the goal line to deny the Bobcats on a two-point conversion for the third time in four tries in the game. The third stop secured a 27-26 win and a spot in the Class 2 state championship game against Fair Grove next Friday at Mizzou.
Lamar was 5-4 during the regular season, but has now won five straight games with two of the last three games being decided by two points or less.
“It speaks about our resilience. This is a tough football group; probably the toughest we have had. We have faced a lot of adversity this year. People have doubted us. They have questioned us. They have bailed on us,” Lamar head coach Jared Beshore said. “But this team has never given up, and we knew what the goal was from the get-go. That is a great football team over there that we battled back and forth with. We made enough plays at the end to come out on top.”
Time and again the Lamar defense answered the bell in the win over Bowling Green.
After a three-and-out to start the game, Lamar forced and recovered a fumble on Bowling Green’s first play from scrimmage to set the offense up at the Bowling Green 32-yard line.
Two plays later, Carson Sturgell ran 30 yards for Lamar’s first touchdown of the game. The Tigers led 7-0 early in the first quarter.
The teams traded punts on the next two drives.
On the ensuing drive, Bowling Green drove down to the Lamar 12 and went for it on 4th and 4. Lamar’s Brody Gardner chased down Bowling Green quarterback Jace Eskew two yards short of the first down to give the ball back to Lamar.
Lamar drove to midfield on the next drive going for it on 4th and 9 from the Bowling Green 46, but the pass fell incomplete to give the Bobcats the ball back at midfield.
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Bowling Green marched down the field and scored on a two-yard touchdown run by Dane Dunn on the next drive. The Tiger defense stuffed the attempted two-point conversion to maintain a 7-6 lead midway through the second quarter.
Lamar punted on its next possession to give the ball back to Bowling Green.
The Bobcats faced a similar fate on the ensuing possession punting from their own 20. The first punt got away successfully, but a penalty forced the Bobcats to punt again.
Lamar took full advantage of the do-over by blocking the punt and taking over possession in the red zone at the Bowling Green 18. A pair of holding penalties pushed Lamar back, but quarterback Alex Wilkerson got the yardage back and then some with a 25-yard scramble to set Tigers up inside the 15.
A couple plays later, Terren Williams ran the ball in from three yards out and Lamar led 14-6.
Special teams were a difference maker for Lamar throughout the game.
“We focus a ton on special teams. We spend as much time on special teams as any program I have been a part of,” Beshore said. “You are flipping field position. You are trying to make big plays and steal a possession and keep them from stealing a possession. Those are big moments in ball games.”
Bowling Green got the ball back on its own 35 with just over 30 seconds left in the half. The Bobcats quickly advanced to the Lamar 15-yard line. They had a shot at the end zone as time expired, but the Lamar defense came through again knocking the ball away.
Lamar carried a 14-6 lead into the break.
Out of the half, Bowling Green scored on each of its first two possessions to take a 20-14 lead with 3:13 left in the third quarter.
Lamar needed a big play.
Special teams responded with one.
Adien Sheat ran the ensuing kickoff back to the Bowling Green 32. Two plays later, Wilkerson hit Trent Torbeck for a 31-yard touchdown pass to get Lamar the lead back at 21-20.
On the first drive of the fourth quarter, Bowling Green went for it again on 4th and 7.
And again, the Lamar defense had the answer running Eskew out of bounds just before the first down to secure the turnover on downs.
“Those guys (defensive players) have had an excellent playoff run,” Beshore said. “Early in the year that is a unit we struggled with trying to get the right pieces in places, but they have been absolutely lights out the last few weeks.”
With 11:50 left in the game, Lamar chewed up clock marching 51 yards in just under six minutes capped off by a two-yard touchdown run from Williams to stake the Tigers to a 27-20 lead. The two-point conversion attempt failed leaving Lamar up seven.
Bowling Green got the ball back at its own 27 with 6:13 left in the game. The Bobcats advanced down to the Lamar red zone and scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Eskew to Aiden Grote.
Lamar’s defense stood tall on the ensuing two-point conversion to hold the lead. Three kneel-downs, and a little running around, later, Lamar secured its spot in the Class 2 state championship game with a 27-26 win.
“A lot of people doubted us from across the state starting off 5-4 in the regular season. Everybody said it isn’t the same Lamar. They don’t have it. They aren’t the same kids. We proved all those guys wrong, and we are heading back to the (champion)ship,” Hull said.
Lamar will face a familiar southwest Missouri foe in Fair Grove. The two programs have met five times in the district playoffs since 2016 with Lamar winning all five matchups.
“We have faced Coach (Bill) Voorhis with Fair Grove over there before. They have a great program; happy for those guys to finally make it to the big dance. I know Bill has done a great job with those guys. (We are) just looking forward to preparing for those guys and getting on the same field with them,” Beshore said.
Lamar and Fair Grove will play for the Class 2 state championship at 3 pm on Friday, Dec. 6 at Faurot Field on the campus of the University of Missouri.
