State Champs!

This story took first place in Sports News Writing in the 2009 Wyoming Press Association awards.

State Champs!

By BRENDAN BURNETT-KURIE

Ten years ago, a group of elementary school kids would show up 20 minutes before school just to play football on the playground.

On Saturday, a decade of dedication paid off as those same young men hugged, cried and kissed a trophy symbolizing Douglas’ first state football championship in 30 years.

“I remember going to school 20 minutes early to play a little football,” senior reciever Jake Vogel said. “We’ve been dreaming about this since we were little.”

“It’s everything we’ve been dreaming of since we were in second grade,” senior running back Cody Bohlander said. “When we were little, we loved football. It was 18 years in the making for me.”

“We had more heart. We played like a team. We’re brothers,” Vogel said.

Dream. Heart. Brothers.

Those three words summed up Douglas’ run to a state title, culminating in a commanding 34-21 win over Buffalo in the 4A State Championship game Nov. 15 at Bearcat Stadium.

“This group of seniors, when I took the job here they were sophomores and they were the group everyone talked about,” head coach Jay Rhoades said. “I would ask ‘Does Douglas have a chance of winning a state title in the next few years?’ People would say ‘Yeah, they have a great group of sophomores. It’s a great place to be.’”

The Bearcats overcame an early 7-0 deficit and scored 21 points in 1:41 during the second quarter to take a 28-7 lead it would never relinquish. Senior Shane Richendifer was 13-for-21 passing for 179 yards and two touchdowns against a Bison team he lit up for 289 yards in their regular season matchup.

“It’s kind of surreal right now,” Richendifer said. “It hasn’t really sunk in that we’re state champions. When it actually does set in, I’m just going to sit there with a smile on my face.”

Cody Bohlander had 135 yards catching and receiving and three touchdowns and Jake Vogel and Michael Hogan found the end zone in a game that was decided in just 19 minutes.

“I knew if we came out and played our game that we could get it done and it wouldn’t be close,” senior receiver Daniel Hancock said after catching three passes for 58 yards. “It’s indescribable. This is what we’ve been playing for all year, and to get it done, I’m dumbfounded.”

It was Douglas’ first state championship in 30 years, since the 1978 team captured the crown. It was also the third state title for Douglas during the fall season, possibly a first in Douglas’ class.

“We are state champions,” Rhoades said. “You can’t really say much more. I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet. It’s a great feeling. It’s a very deserving feeling.”

But in the early going, the chances of an easy Douglas victory appeared slim. Buffalo returned the opening kickoff to the Douglas 46 and then embarked on a 10-play, 44-yard scoring drive that clicked nearly five minutes off the clock.

“It took us a drive to figure out they’re changes, and once we did it was pretty much game over,” defensive coordinator Wes Gamble said. “We’re resilient. They’re the type of kids that if you went to war, you’d want to take them with you. Every one of them would run through fire or through a wall if we asked them.”

So the Douglas offense stepped onto the field, trailing 7-0, and took no time killing the Bison momentum. Richendifer connected with Hancock on 15 and 30-yard passing plays, setting Bohlander up for a two-yard touchdown scamper to knot the game at seven with 3:45 remaining in the first half.

“Had we not come back and scored on that next drive, I think we would have had to fight and scratch a lot harder,” Rhoades said. “I think Buffalo thought ‘Uh oh.’”

Jake Vogel intercepted Buffalo quarterback Tyler Gibbs on the Bison’s next possession, the first of two picks for the senior cornerback and one of four for the Bearcats defense. Douglas drove 48-yards early in the second quarter, capped by a 14-yard pass from Richendifer to Hogan. Hancock intercepted Gibbs three plays later and Bohlander slipped into the end zone for a 21-7 lead with 7:16 left before the half.

That’s when things got exciting for the Bearcats. Bohlander kicked off, with his boot landing near the 30 yard line where Pierre Etchemendy lept on it for an uncoventional onsides recovery. On first down, Bohlander beat the Buffalo secondary and Richendifer found him with a rainbow toss into the end zone where Bohlander made a diving catch to put Buffalo away with a 28-7 lead.

“I came open, Gibbs was over the top of me and I ran by him,” Bohlander said. “I knew if Shane put it over my outside shoulder I’d come down with it, and that’s where he put it.”

“That was huge,” Rhoades said. “That was such a momentum-changer. That kind of sealed the deal, I think.”

Buffalo would tack on a touchdown with 53 seconds left in the half, pulling with 14 with 24 minutes left.

On the way out of the locker room at halftime, each player slapped a football at the top of the locker room stairs, reminding themselves that the following 24 minutes had better be the best football of their lives.

Vogel intercepted another Bison pass late in the third quarter, setting Douglas up with the ball on the 22-yard line. Four plays later, Vogel spun into the end zone on a reverse for a 34-14 lead. Hancock would add his second interception of the game later in the fourth quarter and Buffalo wouldn’t score until 4:15 remaining in the game.

“To not just win it but to hand it to them, to play our style of football, to initiate the contact and be physical was great,” Gamble said. “We’re the ones left standing. We’re the champs. They showed up, they did it, and they’re an awesome group.”

In the end, Douglas dominated a team that it had barely defeated 21-14 in an overtime win Oct. 17.

“We were a better team all along,” Rhoades said. “We were a better team a few weeks ago. We were better than 21-14. I think the kids knew that. Today the challenge was to go prove it. It shows these kids’ character. They’re not going to lie down against anybody.”

Buffalo did recover an onside kick with four minutes left, but four incomplete passes later, Douglas just had to run out the clock, dump Gatorade on Gamble and storm the field to celebrate the long-awaited championship.

“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” Bohlander said. “It’s an amazing feeling. It’s crazy.”

“I was so excited, I couldn’t believe it,” Vogel said. “I’ve waited 17 years for this and I just want to thank God for everything he’s given me. There’s no words for it, it’s just love.”

“We didn’t play for ourselves,” senior linebacker Ryan Adams said. “We played for each other and today it showed on the field.”

“The kids did it,” Gamble said. “We get to enjoy it with them. It’s the sweetest feeling of them all.”

For more than 20 seniors, this was their final high school football game. For the majority of them, it will be their final organized game. But they wanted to revel in the victory just a little longer before the inevitable reality set in.

“I’m just living in the moment right now, enjoying the victory,” Bohlander said.

But the coaches couldn’t say enough about this endearing group of upperclassmen.

“I couldn’t be happier with how they responded and how coachable they were,” Gamble said. “They played together and with heart. I will miss them. It’s been the funnest time coaching a defense because they’re a special group of kids.”

“Thank you,” Rhoades said to his seniors. “Thank you for all your effort. It’s been an extraordinary ride. This will be a group of seniors I will never forget.”

Finally, the trophy was brought out and a scrum of players jostled for a chance to touch the prize.

“I just grabbed it, held it up and kissed it,” Richendifer said. “I thought ‘It doesn’t get any better than this.’”