By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
LEE’S SUMMIT — After enduring his first bout of adversity in his otherwise ever-blossoming Nixa career, Adam McKnight was praying, literally, his superb sophomore season wasn’t about to be over.
McKnight bounced back from a third-quarter interception to lead a 79-yard, game-winning Nixa drive in the Eagles’ 21-20 Class 6 quarterfinal victory against Lee’s Summit North Friday.
McKnight fired a 19-yard game-tying touchdown pass to wide receiver Wyatt Vincent with :10.4 remaining. Place-kicker Braden Kahmke’s ensuing extra-point put Nixa on top for the first time in the second half.
The Eagles’ offense had been scoreless the first 23-plus minutes of the second half and turned the ball over on downs on an overthrow by McKnight with only 4:40 remaining.
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“I’m grateful God and our defense gave me another chance,”
McKnight said. “I was saying on the sideline, ‘God, give me one more chance.’”
Upon receiving one more chance with 2:04 to play, Nixa executed its two-minute offense to perfection. McKnight broke loose for a 31-yard run to get the ball to the 19 with :15 to play
“Every week in practice since (early September) we’ve done a two-minute drill with two timeouts,” Vincent said. “We knew exactly what we had to do.”
“We’ve practiced our two-minute drill pretty much every week,” left tackle Jackson Cantwell said. “We’ve actually done it in some games we were up a lot because we knew we would need it at some point. This is why you work on things all the time. You never know when you’re going to need it.”
“We were ready for the moment,” said running back Dylan Rebura, who had a nine-yard run on the winning drive. “We were prepared. I wasn’t worried. I don’t think anyone was worried.”
With no timeouts, McKnight found Vincent in the back of the Eagles’ end zone. Vincent was able to gain control of the pass, even as a Lee’s Summit North defender grazed the ball.
“When I went up, (the defender) kind of put a finger up on it,” Vincent said. “But I squeezed it and pulled it right in. I had a good grip on it. It wasn’t coming out.”
Here is how Nixa won the game. Adam McKnight to Wyatt Vincent with 10 seconds left. pic.twitter.com/DbjsuoRhjj
— Ozarks Sports Zone (@OzarksOzone) November 23, 2024
Nixa’s defense set the stage for the Eagles offense’s two-minute drive, forcing Lee’s Summit North to punt twice in the fourth quarter. The Broncos were able to take only two minutes off the clock on their final possession.
“We needed our offense with the ball, that’s what my mindset was,” Eagles safety Parker Mann said. “I let everyone know, ‘We’ve either got to get a three-and-out or get the ball or it’s over.’”
Lee’s Summit North (11-1) jumped on top 7-0 on a nine-yard touchdown run by quarterback Mickhi Mitchell.
Nixa answered with a drive that covered the final seven minutes of the first quarter, leading to a McKnight seven-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter.
A Lee’s Summit North fumble at the Eagles’ 25-yard line led to another McKnight seven-yard touchdown and a 14-7 Nixa lead midway through the second quarter.
The Broncos answered with a 27-yard touchdown run by running back Quade Chatmon. They closed the first-half scoring with Noah Kent drilling a 35-yard field goal.
Kent added a 28-yard field goal in the third quarter. Lee’s Summit North squandered a first-and-goal from the Nixa two-yard line and a third-and-goal at the one. A holding penalty and mis-snap forced the Broncos to have to settle for a field goal, instead of going up by two scores.
Nixa’s offense was stymied by Lee’s Summit North for a good portion of the night. The Broncos’ defensive line even did the unthinkable and pushed the Eagles’ highly-touted offensive line back on more than one occasion.
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“We were kind of getting shut out,” Cantwell said. “Lee’s Summit North is a super quality team. They have a lot of great players and made a lot of great football plays tonight. But we have too good of football players who execute so well for it to go any other way.”
Nixa’s seasons ended at the hands of Kansas City area teams in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
“We knew we had to break that barrier at some point,” Cantwell said. “Lee’s Summit North has got more D-I athletes than we do, but that’s okay because we’ve got each other, we’ve got great coaching and great high school football players.”
Nixa advances to host Kirkwood in semifinal action next weekend.
Nixa 21, Lee’s Summit North 20
Nixa 0 14 0 7 – 21
Lee’s Summit North 7 10 3 0 – 20
Scoring
LSN – Mitchell 9 run (14 kick)
N – McKnight 7 run (Kahmke kick)
N – McKnight 7 run (Kahmke kick)
LSN -Chatmon 27 ruh (14 kick)
LSN – Kent 35 field goal
LSN – Kent 28 field goal
N – Vincent 19 pass from McKnight (Kahmke kick)
