Mid-Buchanan's dream season ends with a Runner-Up finish at State
Trailing Windsor 43-20 with little over a minute left in the Missouri Class 1 State Championship, and their fate all but sealed last Saturday, November 5, Mid-Buchanan head coach Aaron Fritz called what would be the Dragons' final timeout of the 2020 season.
This break in the action gave Fritz the opportunity to speak with his starting offense, a group consisting mainly of seniors. With tears beginning to flow and the realization setting in that their time as Dragons was coming to end, Fritz made sure his players knew their accomplishments as a team were something to hold their heads up
high about – that even though they fell just short of winning a championship, their run to state is something that will long be remembered within the history of Mid-Buchanan football.
“I just wanted them to huddle up for a second to tell them that I loved them,” Fritz said. “I also wanted them to know how proud I was of them, and how proud they should be of themselves, for continuing to battle when bounces and other things weren't going our way.”
A bobbled opening kickoff return followed by a holding penalty on the game's first play were omens to how the Dragons' day would unfold. Sometimes in football, it’s about avoiding the bad breaks and benefitting when the ball bounces your way. Unfortunately for Mid-Buchanan, the breaks didn’t go their way on Saturday.
“The start of the game could not have been worse, with falling down on the kick return inside the five-yard line. We were able to move the ball and get out of our own end of the field, but the penalties cost us,” Fritz said.
Quick to capitalize, Windsor capped off their opening drive with a four-yard halfback pass for a touchdown.
Early in the second quarter, Mid-Buchanan got on the scoreboard when senior running back TJ Runyan leapt over a Windsor defender and into the end-zone. Runyan’s flip across the goal line elicited a raucous ovation from the Mid-Buchanan faithful.
In one of the game's most exciting plays, TJ Runyan leapt over a Windsor defender to score Mid-Buchanan's first touchdown. (Slideshow)
Counter punching on their next possession, Windsor extended the lead to 16-6 with a 46-yard touchdown pass. The score came after Mid-Buchanan senior Lane Ellison left the game with an injured arm in a sling.
Losing one of their top defenders and team leaders was hard for the Dragons to bounce back from.
“Something unfortunate had clearly happened with the loss of Lane, and it took us a little bit of time to recover from that. Lane is clearly a big-time leader for us,” Fritz said. “A lot of coaches will say he is our best football player, but most important to me is that he is a damn fine young man. When you lose a guy like that early in the second quarter, it really lowers morale for a period of time.”
Mid-Buchanan had a chance to cut into the lead on their ensuing possession, but a fourth and one stop by the Windsor defense, at their own five-yard line, kept the score locked at 16-6.
With 21.9 seconds left in the first half, Windsor extended the lead to 22-6 with their third touchdown pass of the first half.
Trailing at halftime for only the second time this season, Mid-Buchanan made a huge stop on Windsor’s first possession of the second half, preventing the Greyhounds from scoring on a fourth and goal attempt from their own eight-yard line.
The Mid-Buchanan defense swarms the Windsor runner.
From here, the Dragons put together their best possession of the contest, capping off the 91-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Javan Noyes.
Trailing by only ten points and with momentum on their side, the Mid-Buchanan defense came out fired up on the next possession ready to make the game’s most crucial stop. But, unfortunately for the Dragons, the football gods had other plans.
Facing third and long at the Mid-Buchanan 46-yard line, Windsor quarterback Kenton Sargent’s pass went through his wide receiver's hands, off his face mask, and the deflection somehow landed in Camden Fowler’s hands, who, in stride, took the ball into the end zone.
The fluke play deflated the Mid-Buchanan faithful's enthusiasm, as the lead grew to 29-12.
“What a play. We had great coverage. You talk about the ball not bouncing our way,” Fritz said. “That worked out well for them but was very frustrating. We got it back down to ten and then that happened. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way and it definitely didn’t bounce our way, but that’s because we played a good football team.”
Never ones to quit, Mid-Buchanan continued to battle, scoring once more in the fourth quarter when Javan Noyes reached the end zone again on a three-yard touchdown run.
In his final game wearing a Dragon helmet, Noyes completed 17 of 29 passes for 180 yards. He also carried the ball 23 times for 158 yards with two scores. His leading receivers were juniors Caiden Bailey with seven catches for 94 yards, and Rawlins Brant with seven catches for 59 yards.
Mid-Buchanan quarterback Javan Noyes left a memorable mark on the Mid-Buchanan football program.
Noyes' partner in the Dragons' dynamic-duo backfield, TJ Runyan, finished his Mid-Buchanan career with a 19-carry, 92-yard, one touchdown performance.
On the defensive side of the ball, Mid-Buchanan was led by junior Cage Burns with 10 tackles, while Rawlins Brant finished with nine and senior Butch Walters had seven of his own.
With the loss, the Mid-Buchanan Dragons finished the 2020 season with a program best 13-1 record and a second-place finish at state. Their success this season has set the bar high for future Dragon teams, but that standard is something Coach Fritz feels they are well equipped to continue to strive for.
“This may sound ridiculous, but our standard is still the same. We want to compete, play hard, play fast, and enjoy being around each other all while trying to reach our ultimate goal,” Fritz said. “I don’t see that needing to change, because I know we have a group of kids coming back who will continue to want to work hard for more.”
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