GREENWOOD VILLAGE — When neither team in the Class 5A state playoff game between No. 19 Rock Canyon and No. 14 Smoky Hill was able to get a stop, kicker Breck Saenger kept his nerve.
The junior made the game-winning field goal with six seconds left to give the Jaguars their first postseason victory in program history, 52-49, and set up a Round of 16 meeting with third-seeded Legend.
“I stepped out when (Smoky Hill) called a timeout,” Saenger said. “I knew I had to knock it through. I did my regular steps, came back and nailed it through. … The first playoff win in school history means a lot because itap onward from here.”
The teams combined for five scores, including two two-point conversions by Smoky Hill, to knot the score at 49-all late. However, second-year Jaguars head coach Kevin Meyer believed his offense could mount one last drive to win the game.
“These guys came together as a team, we had confidence in them,” Meyer said. “We did our job, and while we slipped a little in the first half, that second half we came back and played as a team.”
Smoky Hill started strong and took an early lead on an 11-play, 65-yard drive after the Buffaloes converted on fourth-and-short to keep the drive alive through senior running back Marvin Jones III. Four plays later, junior quarterback Tyliq Bowers found his go-to wide receiver, senior Anthony Harris, Jr., on a 27-yard reception to the back corner of the end zone to give Smoky Hill a 6-0 lead. Harris only had one score heading into Friday night, but once he realized the size advantage, that changed in a hurry.
The Jaguars responded with a lengthy drive of their own, as they went nine plays, 88 yards, and senior back Aidan Duda plunged in from eight yards out on second-and-goal to give RC a 7-6 lead. That would remain the score after the opening frame.
Both teams had to punt on their first possession of the second, but, on Rock Canyon’s second possession, quarterback Cole Dreyfuss was intercepted by outside linebacker Logan Trujilo in Jaguars territory. Six plays later, Bowers saw a seam in the defense, and found the 6-foot-5, 192-pound Harris again in the back of the end zone on a 36-yard strike which made it 12-7.
The Buffaloes’ defense kept Rock Canyon’s potent back, Duda, to minimal yards the rest of the half, while they also did their part on special teams. The Jaguars punt team muffed a snap and the Buffaloes recovered on the 11-yard line. Four plays later, Bowers snuck it in from the goal line to give his team a 20-7 lead heading into halftime.
Rock Canyon got the jump start it needed, as in four plays, Duda scored his second touchdown of the night on a 52-yard run in which he kept churning his legs past two defenders and barreled his way past a third en route to the end zone. After the extra point was good, the Jaguars trailed by one score, 20-14, with 10:22 left in the quarter.
On the Buffaloes’ first possession of the half, Bowers was hit hard on third down and fumbled. Duda got the Jaguars to the goal-line, but Dreyfuss scored from one yard to give the Jaguars 21-20 lead. But the Buffaloes responded in an instant. On third-and-long, Bowers found Harris for his third TD on an 84-yard catch-and-run to make it 26-21.
The final score of the quarter went to the Jaguars, as Deandre Horn scored from 14 yards out to make it 28-26.
The fourth quarter got off to a mad start, as Bowers fumbled, and two plays later, captain Croix Burney scored from a few yards out to make it 35-26.
On the ensuing possession, Harris had a response, of course, with his fourth score after he jumped to snag a 31-yard reception to make it 35-33 with a little over eight minutes left.
Burney scored his second TD in two possessions the following drive to make it 42-33.
Troydell Dixon Jr. scored two scores late, sandwiched around a Horn scored that gave Rock Canyon a 49-42 lead.
The Buffaloes drove down and found Dixon on a 54-yard score to draw within two. Harris then tied at 49 on the ensuing two-point conversion with 1:36 left.
“I knew I had to step up my game because it was the playoffs,” Harris said. “The way we fought, and our quarterback, Tyliq, he stepped up to a nearly-impossible goal. He didn’t play a down of varsity until this year, came in and proved himself.”
After a huge offensive performance, and a regular season that saw the Buffs hang with many of their 5A Centennial League rivals, Harris said he believes Smoky Hill is headed in the right direction
“Tonight and the way we played in league was a huge stepping stone,” he said. “We proved that we can play in the best conference in the state, and if we can do that, later years, we can prove we can do something bigger.”
The Jaguars drove down to the 1-yard line following the tying score, which set up Saenger’s short kick.
The Buffaloes had one final chance and tried to get out of bounds, but were unable to pull off the last-gasp attempt.
With a high-flying offense and program-defining first step, Meyer, a state champion coach himself with a 4A school in Idaho in 2018, believes the Jaguars can be dangerous next week and beyond.
“Whether you win by one, or 100, thatap how you go on in the playoffs, and we are moving on.”
