ENGLEWOOD — Logic dictated a call for a field goal.
It was a chip shot, after all, from a distance no greater than an extra point, and the brain trust of the Brush football team could hardly have been criticized for extending the game into overtime on enemy turf.
Yet Beetdiggers coach Randy Dreitz professes to have the utmost faith in his players, and his arm was easily twisted when his squad pleaded to go for the win.
Junior running back Connor Weisser rewarded his coach’s faith, plowing through the Kent Denver defense for a 3-yard touchdown with less than one second remaining to lift Brush to a 29-25 victory in a Class 2A semifinal Saturday.
Dreitz admitted he was leaning toward a field-goal attempt during a timeout before the final scoring play, but was swayed by the confidence exuded by his club.
“We’ve got a good kicker that could do it, but my other coaches in there, we talked about it with the players. I let them decide,” said Dreitz, whose club will take on Olathe on Saturday in the 2A title game at Legacy Stadium. “I told them it was do or die. Hats off to them for executing the play. What an emotional win.”
Brush (11-2) took a 14-0 first quarter-lead on touchdown runs by Skyler Seewald and Weisser, but two Beetdiggers fumbles and a crucial roughing-the-passer penalty led to three Kent touchdowns and an 18-14 Sun Devils lead at halftime — a lead Kent extended to 25-14 when Collins Gantz returned the second-half kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.
Brush clawed to within a touchdown on a 6-yard run by Seewald late in the third and, after a defensive stop, the Beetdiggers began their final drive at their 16-yard line with 8:17 remaining, converting three third downs and one fourth down before Weisser’s winning tally.
“I wanted the ball, and I’m so glad I got in,” Weisser said. “That’s what we’ve been doing all year — running over people.”
Brush 14 0 8 7 — 29
Kent Denver 0 18 7 0 — 25
B — Seewald 7 run (Cardenas kick); B — Weisser 2 run (Cardenas kick); KD — Florence 59 run (kick failed); KD — Tellis 17 pass from Yates (kick failed); KD — Tills 30 pass from Yates (pass failed); KD — Gantz 98 kickoff return (Petre kick); B — Seewald 6 run (Seewald run); B — Weisser 3 run (Cardenas kick)
