ST. LOUIS — Andrew Hedgecorth remembers being in the stands at Ron Holtman Stadium three years ago.
The Smithville quarterback was only an eighth grader when he made the trip and watched the Warriors lose 20-14 to MICDS.
In his second trip back, this time wearing the No. 11 with crosses under his eyes made with eye black, Hedgecorth guided a come-from-behind 40-36 win over the No. 2-ranked Rams on their home field and ended their undefeated season.
“I watched us lose this game and now I had a chance to come out and make the outcome different, that is something I wanted so bad,” said Hedgecorth, who passed for two touchdowns to Sam Calvert in the fourth quarter to cap a 16-point rally over the final eight minutes.
The win vaults No. 1-ranked Smithville into the title game against either Hannibal or North County, a game that will be played Saturday in St. Louis. This is the Warriors’ second title game appearance, the other a 24-0 loss to Cass-Midway in the Class 1A title in 1969.
For a while it appeared that Smithville (12-0) maybe was going to see the season end in the semifinals for the second year in a row – falling in the final seconds to Jefferson City Helias, 13-10 last year – after how MICDS started the second half.
A 29-20 deficit turned into 36-20 as the Rams put together a 17-play drive that ate nearly 9 minutes off the clock. Quarterback Reagan Andrew ran for his third touchdown to give the Warriors its largest deficit of the year, eclipsing a 29-14 lead in the second quarter.
The 36-20 lead to start the fourth quarter looked even more promising when the Warriors turned the ball over on downs on the first play of the final stanza.
Then, things started to flip in the visitor’s favor. The vaunted Warriors’ defense, which was allowing only 7.1 points per game, got its first stop of the game and forced the Rams to punt.
“We knew we had to come out and play if we want to win this game,” Hedgecorth said. “I know it didn’t look good defensively in the beginning, but I got faith in them, and they got faith in the offense. As long as we got faith in each other, we can go out and win any game we want to.”
The Warriors quickly moved down the field, with a 11-yard pass from Hedgecorth to Rhett Foster. Then, Hedgecorth hit Calvert on four straight passes – the latter a 6-yard pass with 8:04 left. The Warriors’ two-point conversion run failed, making it 36-26.
Smithville’s defense then forced another quick possession – five plays after a holding call on MICDS on second down – but another punt happened.
The ball was at the Smithville 10-yard line with 5:38 to play, trailing by 10.
Smithville went to the air again with three straight completions by Hedgecorth – 15 to Keltin Nitsche, 8 to Calvert and then 48 yards to Foster, getting tackled at the 1-yard line.
The hurry up offense led MICDS coach Dr. Fred Bouchard to call two of his three timeouts in a 9-second span.
On 1st-and-goal from the 1, Caleb Donnell got the carry and scored with 4:33 to play. Noah Schuetz’s extra point made it 36-33. Andrew, part of the ‘hands team’ recovered an onside kick for the Rams near midfield.
The Rams had an ominous start to their penultimate drive with a delay of game. On second down, Andrew had a carry and was flipped over on the tackle and the ball bounced away. Smithville thought they got the fumble but he was called down by contact. The next play, Dawson Strickland sacked Andrew to force a 4th-and-15 from the 41.
Smithville coach Jason Ambroson called his first timeout with 3:32 left, forcing the Rams to punt.
With 3:27 left, Hedgecorth trotted out to the field at the 28-yard line.
“Last year, we were in the same situation and I was nervous, I wasn’t ready, I had no confidence in myself,” he said. “This year, I had confidence in myself and everyone around me.”
Cody Simoncic came in at quarterback on 3rd-and-2 from the 36 and got the carry in the ‘Wildcat’ set with a 3-yard run. Then, a bizarre play went Smithville’s way.
Hedgecorth hit Foster on a slant route and as he turned to go up the sidelines, he lost the ball, juggling it behind his back and back into his hands before it went out of bounds.
The Warriors maintained possession and had the ball at the 50-yard line with 2:37 to play.
The junior gunslinger stayed hot, hitting Calvert, Nitche and then Calvert again to move the ball to the MICDS 35-yard line.
A run for zero yards and then a pass breakup in the end zone on a pass intended for Foster put the Warriors in 4th-and-7 from the 35.
Just as the play was snapped, Ambroson called another timeout.
The head coach talked to his players but didn’t change the play call and out of the respite, the Warriors ran it to perfection. Calvert ran up the middle and got bumped by a MICDS defender, who fell down. Hedgecorth threw the pass to a wide open Calvert at the 20-yard, who made a dash to the end zone. He was tackled into the end zone and the referees signaled a touchdown with 1:11 left.
Schuetz’s extra point was good, making it 40-36.
“Give them credit for keep battling and keep battling and keep battling,” Bouchard said. “Isn’t it funny how one play here, or one play there, and I’m sure they would look at it the same way if one of those plays goes our way at the end — the fumble or the fourth-down conversion. Those are the type of plays against really good teams and competitive situations that turn the tide of it. Give them credit, they found a couple things they could do and try to do what they had to. They got away from their strength, power running, and they had to change that up. We made them, in terms, play with their left hand … but they were ambidextrous, they could do both.”
MICDS got the ball back with 1:07 left and had only two plays. Andrew threw an incomplete pass and then he was hit as he threw on second down and the wobbling ball fell into the arms of Calvert for a second big play in a matter of seconds.
From there, the Warriors took two knees and the game ended.
