Derby showed early and often why it’s the king of Class 6A as the Panthers cruised to a 56-31 victory over Blue Valley North for their sixth title in eight years.
For 13 minutes, Derby and Blue Valley North traded blows as the two went back and forth – Derby scores, Blue Valley North ties it up. Rinse and repeat.
The Mustangs made the first stop of the game and it looked like the momentum was turning, but the Panthers answered right back with a stop of their own and then some as the lead started to balloon until 28 unanswered points were on the scoreboard and the path to another title was in clear sight.
Derby’s defense settled down and disrupted Blue Valley North’s game plan. On the offensive side of the ball, Derby was able to spread out the Mustangs and found itself with tons of room to run.
Derby opened the game with an 18-yard touchdown from Len Wash to Dylan Edwards, but Henry Martin and Blue Valley North responded as he found Drew Freberg for five yards.
Wash kept it himself on the next drive for 13 yards – his first of three touchdowns on the ground – but Martin answered with a 48-yard strike to Luke Hendrickson.
On the third drive, Wash ran for a 28-yard score to open the second quarter, but the lead lasted only 22 seconds as Martin found Cole Stratton for 80 yards.
Derby went for it a few times on fourth down, finally getting stopped at the Mustangs 10-yard line, but Martin and company couldn’t move the ball and were forced to punt.
Then Wash and Derby took over. Wash hit Reid Liston for touchdowns of 44 and 15 yards to make it a 35-21 game. Just before half, Martin was picked off by Cason Lindsey.
Derby coach Brandon Clark took a timeout with less than 20 seconds left and dialed up a trick play that resulted in a reverse pass to a wide-open Drake Thatcher, who walked it into the endzone.
Derby doubled up Blue Valley North at halftime, 42-21, and the opening drive in the second half would prove critical as Martin was intercepted for a second time in the game, which set up another Wash to Liston touchdown, this one for 24 yards, and all but sealed the game.
The Mustangs tacked on a field goal in the third quarter and a six-yard run from Lucas Bullock-Hines in the fourth quarter.
