Tri-perfect-a!

By BRENDAN BURNETT-KURIE

Reporter/Photographer

A year ago, under a glaring midday sun on a cold November day, it all started.

Friday, after that same autumnal sun had slipped quietly below the horizon and sprayed its last embers of orange light across the field, it ended in pure jubilation.

It was a quest; a journey of men fueled by hearts and souls. It was a triumph; lifted by love, dreams and brotherhood.

There is a room full of doors. Each one leads to another place, another title. Year after year, a group of Bearcat seniors stand in the middle of that room, open another door and walk through it. Then the next group arrives, staring at the doors already opened, pulling insight and inspiration from those who have walked before them. Then they set their sights on an unopened door. And the work begins.

The starting date of construction for the Bearcats’ 2010 3A State Football Championship was Nov. 14, 2009, when graduating senior Colter McNare said, “They can do it. I know they can,” just moments after Douglas won its second consecutive state title.

But the idea – the blueprint and the plans – were hatched years earlier, when a jumble of middle schoolers, who would become Douglas’ 2010 senior class, set their goals impossibly high, then worked for the next six years to build a structure no one believed could stand.

A few of them played as sophomores, when Douglas defeated Buffalo 34-21 to win its first state title in 30 years. Many of them started as juniors, when Douglas destroyed Cody 44-14 to finish the programs’ first-ever 11-0 season. All of them cried as seniors, when they walked off Jonah Field for the final time as Bearcats, after battling back from an early deficit to beat Buffalo 26-14 at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie and bring a third consecutive state title home to Douglas.

“I got to see some of our former players from two years ago that beat Buffalo in the finals,” head coach Jay Rhoades said. “They really got the whole thing rolling. To see them here and being a part of it was awesome. These (2010) seniors just kept building on the foundation that the ones before had left and make it stronger was incredible. I will miss these kids to death.”

Behind a brilliant middle two quarters – Douglas went on a 26-0 run in the second and third periods – and an unbreakable bond, the Bearcats came from 14 points down to finish off another 11-0 season and extend the program’s winning streak to 30 games, just four behind the longest in state history.

“It brings me to my knees,” said senior wide receiver/cornerback/returner Justin Melton, who scored two touchdowns in the game. “Words can’t describe how I feel right now. I’m going to miss this so much, with my brothers out there. We came together and we had that perfect game and it was on the biggest stage. It’s the greatest experience of my life.”

“It’s one of those unspoken things,” defensive coordinator Wes Gamble said. “It feels great for those kids. I felt more emotional than I’ve ever felt. I’m just so happy for all those seniors. I’m very thankful for them, and the (underclassmen) who helped them and our staff. It’s not easy to win three with all that pressure the kids accepted and overcame. They had to get it done and they found a way. They are special.”

It ended as it started, in the gray gloves of senior cornerback Mitch Espeland.

With a minute left in the game, Buffalo, down by 12, had the ball on Douglas’ 10-yard line. Twice in the preceding minute the Bison had converted on fourth-and-10 to keep their final, desperate drive alive. Still grasping at that sliver of hope, the Bison were looking for a quick score, creating a one-score game. Crazier things have happened inside of a minute. Buffalo quarterback Hayden Kessler dropped back on second down and lofted a pass into the right side of the end zone.

“He underthrew the ball to the receiver,” Espeland said. “I actually debated whether to swat it away and make the safe play or pick it. I went up with two hands and caught it. That was the game. I looked up at the clock and I felt awesome.”

Klava sprinted over from his outside linebacker position. He grabbed Espeland by the jersey and hollered, “You won the game for us!”

“My heart dropped at first because I thought they got a touchdown, but Mitch held the ball up and it was pure joy,” senior defensive end Cohner Marker said. “I knew it was over and I couldn’t have been happier.”

“My first thought was, ‘We did it,’” senior quarterback Hayden Barker said. “Ever since seventh grade we’ve been dreaming of this and we made it happen. Gosh. Against Buffalo, too.”

