With starting quarterback Ty Black out of the game with an injury, Shawnee Mission Northwest coach Bo Black put the ball in the hands of freshman quarterback Blake Reeder in the biggest moment to make something happen.
In overtime, Reeder had three chances to score a touchdown before the Cougars would try a field goal. He only needed two. Reeder threw a 10-yard fade pass to the very back corner of the end zone that Ty Lindenman not only caught but was able to get a foot down and secure the ball while going to the ground.
Without a call from the officials, Lindenman was lying on the ground still holding the ball to show them he did catch it. Seven seconds later the call was confirmed – touchdown.
Peyton Carder knocked down a Reed Smith pass on fourth down intended for AJ Shields to give Shawnee Mission Northwest its first 3-0 start this decade after it gutted out a 27-21 overtime victory over Olathe South on Friday night.
“The first word that comes to mind is ‘unbelievable,’” Black said of how he would define the game. “We thought we were a little bit unmanned, possibly, going into the game. Then we lost our quarterback and we lost our running back and we lost our outside linebacker. We’re already three starters short, our kids just kept stepping up.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever really been a part of anything really like that. Any time it got bleak and dark and we thought, ‘maybe this was it,’ we found a way to overcome. It was unbelievable, but a heck of a lot of fun.”
To get to overtime, Olathe South needed an 84-yard catch and run from AJ Shields to tie the game up at 21 with 1:51 remaining in the game.
“We kept trying to look at what they were in,” Olathe South coach Craig Lewis said. “They were playing way off and we thought we could throw it under and make runs. We kept trying to nickel and dime them – give ourselves a chance – and then we broke a big play.”
It was a drive that came after two straight that ended in turnovers. The first of those drives ended with a pick six by Charles Brockmann to give Shawnee Mission Northwest a 21-14 lead with 4:16 to play. The second drive ended with an Andrew Nehrbass fumble near midfield, which gave the Cougars an opportunity to run some clock with about three minutes left in the game.
In total, there were nine turnovers on the night in a game that was one of field position and injuries. Both teams lost their starting quarterbacks as Olathe South’s Evan Foster went out with an ankle injury in the first quarter.
Jai Haynes, who picked off Shawnee Mission Northwest quarterbacks twice, was experiencing cramping to his calves after the first play in overtime and wasn’t on the field for the Cougars’ game-winning touchdown.
While Lewis doesn’t hang his hat on moral victories, he did say this game would make his team better not just in week nine, but in week four.
“Our kids are dead tired, their kids are dead tired,” Lewis said. “It was a heavyweight boxing match, that’s what I told them at the overtime. ‘Hey, this is what heavyweight fights are. Just keep punching ‘til the last man standing.”
