Brett Sterbach left it all on the field Saturday in the Kansas Class 6A state championship game.
Literally.
The Shawnee Mission West senior running back ran for 273 yards in his final high school football game, leading the Vikings to their first state title in 27 years with a 19-14 win over Hutchinson at Yager Stadium in Topeka.
And 3:15 left in the first quarter, the senior even left a bit of his lunch on the field.
“I wasn’t hurt at all,” he said with a bit of a chuckle after the game. “No pain at all and felt phenomenal after it, too. I guess I exercised the demons on that one.
“Well, except for that fumble (on the next drive). I guess that was the last of the demon.”
He felt phenomenal and the Viking defense played phenomenal in the second half as West was able to overcome a 14-6 halftime deficit with some of their best defense of the year.
Hutchinson, who had 194 yards of offense in the first half, had just 50 yards of offense in the second half as the Vikings took control.
“The coaches told us at halftime, that we were doing everything right, we just needed to (execute),” said West senior linebacker Max Bullard, who was playing Saturday with pneumonia. “We had been practicing for what they were throwing at us all week. We just looked at each other and said, ‘We can beat this team.’”
The Vikings came out of the gates in the second half and set the tone early. They held Hutch on their first drive, then scored just four minutes in, to pull to within two points at 14-12 when a two-point conversion try was no good. They looked to have tied the game on a run, but the play was nullified on a clipping call, then missed out through the air on the next try.
The Vikings had the Salthawks number in the second half, allowing just 25 yards of offense in each of the third and fourth quarters.
“Our assistant coaches don’t get the credit they deserve, sometimes,” said West head coach Tim Callaghan. “They did a great job of challenging the kids to do a better job.
“I think it came down to execution in the second half. We just had to get to the point where they weren’t hurting us so bad, gouging us for yards (like they did in the first half.”
The Vikings missed a chance to go up one with 3:29 to play in the third when the missed a 42-yard field goal on the heels of a Hutch fumble, but the defense stepped up again. After forcing the Salthawks to a three-and-out, they began what would be the game-winning drive.
A short Hutch punt set West up at the 50 and after a short run by Sterbach, Justin Hobbs took an end around for 23 yards, setting West up at the Hutch 19-yard line.
On the next play, Andre Maloney called his own number out of the wildcat formation, slipped past the line to the left and went in untouched for the touchdown.
“We really were just looking for something to catch them off guard,” Callaghan said.
“That 29 (Andre Maloney) is a heck of an athlete and I give him credit,” said Hutch junior defensive back Braydon Wells. “It was hard to stop him and he made plays for his team.”
After grabbing the lead, the Vikings just let their defense do the rest and had to rely on them a bit more than they would have liked after they went for it on fourth and goal at the Hutch 1-yard line midway through the fourth quarter.
A touchdown would have put the game out of reach, but Sterbach came up short and Hutch took over at the 1.
The Salthawks put a little bit of a threat together for a second or two, getting up to the 26 before the drive stalled. A 69-yard punt by Trevor Turner pushed the Vikings back to their own 5-yard line.
But five first downs and 4:48 later, the Vikings were state champs.
The game looked like it had turned on a series of plays near the eight-minute mark of the second quarter. Hutch lined up at the Vikings’ 2-yard line on a fourth-down play. Turner rolled out to the right looking to pass, but found no one. He scrambled back to the left and only found trouble. West’s Max Bullard tripped him up at the 20 and the Vikings took over on downs.
On the Vikings’ first play, Sterbach went up the middle for six before fumbling the ball for just the second time all season. Jared Gagnebin pounced on the ball for Hutch, setting them up with a first down at the Vikings 30.
Turner then called his own number on an option keeper to the right and found an opening around the right end, getting pushed out at the 1-yard line.
Colby Turner dove in for the score on the next play, putting Hutch up 14-6.
“We were definitely getting frustrated,” Bullard said. “We had to keep it here (pointing to his head).
“We had to stay (level-headed) because things can change so fast.”
West’s Joey Reed missed a 45-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
West got the on the board first, and it didn’t take long. Sterbach took a handoff from AJ Verdini to the right, then cut back against the grain and ended up going the distance, scoring from 75 yards away on the first play from scrimmage.
“What better way to start the game?” Bullard asked. “That helped us build such great momentum.”
Sadly, it was short lived.
Hutchinson answered with their first scoring drive of the game on the heels of that score. West squib kicked it and the Salthawks started at their own 49. Five plays later, Turner went in from three yards. The extra point put Hutch up 7-6.
The Vikings last state title came in 1985. They finished second (to Hutch) in 2006.
Sterbach finished his season as the first non-Olathe running back to eclipse the 2,000-yard rushing mark in Sunflower League history. His 273 yards on 34 carries gave him 2,228 for the season.
Use your Facebook account to add a comment or start a discussion. Posts are subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment.