This was a very different scenario than what had happened 42 minutes earlier on Buffalo’s first offensive play of the game. After Douglas drove 60 yards on eight plays – including a 40-yard sweep from senior running back Dylan Klava – Barker was tackled short on a fourth-and-four keeper and gave the ball to the Bison on their own 20. Kessler dropped back and slung a deep pass down the right side, where it bounced off Espeland’s outstretched hands and into the arms of a surprised Aaron Tyser, who raced 74 yards to the six-yard line.

“That’s a one-in-a-million catch,” senior defensive end/fullback Gary Bolinger said.

Four runs later, Buffalo scored on a one-yard leap into the end zone to take a 7-0 lead with 5:30 left in the first quarter.

Buffalo got the ball back again two minutes later and embarked on an 11-play, 66-yard drive that concluded with a Jace Jensen three-yard touchdown run. It was a minute into the second quarter, and the underdog Bison were shocking everyone, except maybe themselves, with a 14-0 lead over the Bearcats.

“They’re a very strong team,” Lisco said. “I give them all the respect in the world.”

“The pressure that was on (our kids) to come out and perform today was pretty big,” Rhoades said. “I think we saw the effects of that in the opening. We weren’t playing to win, we were playing to get beat. When the kids started playing to win, good things happened.”

“I don’t want to say we came out too cocky, but we came out too cocky,” senior running back/defensive end Baylor Sieg said. “We talked that we had to settle down. We knew that and we did what we had to do.”

Yet even in that moment of despair, the Bearcat bond could not be broken.

“This team, they could be down 50-0 before half and they will find a way to come back and win it,” Sieg said.

The Bison would gain a total of three offensive yards on their next six possessions. They didn’t get another first down for the next 19 minutes.

“I think (Buffalo) came out and they were very well coached and physical,” Gamble said. “Our kids had the ability to say, ‘No more.’ There were no adjustments. It was the kids. They got off blocks and they started getting to the ball. Our defensive prayer is ‘Get to the football.’ Coach (Todd) Weber has preached it for years and been adamant about it. Coach (Jack) Seeds has preached heel line and been adamant about it. The kids believe in those guys and they started getting back to the basics.”

While the defense was preventing Buffalo from moving the ball, the offense started to click behind an energized passing game. Barker connected with Aaron Jamerman on a 15-yard pass, then Paul Foy on a 14-yard toss before capping the drive with a bomb down the left sideline that hit Melton in stride for a 48-yard touchdown. Saxon Bull connected on the extra point as Douglas pulled within 14-7 with 6:45 left in the second quarter.

“They were leaving holes in their defense and we were exploiting them and Hayden was finding us,” Jamerman said. “Hayden did an awesome job. He played amazing. I can’t even talk him up enough.”

With 3:26 left in the second quarter, Buffalo faced a third-and-seven at midfield. Kessler’s pass was batted at the line by Sieg, then floated through the air where senior defensive lineman Taylor Lisco snatched it.

“I pressed and I saw Baylor go up and swat it, and that’s really what made the play, and then I just came by and scooped it up,” Lisco said. “I was carrying it like a loaf of bread.”

“Lisco’s interception turned the switch on for us,” Klava said.

But things didn’t immediately seem brighter for the Bearcats. After a pair of penalties, Douglas faced a 1st-and-34 from its own 34-yard line, Barker connected with Jamerman on a 28-yard pass, then hit Espeland on a 21-yard slant.

“This is where our passing game really stepped up,” Sieg said. “We’ve had this potential all year and we finally decided to bring it out.”

With 23 seconds left before halftime, Barker found Melton on a fade to the left side of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown. With two touchdowns in less than seven minutes, the Bearcats had tied the game at 14-14.

“That’s all coach (Josh) Goodrich,” Rhoades said. “They kept flipping their defense on that last drive. We’d see three defensive backs and then we’d see four. I was trying to get in a rhythm with my calls to beat one and then they’d be in the other. Right at the end, coach Goodrich called a quick check and that was all Hayden and Melton making a great play.”

“That shows so much about our team,” Melton said. “We kept our heads up because we wanted this more. We came back and exploded. That second quarter, we picked our heads up and we realized what we had to do and we did it.”

Melton’s heroics continued in the second half. He picked off Kessler on a tipped pass on the third play of the third quarter and returned it to the one-yard line. It only took the Bearcats one play – a Barker sneak – to grab their first lead of the game at 20-14.

