GOWER, Mo. — For just the second time in program history, East Buchanan is headed to the state championship.
The Bulldogs beat Thayer 34-6 in the Class 1 state semifinal on Saturday at East Buchanan High School, thanks in large part to an adaptive defensive performance.
Bulldogs coach Dan Ritter spoke on just how far his team has come.
"If you would have told me the very first game of the year that we'd be playing for a state championship, I wouldn't have believed you probably," he said. "These young men have played past their ability and done some really good things. I'm very proud of our performance, defensively and offensively."
Expectations were high for East Buchanan (13-1), but running back Trevor Klein was confident in the team's ability to meet them.
"We came out here and played how we're supposed to play. We knew we could beat them, it had been in our head all week that we could beat them," Klein said. "This is something special for this town."
Thayer (10-4) started the game in heavy personnel, but met plenty of resistance from an East Buchanan front seven that was dead set on showing they could match up to the Bobcats' physicality.
Junior defensive lineman Ethan Bailey, who finished with game with a team-leading two sacks, spoke on playing a Thayer team who made their smashmouth identity clear throughout the season.
"That motivates me because I play (defensive) tackle, they're trying to run at me and I take that away," he said. "We just come and play with intensity, we come out and hit people in the mouth and that's how we win."
After trading stalled drives, the Bobcats pinned East Buchanan within their own five. Quarterback Conner Musser rose to the challenge, hitting senior Luke Webb to give themselves some room before swinging it to Klein in the flat, who took it to midfield.
From there, the Bulldogs were able to ride their running game the rest of the way. Senior Cru Conaway finished the drive with a three-yard touchdown to give East Buchanan a 6-0 lead.
Both teams managed a few first downs over the next set of drives, but weren't quite able to threaten a score. In the second quarter, Thayer switched to a spread-out, pass-oriented approach that yielded their longest drive of the game. The Bobcats drove down to the Bulldogs' goalline only for Thayer quarterback Landry Pitts to throw an interception to Conaway after the near seven minute possession.
"Just the way we ran around and stopped the run early made them one-dimensional, and then (we) came up with some big-time interceptions in the passing game," Ritter said. "I don't really see a weakness right now."
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