Heading into the 5A showdown between Fort Wayne Snider and Decatur Central, both teams had different paths to Lucas Oil Stadium.
Decatur Central sat at 2-2 on September 9th following consecutive losses to Whiteland and Martinsville with a repeat of last year’s 4-7 record seeming imminent. However, something clicked in the young group with just 19 seniors roster and they started to knock off win after win for nine consecutive weeks until they reached Lucas Oil. For Fort Wayne Snider, their lone loss coming to 6A Homestead started a seven game win streak that they rode into Lucas Oil.
Snider got the ball first and immediately went to work with running back Uriah Buchanan as he picked up a quick nine yards before plowing forward for the first down. The running room would shrink as the chains got rest, resulting in the first Snider punt of the game.
With possession of the ball, quarterback Bo Polston and his offense could not get anything going and would go on to punt the ball back to Snider which would punt the ball right back to Decatur Central midway through the opening quarter.
Polston started to warm up under the lights as he picked up a third down with his legs before finding K.C. Berry streaked down the sideline to get his offense inside the 30.
On the ensuing drive, Snider still could not get anything going after a few handoffs to Buchanan as they ultimately ended up punting once again as the clock struck zeros on the opening quarter.
To start the second stanza, Decatur Central took over at the 39 yard line and went right to work with a pair of successful runs up the middle, but a failed conversion Halbert Aguirre forced yet another punt.
The goose egg would not last much longer for the Panthers as Buchanan would find the open gap and take the rush 80 yards all the way to the endzone to put Snider up 7-3 early in the second quarter. Buchanan’s sprint was the longest play from scrimmage in any state championship game since Charlie Spegal in 2019.
Back on the offensive, Decatur Central got right back to work with Polston, running backs N’Po Dodo and Berry combining for 18 yards on the first three plays of the drive.
Berry would add a rush of 13 yards while Dodo would sprint for 15 of his own as Decatur got down inside the 25 to set up a 41 yard Ashton Vogel field goal which he drained with room to spare.
Holding onto a slim one point lead, Snider would begin their drive with an easy first down pass to receiver Trevor Jarvis before quarterback Keron Billingsley would find Jack Langas for a 35 yard streak down the field to get into opposing territory.
As Billingsley was beginning to mount an electric drive, a fumble inside the redzone would give Decatur Central the ball with just over a minute left to play in the opening half.
The Hawks once again could not do anything offensively and were forced to punt, but a high snap would sail over Vogel’s head and result in Snider taking over at the 1 yard line. On first and goal, linebacker Mykul Campbell would hawk down Billingsley to throw him down at the 13 yard line. On second and goal, a Buchanan run would be stuffed for minimal gain. On third and goal, a controversial defensive pass interference would give Snider another shot half the distance to the goal where Billingsley would once again be tossed down for a loss.
Snider had a rushed field goal attempt in the waning seconds but the execution from snap to kick was off and it ended up being well short from 33 yards out.
To start the second half, Decatur Central received the kickoff and got right back to the ground game running the ball with Dodo and Berry before once again being forced to punt by the stifling Snider defense. On the punt, a second high snap would force Vogel to scramble to try and pick up the yardage with his legs which resulted in a turnover on downs at the 30 yard line.
The Hawks defense would continue to crunch down on Snider, forcing a 47 yard field goal attempt which was buried by Mang Tung to extend the lead 10-6.
Back with the ball, Decatur Central once again could not do anything and would result in a Polston pooch punt to flip possession and give Snider the ball at the 34 yard line.
Snider would continue to wisely use Buchanan as he amassed over 120 rushing yards on a drove that got all the way down to the goalline before Snider would settle for a Chase Wennemar field goal to make it 13-6.
With the ball again, Decatur Central would continue to stick to the run game as Dodo would put together some good runs as the team entered the final quarter of play.
The Hawks would sputter out offensively once again leading to a pooch punt from Polston which would pin the Panthers inside the five.
The Panthers would not stay close to the goal line for long as Buchanan would erupt through the line of scrimmage and sprint 95 yards all the way to the endzone for the 19-6 lead to start the 4th quarter.
A quick four-and-out by Decatur Central would give the ball right back to Snider with 8:35 left in the game and nothing but time to waste en route for third state championship and first since 2015.
With possession again, Snider methodically worked their way down the final 30 yards of the field and capped it off with a Billingsley 16 yard touchdown run to extend the lead 26-6 in the waning minutes of the game.
After yet another turnover on downs forced by the Snider defense, the Panthers offense took over at the 30 yard line once again.
On fourth down, Bingsley would find Buchanan on a screen pass to extend the lead 33-6. Buchanan’s third score of the night.
Fort Wayne Snider was finally able to call themselves state champs again following a Lukas Rohrbacher interception and a few kneel downs as they dominated the fourth quarter for the 33-6 win.
Impact Play of The Game: Uriah Buchanan 95 yard touchdown run- when you look at the final score, it’s hard to believe this was a one score game going into the fourth quarter but to start the final quarter Decatur Central had the ball down just seven points. Backed up on the goal line, Buchanan was able to evade the initial defenders for the 95 yard sprint to go up 19-6 and the Panthers did not look back after that.
“Just keep running and do not get tackled,” said Buchanan. “I looked up at the screen to make sure no one was behind me and I just kept running.”
Unit of The Game: Fort Wayne Snider defense- from the front four to the back seven, Snider was running around crazy and not letting Decatur get a single thing. Decatur Central was held to just 158 yards and six points to cap off a season where they averaged 30 points and 382 yards per contest. Snider also forced a fumble, snagged an interception and forced a 16% 3rd down conversion rate on the Hawks.
Player of The Game: Uriah Buchanan- I mean, there’s no debate here. The running back capped off his incredible senior campaign with 23 rushes, 261 total yards and 3 total touchdowns. Including the two longest plays from scrimmage in any state championship game since 2019, Buchanan was incredible Friday night and deserves all his flowers.
“This is everything I have dreamed of,” said Buchanan. “Being able to see guys before me do it and to finally be here is a blessing. We worked hard in the off season to avenge the semi state loss last year, I can only thank my guys in the senior class with me. ”