“We played for each other and we rallied around each other,” Jamerman said. “Doing that, we knew we could come back.”

Now reeling from three straight Douglas scores, the Bison started with the ball on their own 20-yard line, but lost two yards on three plays before punting back to, who else, Melton. He sprinted untouched around the left side for a 47-yard punt return down to the four-yard line.

“Our playmakers that we’ve relied on for so long, that maybe didn’t have the best years statistically that they wanted, came through tonight,” Rhoades said. “Justin Melton was definitely the player of the game. I was so happy with all these kids. I can’t say enough about being a part of it.”

From the four-yard line, Klava ran the ball three times but couldn’t get into the end zone. Bull lined up and kicked a 21-yard field goal, but the Bison were penalized for roughing the kicker, giving Douglas a first down on the two-yard line. One play later, Barker snuck into the end zone on a three-yard run as Douglas went up 26-14 with 6:38 left in the third quarter.

After a season built on a strong running game featuring 1,000-yard back Klava and 500-yard backup Sieg, it was the overshadowed pass game that came through when needed.

“If you look at all the games, we’re a run-first team,” Klava said. “They keyed on our run and tried to make us go to our weakness, which turned out to be our strength.”

Klava rushed for 102 yards on 24 carries, although 40 of those came on the second play of the game.

“We opened up with that big toss and we thought that would open up our middle stuff and it never did,” Rhoades said. “We had to go to the air a little bit.”

“They did try to stop our run game,” Melton said. “Usually they come out with a two-safety look and they brought one up as an outside linebacker and the field was open after you got past the corners.”

The Bearcats finished with 278 yard of offense, 159 of those coming through the air. Barker finished 10-for-13 for 159 yards and two touchdowns.

“I was really impressed with Hayden today,” Rhoades said. “I knew he would come to play today and he did.”

Barker, who was playing with gloves for the first time this season, completed passes to five different receivers, with Jamerman grabbing three for 56 yards and Melton grabbing two for 66 yards.

“It was awesome because they keyed on me and they forgot about Hayden, Justin, Mitch, Aaron. They all had great games,” Klava said. “Foy had a great game. They didn’t account for them at all.”

“I think it opened up other options, too, when Hayden spread the ball out,” Espeland said. “A lot of times he was scrambling when he was throwing it and he made the pass. He played great.”

As Barker finished his round of interviews after the game, his younger brother, Logan, a freshman, came up and yelled into the microphone, “I have the best brother in the world.”

Despite Buffalo getting into the red zone three times in the final five minutes, the Bison were never able to convert and Espeland’s timely interception – Douglas’ third of the game – sealed the title. After the final seconds ticked off the clock, the players struggled to describe their emotions. In the end, they settled on two words: amazing and bittersweet.

“It’s sad,” Melton said. “It’s a bittersweet feeling. But, we ended it the right way. There’s no better way to do it.”

“It feels amazing,” Sieg said. “It’s a lot different as a senior. This is a team I wouldn’t trade for the world. It’s over, but I loved it. It was the greatest four years of my life.”

“It’s great, man. It’s indescribable,” Klava said. “Bittersweet. But that’s what I said last week. It is bittersweet because it’s awesome, but you have to look back and it’s over.”

“It feels amazing,” Jamerman said. “It’s beyond words. I can’t even describe it. I think being a senior and knowing it’s the last game you’ll ever play makes it more special.”

“It’s awesome,” Bolinger said. “All that hard work paid off. I’m out here with my brothers. It feels different in that we’re seniors. This is the last one and we went out with a bang.”

“It feels great,” Lisco said. “There was a lot of hard work put into it and it feels awesome. Words can’t explain it. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

“I just can’t describe it in words,” Foy said. “It’s awesome. It’s different being a senior. Going into the game you know it’s your last one. You try to make the most of it, and we did.”

“Taking it for the third time is amazing,” Marker said. “There’s nothing like it. I think what makes it special was we were against Buffalo. It means a lot for these seniors.”

“I’m loving this right now,” Espeland said. “To share it with these guys is the best feeling ever. It’s more bittersweet than the last two. I always thought, ‘Yes, I can get one next year.’ But this is it for us. I love ending on this, though. This is the greatest feeling to end on.”