Grown men and large linemen openly cried. Such was the magnitude of the finish Friday in the most exciting football game in the history of the Lakota West-Lakota East football series.
Lakota West scored 24 straight points to force overtime, then used a 1-yard QB sneak by Dustin Huff to beat district East 30-27, and deny East its first playoff appearance.
"I can't believe we did it," said linebacker Alex Kaufman. "That was West pride, and I do believe in it."
For the third straight year, East only needed a win in the final game to earn its first playoff berth. Once again, it came excruciatingly close, losing for the second year in a row in overtime.
"I told them I was proud of their effort, but we just didn't do what we needed to do," East coach Greg Bailie said. "We played a great game, and West is a great opponent, but for our seniors, I hate to see them go out this way."
East scored the game's first 21 points before West completely reversed the game's momentum.
Huff began rolling out and the passing game opened up. He finished 15-of-26 passing for 177 yards and three TDs.
"We just kept running a bunch of boot(legs)," Huff said. "We said we'd keep running them until they stopped us, and that's what we did."
West took a 24-21 lead with 2:20 left in regulation on a Huff TD pass to Eric Monroe, but East rallied to force overtime on a Sam Coffey 33-yard field goal with 37 seconds left in regulation.
That was East's first score since 7:03 was left in the second quarter.
East won the coin toss and had the first possession in overtime. After getting to the 4-yard line, it stalled and settled for a 22-yard field goal by Coffey.
West needed only two plays to get to the 2-yard line. With both sides of the stadium roaring, West relied on its size advantage at the line of scrimmage.
"We just had to say, 'Forget it,' for what we did early," said West offensive tackle Nate Toney. "We played the hardest we've ever played, and this was the greatest game of our lives."
After East's defense denied the Firebirds one time in close, Huff leaned in over a mass of humanity to score the game-winner.
The victory by West (7-3, 6-1 GMC) ends a streak of three-straight wins by East (7-3, 5-2 GMC) in the battle for the Lakota Cup trophy. The game was played before of 8,000 at East.
Even with the victory, West is expected to fall short of playoff contention.
But the magnitude of the victory was still apparent. West coach Larry Cox could barely find his voice to address his team five minutes after the game ended.
"I have never been more proud of a Lakota West football team. I'm at a loss for words," said Cox, before his voice gave out.
Lakota West077106-30Lakota East147033-27
LE - Greene 1 run (Coffey kick)
LE - Kjos 6 pass from Darland (Coffey kick)
LE - Greene 1 run (Coffey kick)
LW - Fehr 12 pass from Huff (Casper kick)
LW - Cook 10 pass from Huff (Casper kick)
LW - Casper 37 FG
LW - Monroe 21 pass from Huff (Casper kick)
LE - Coffey 33 FG
LE - Coffey 22 FG
LW - Huff 1 run (no conversion attempted)
Records: LW 7-3 (6-1 GMC), LE 7-3 (5-2 GMC).
