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Photo Credit: Steve Bubalo/PrepsKC

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Xander Shepherd knew he had missed it.

The Fort Osage sophomore kicker sat on the turf as he watched his potential game-winning 35-yard field sail wide right, but he wasn’t on the turf on purpose. A Staley player had put him there, crashing into him, eliciting a personal foul flag giving him another shot to break a 14-all tie with 3 seconds left.

“I knew I hit it wrong,” Shepherd said of his first attempt. “I looked at the ref and was like, ‘please be a flag’. I knew I had to capitalize on the opportunity.”

And he did just that. Shepherd knocked a 26-yarder right down the middle, giving the Indians a 17-14 come-from-behind victory over the Falcons to advance to the district championship game next Friday against Platte County.

“I got the miss out of the way. It cooled my nerves,” Shepherd said. “It was a surreal moment. That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done. Words can’t explain how cool that was.”

Added teammate Larenzo Fenner, “I know if he (Shepherd) misses one, he’s not going to miss the next one.”

As for Fenner, he was a big reason the Indians were in field goal range to begin with. The defense had forced a Falcon punt with less than a minute to play. The punt was high but short, and despite having to run up under it and catch it in stride with multiple Falcon defenders in the area, Fenner didn’t call for the fair catch. He caught the ball running and took it down the Staley 36-yard line with 28 seconds left.

“I wasn’t worried about a big hit,” Fenner said. “I was just putting my body on the line for the seniors. I wanted to put us in a position to win.”

Fort Osage head coach Brock Bult almost called for the all-out attempt to block the punt.

“I called for the return,” he said. “I thought about calling for the block, but I figured if they’re going to kick it to him, I’ll let them.”

On fourth-and-one with just 11 seconds left, still not quite in field goal range, David Jacquez broke a fullback dive to the outside after a scrum up the middle and looked like he might break free for a score but ended up gaining the nine most important yards of the game.

“I was worried he wasn’t going to go down in time, and then I thought he was going to score, and then I wanted him to go down again,” Bult said.

The Indians needed a nearly perfect second half after Staley (4-6) dominated the first half and led 14-0. A wide receiver pass from John Randle IV to Brett Fleming from 30 yards out gave them the two-score lead just before halftime. They nearly made it a three-score advantage to start the second half after a six-plus minute drive, but they stalled at the 6-yard line and a missed field goal kept it 14-0.

That little window was just enough for the Indians. They went 80 yards in just over 3 minutes, as Fenner took a little tip pass from quarterback Greg Menne right after the ball was snapped. He eluded an initial tackler that would have caused a 5-yard loss, made a few quick cuts and danced into the end zone for the 15-yard score to make it 14-7.

“I wanted the ball in my hands all night,” Fenner said. “I knew I could make a play. The blocking was amazing on that play.”

With the momentum shifting, the defense forced a three-and-out and the offense went right back to work. They went 55 yards in 10 plays with Menne scoring on a quarterback sneak from a yard out to tie the game at 14.

The Falcons had a couple of chances to drive for the go-ahead score but came up empty – the Indians let one get away, too – but in the end, they needed less than a minute to cap a thrilling victory and keep their season alive.

“Staley-Fort Osage, what else do you expect?” Bult said.