Heading into Saturday morning’s 2A Final, Bishop Luers and North Posey have had vastly different paths to Lucas Oil Stadium. For Bishop Luers, the 11 time state champs started the year being outscored 81-14 against 4A East Noble and 4A New Haven before knocking off six straight Summit Conference victories before losing 10-7 against 6A Homestead.
En route to Lucas Oil, Luers had some struggles against Eastside and Bluffton in the playoffs but prevailed to win five in a row behind the arm of quarterback Kohen McKenzie.
For North Posey, Saturday morning was just their second state championship appearance ever, but the 13-1 Vikings steamrolled their way through the season and playoffs behind an even running back committee of Jed Galvin, Kolton Gardner and quarterback Liam Stone each carrying the ball 150 times for nearly 1000 yards each with Galvin leading the way with 1300 yards and 26 touchdowns.
After Bishop Luers defers the toss, North Posey was set to receive and got straight to work on the ground game. Galvin started things off with a strong run up the middle before Luers was able to tighten up their run defense and force an early punt for the Vikings. As the snap was received by the punter Matt Stump, defensive end Damiun Jackson was all over him and was able to block it with ease to force the turnover.
On the Knights ensuing offensive possession, McKenzie was able to find tight end Was Javins wide open down the seam before running back Mickey Daring was able to plunge it in from a yard out to open up the scoring.
In a 7-0 deficit, North Posey began mounting a drive as Stone was able to find Galvin on third and long for a miraculous catch before they ran the ball three more times for another first down. Facing a third and long, Jackson would once again make a big play for the knights as he wrapped up Stone to force another punt.
After a successful punt this time around, Luers took over at the 23 yard line in the waning seconds of the opening quarter. As McKenzie and the Luers offense switched fields at the start of the quarter, he would end up finding defensive back Jackson Graff instead of his target Javins.
Giving his team some life, Stone was able to get things going with a 13 yard run followed by a crucial 4th and short conversion. Jackson was able to cause disruption on 3rd down once again, forcing the Vikings to settle for a 30 yard field goal made by Kaleb Herke to make it a 7-3 ball game.
Following the score, wide receiver Daveon Surry set back to return the kick 81 yards all the way down to the 14 yard line before he was tackled. Luers easily worked their way down the remaining portion of the field before Daring was able to plunge forward once again for his second score of the half.
Back on the offensive, North Posey with gains of 8 and 9 yards by Jace Gauer and Stone on the ground to get the drive going. However, the trend of coming up short on third and fourth down would continue as a failed half back pass by Galvin spiraled into a failed fourth and short attempt to give the ball back to Luers at the 40 yard line.
After the turnover on downs, Luers would be forced into their worst offensive possession in the half and quickly punt after three plays resulting in just five yards.
North Posey would go on to run the half out and go into the locker room down 14-3.
To open up the second half, running back Gio Jimenz got going with a 24 yard run on the first play from scrimmage. The rest of the drive would not fare as kindly for the Knights as a low snap going under McKenzies leg would put them behind the sticks and result in a punt.
The Vikings would be backed up on their own two yard line, and would wind up throwing an interception to defensive back Jaylen White. Just a few plays later on offense, White snagged a 26 yard reception for the Knights to go up 21-3 with just under six minutes left in the third quarter.
Down big without having an established run or pass game yet, the Vikings went with what they know best in the run and still could not get anything going. With another third and long pass attempt resulting in another sack for Bishop Luers, this time by linebacker Jacob Felger.
Following the punt, McKenzie and the Luers offense would quickly get things going with a nine yard Daring run before finding wide receiver Isaac Zay down the sideline to go up 27-3.
Once again, the Luers defense would continue to be suffocating for the North Posey offense as Jacob Felger would record the second interception of the game for the Knights.
On the succeeding drive, Luers would once again make quick work of the Posey defense as Jimenez would go for 20 yards and then 12 yards on consecutive plays to help Luers go up 34-3 early in the final period.
The Luers defense would continue to harass North Posey on the following drive with Jackson recording his second sack of the game to force a punt.
Back on the offensive, Luers started to get some gashing runs on a defeated North Posey squad as they milked the clock away taking time between their plays. McKenzie would wind up finding a wide open Javins as he walked into the endzone for the 40-3 lead and McKenzie’s third passing touchdown of the morning.
In the waning minutes of the game, North Posey would begin to mount a successful drive with some big runs. However, it would do nothing but drain the clock as Luers became the 2A State Champions.
Impact Play of The Game: Daveon Surry 81 yard kick return- there were a ton of big plays in every factor of the game for Luers but none bigger than Surry’s monster return midway through the second quarter. At this point in the game, it was a slim 7-3 lead for Bishop Luers after North Posey had just gotten their first points of the game. However, Surry was able to break free and give his offense great field position to go up 14-3.
Unit of The Game: Bishop Luers special teams- although they ended up missing two extra points late, this unit did much more good for the Knights than bad. To start with the blocked punt by Jackson early and the kick return not long after, those two plays alone ended up producing 14 points for the Knights and would ultimately help them tie the record for the fewest offensive plays in a 2A State Championship game.
Player of The Game: Damiun Jackson- Eight total tackles, four solo tackles for loss, two sacks, a blocked punt and a forced fumble. Jackson was unreal all game long and I felt his presence and some of his hits all the way up in the press box. The defensive end will end his fantastic senior campaign with 11.5 sacks and 30 tackles for loss.
Jackson was not the only factor for this Luers team though, running backs Mickey Daring and Gio Jimenez combined for 23 carries for 151 yards and three touchdowns to pace the offense past the Vikings.
“I felt like I was in a dream,” Daring said. “When I am running the ball I am just thinking ‘yard-by-yard’ and whoever is in my way they have to go.”
Jackson noted that he was in contact with former Luers star and former Cowboys Pro Bowl linebacker Jaylon Smith in preparation for this game. Feeling honored to play in the same stadium Smith shined during Luers four peat from 2009-2012.
“We treated it like any other game,” Jackson said. “Obviously, it meant more but I just came out here and did what I do. Earlier this week their coach said we only had athletes and linebackers on the defensive line, hopefully today he realized just because I wear five does not mean I cannot play D-Line.”
Leave a Reply