With one sentence, Raytown running back Messiah Miller perfectly summed up the significance up his teams thrilling 35-34 win at North Kansas City Friday night, a win that gave the Blue Jays the tiebreaker over the Hornets for the Suburban White Conference championship.
“We weren’t even born the last time it happened,” Miller said.
It had been more than 20 years since the Blue Jays could call themselves conference champs. That makes for a pretty big win.
“I can’t even explain it,” Raytown quarterback Joe Campbell said. “It’s so big. Everybody doubted us. But we showed up.”
A showdown between the Blue Jays (8-1) and Hornets (8-1) on the final night of the regular season for the conference championship, a game between two state-ranked teams, may not have been what people expected to begin the season, but it lived up to the hype, more or less coming down to the final play of the game.
With 41 seconds remaining, Hornet standout running back C.J. Price plowed into the end zone from 4 yards out, the last of his 249 yards, to make it 35-34. With arguably the best running back in the city on his team, Hornets head coach Leon Douglas went for the win. Price took the handoff toward the pile-on but was cut short and run out of bounds, preserving the Blue Jay lead.
“I made that decision based on the confidence I have in the guys,” Douglas said of going for the win. “I think that call is on par with the way we play. But my hats off to Raytown.”
The Blue Jays came from behind on two different occasions Friday night. The play that might have turned the entire game was the first play of the second quarter. Raytown was down 20-7 and facing a third-and-16 from their own 14. Campbell heaved a ball down the middle of the field that was under-thrown, but wide receiver D’Vontae Key came back to the ball, made the catch and ran by a pair of Hornet defenders for an 86-yard touchdown.
“Their safety stayed home,” Raytown head coach Logan MInnick said. “At times, I just tell Joe that we’ve got special kids, just give them an opportunity. D’Vontae made a heck of a play.”
A stop on that play gives the Hornets the ball back and a chance to dig a deeper hole for the Blue Jays.
“That was the time to put the game away,” Douglas said. “But kudos to the resiliency of Raytown.”
With a little momentum, the Raytown defense forced a stop and then Campbell found Miller for a 55-yard touchdown on a screen pass and just like that, it was 21-20 Blue Jays at the half.
Late in the third quarter the Blue Jays found themselves behind again after another touchdown run from Price, making it 28-21.
But they responded quickly behind the arm and legs of Campbell, as he ran for the final 15 yards of the drive, the last 2 for the game-tying score.
A crucial fumble from Price midway through the fourth quarter inside the Raytown 10-yard line gave the Blue Jays the opening they needed. And right away, Miller made the Hornets pay. Starting the drive on their own 8, Miller busted up the middle for 55 yards on a play that initially it looked like the Hornets had stopped for a short gain.
“I saw the hole open up,” Miller said. “I was patient enough to get behind my amazing o-line.”
A few plays later, Campbell did more damage with his legs, scoring what would be the game-winning touchdown from 13 yards out. The touchdown felt like a bit of redemption for the junior quarterback after a fumble earlier in the half.
“I was mad at myself,” Campbell said. “I told coach to the put the ball in my hands and I would make up for it.”
For Raytown, it’s been a dream season that keeps getting better. They will have a bye in the first round of the playoffs, and despite what some teams might have thought at the beginning of the season, nobody will be taking these Blue Jays lightly.
“We’ve been preaching it since the offseason. Coach kept telling us to make a statement,” Miller said. “We’re not the old Raytown.”
