MORAN — A back-and- forth affair turned into heartbreak Thursday for Marmaton Valley.
The Wildcats’ 66-50 loss to Rural Vista in the opening round of the Eight Man-II playoffs brings to an abrupt halt a promising season for the 6-3 Wildcats.
“Kudos to Rural Vista,” Marmaton Valley head coach Max Mickunas said. “They played great. I don’t think we played as sharply as we could have.”
The offensive battle turned late in the first half, almost immediately after Marmaton Valley scored on Brayden Lawson’s 3-yard keeper to give the Wildcats a 30-26 lead at the 1:40 mark.
Rural Vista barely flinched, converting on a key third down and scoring two plays later on a 49-yard bomb from quarterback Koden Sanford to sophomore receiver Grant Eskeldson.
Then, after intercepting Marmaton Valley’s next pass from scrimmage, the Heat had a chance to extend their lead in the waning seconds
The Wildcats’ Tyler Lord seemingly gave the defense a boost with an interception in the end zone, but the play was nullified by penalty, giving Rural Vista one more play before halftime. Eskeldson hauled in a pass from Sanford, getting his feet inbounds with :00 left on the clock.
Mickunas described the sequence as “mind-blowing.”
“I’m not blaming the officials,” Mickunas said, “I’m not sure what they saw on the pass interference, but I disagreed with the call that he got his feet inbounds. Sometimes it’s just not your night.”
Suddenly, Marmaton Valley was 10 points down, 40-30, and never led again, although the Wildcats kept things interesting.
After holding on fourth down to snuff Rural Vista’s first two drives of the third quarter, the Wildcats clawed back to within 40-36 on Jaedon Granere’s 6-yard touchdown run midway through the period.
Then, after the second empty Heat drive, Marmaton Valley had possession with a chance to take the lead.
But three straight runs gained a net three yards, and a Granere pass attempt on a fake punt was caught out of bounds.
The Heat took advantage, scoring on third and 19 on — you guessed it — a pass from Sanford to Eskeldson.
Marmaton Valley couldn’t convert on fourth down on its subsequent possession, before Rural Vista’s Sanford hit running back Gavin Carson on a 28-yard touchdown pass on third and 10 to pull ahead 54-36.
