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Where no Raven has gone beforePhoto Credit: Nick Smith/PrepsKC

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The College Boulevard Activity Center is home to one of the biggest fireworks displays in the Kansas City area each Fourth of July. On Friday, there were plenty of fireworks going off in a figurative sense from CBAC, as the Class 6A quarterfinal matchup between Olathe West and Olathe Northwest was filled with explosive plays.

Once the thrilling display finally ended, it was Olathe Northwest that had launched its way into the 6A semifinals for the first time in school history with a 35-33 victory.

“It’s surreal. It’s amazing for our kids,” Olathe Northwest coach Lorne Clark said. “I didn’t know in June that we could make it this far, but I’m super proud of them for all the hard work they’ve put in and all their time and dedication. It was a great team win.”

After trailing 27-22 at the half, Olathe Northwest quarterback Cooper Carley got the fireworks going again. Carley, who transferred to ONW from Olathe West for his senior year, connected with Mason Schlittenhard on a 60-yard touchdown pass. The Olathe Northwest quarterback also threw a 13-yard touchdown strike to Micah Geary in the third to extend the Ravens’ lead to 35-27. The Ravens never relinquished the lead.

“That felt good,” Carley said of the 60-yard bomb to Schlittenhard. “The defense struggled in the first half, and we needed to score to be able to start fast and get the momentum on our side. Then, I was telling the guys, ‘We’re up, stay up. Don’t risk anything.’ We were able to do that, and we won.”

While Carley threw two touchdown passes in the third, Olathe Northwest did most of its damage on the ground with the dynamic duo of Eric Butler and Max Keller. Keller got the Owls on the board with a 19-yard touchdown run to tie it up at 7-7. Butler scored twice in the second quarter on runs of 1 and 22 yards. Geary ran it in for the 2-point conversion after Butler’s second touchdown to give the Ravens their first lead at 22-21 with 1:03 to play in the first half.

“That’s our staple,” Clark said of the Ravens’ rushing attack. “We’ve got a lot of things we can do on the offensive line. When we can run the ball (well), it’s amazing.”

However, the Owls had plenty of fireworks as well, and had the honors of shooting some of them off right before the break for an impressive first half finale. Olathe West quarterback Mason McGavran engineered a five-play, 75-yard scoring drive in just 47 seconds. McGavran made some magic happen with his legs—scoring on a 10-yard run right before half and on an 86-yard run on the second play from scrimmage to give the Owls an early edge.

McGavran had two of three rushing touchdowns for the Owls in the first half. Vincent Gatschet had the other when he scored on a 29-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second quarter. On the Owls’ next drive, McGavran got it done with his arm, as he connected on a 57-yard touchdown pass to Jack Scott.

Despite the huge first half, the Owls found themselves trailing by eight going into the fourth quarter. McGavran gave the Owls a chance to tie it when he hit Sam Decker for a 3-yard touchdown pass with 7:13 to go. The Owls went for two to try to tie it at 35-35, but McGavran was picked off by Lucas Conover. The interception was the least of the Owls’ worries, though. McGavran took a hard hit on the two-point try and appeared to hit his head hard on the turf. While McGavran was able to sit up after spending several minutes on the ground, he didn’t return to the game.

“I think he’s going to be OK. It was a tough hit there for him,” Olathe West coach TJ O’Neill said. “I just feel bad for him to have to end it that way because he’s had a heck of a career and is a very special kid.”

Carley added, “I hope Mason is OK. It sucks to see him go down like that, especially in a game like this in his senior year.”

The Ravens then chewed up more than five minutes of clock with heavy doses of Butler and Keller in the run game, but the Owls had a chance after Olathe Northwest punted it away with two minutes to go. Mason Barnard drove the Owls down to the 33-yard line with six seconds left, but time expired after he was sacked on the game’s final play.

Olathe Northwest has now won seven straight since suffering a 31-28 loss to Olathe West in Week 4. The Ravens will hit the road to play Gardner-Edgerton in the 6A semifinals. The other 6A semifinal will feature Manhattan and Derby.

“We’re taking it one week at a time,” Butler said. “We went 1-0 this week and want to go 1-0 next week.”

The Owls’ regular season win over the Ravens sparked a seven-game winning streak after a 1-2 start. The season-ending loss was a tough pill to swallow for the Owls, but their head coach couldn’t fault their effort.

“I’m proud of this team. They battled,” O’Neill said. “We got off to a tough start and then were able to rattle off seven in a row. That was led by a pretty special senior group. I’m proud to get this far and am sorry it had to end for those guys.”