By David Kvidahl (Special to OzarksSportsZone.com.)
(NORTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY ) – Scott Bailey was wet down to his soul.
The constant rain and gusting wind made for a miserable mix of conditions.
The opponent made for a plum miserable afternoon.
The Lamar and Lutheran North football teams waged trench warfare. Yards were hard to come by. Points even more so.
Bailey loved every minute of it.
“For me, what I believe and what I enjoy, this is football. This is the type of football I enjoy. I enjoy run teams. I enjoy run defense. I enjoyed this game,” said Bailey, Lamar’s coach. “It was a tight, close game to the end and either team could have won it.”
But the team that never loses did.
Lamar beat Lutheran North 7-6 in a Class 2 semifinal Saturday afternoon at LaMothe Field on the campus of Lutheran North High School.
Junior defensive back Dylan Hill blocked the game-tying point after kick with 7 minutes and 9 seconds remaining to give the Tigers the victory.
The No. 1 team in the Class 2 Missouri Media poll, Lamar (13-0) advanced to play Lafayette County (14-0) in the state championship at 3 p.m. Friday at Faurot Field in Columbia.
It’s the seventh consecutive state championship appearance for Lamar which has won a state-record six consecutive titles and extended its win streak to 48 games, tops in the state and fifth best in the nation.
But none of the previous 47 were like this one.
No. 3 in Class 2, Lutheran North (12-1) went heads up with the Tigers. They matched them with a ferocious defensive line and knock-out linebackers. Lamar broke into the red zone one time all game and settled for a 32-yard field goal that was no good on the first play of the fourth quarter.
“I thought at halftime our kids really embraced the weather and embraced the challenge,” Bailey said. “Lutheran North football team is an outstanding team. We want to measure ourselves against the best and we’re lined up trying to block (Oklahoma recruit) Ronnie (Perkins) and those boys and our guys were struggling.”
Senior running back and defensive end Cooper Lucas ended the shutout when he broke off a 45-yard touchdown run through a loaded right side of the line with 8:50 to play. The 5-foot-11 and 210-pound Lucas showcased his sprinter speed on his gallop down the sideline.
“I tripped, saw the open hole and just hit it,” Lucas said. “We just played as a brotherhood. We got our act together after playing Ava and got the ball rolling.”
Lucas and junior Duncan Gepner handled the lion’s share of ball carrying duties with starting senior Michael Danner out with an injury. Gepner rushed 22 times for 75 yards. Lucas had 102 yards on 14 carries.
The Tigers were down Danner, senior quarterback Stuart McKarus and several other key pieces. Lamar got strong two-way performances from all over the field.
“We had a lot more guys today playing on both sides of the ball than we have previously due to injury,” Bailey said. “We just told them we don’t have a choice. We have to have guys step up and play and you’re the best we’ve got.”
Lucas was sensational on the defensive line. He had five tackles for loss as he and lineman TW Ayers wrapped up Lutheran North’s stable of standout running backs. The Crusaders had three players rush for more than 1,000 yards. None of them finished with more than 54 on Saturday.
“It was a fun game to play in. This is the kind of game you dream about, just pounding it out on the line,” Ayers said. “Whoever blocks and tackles the best is going to win the game.”
Lucas, Ayers and company earned praise the highest of praise from Lutheran North coach Carl Reed.
“They dominated us up front. They posed a lot of problems for us. Their defensive tackles dominated the game,” Reed said. “We’ve been controlling the line of scrimmage all year but today they controlled it and that was the difference.”
Lutheran North gave itself a chance when junior quarterback Josh Hopkins faked a hand off and took a naked bootleg to the right side for a 30-yard touchdown with 7:09 to play.
The snap was a hair slow on the point after kick and Hill came through on the right side to block it.
“We practice it a lot so we knew if they scored we had to block it,” Lucas said. “We had to. We had to stay on top.”
