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Union edges BA for 4th straight 6A state title
Originally posted December 2, 2011
Union wins state
Union players celebrate after they defeated Broken Arrow to win their fourth straight 6A football championship. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World
Tulsa World: "Union didn't panic in the game's final minutes, even when Broken Arrow seemed to have overwhelming momentum. The Redskins were forced to punt with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, but Coleby Evans' scoop-and-score on a 30-yard fumble recovery provided the winning points. Union finished its 2011 season with three consecutive one-point victories in the playoffs."
by: BARRY LEWIS World Sports Writer
(Reprinted with Permission. This is not an endorsement.)
STILLWATER - Twice in the fourth quarter of the Class 6A state championship game on Thursday night, it appeared that Broken Arrow was about to ruin Union's bid for a fourth consecutive gold ball.
And both times, Union sophomore linebacker Coleby Evans rescued the Redskins.
Evans returned a fumble 30 yards for a touchdown and Austin Butler kicked the decisive extra point with 3:51 left to give the second-ranked Redskins a 23-22 victory over No. 3 Broken Arrow before an estimated crowd of 12,000 at Boone Pickens Stadium.
"To have that come out of a sophomore is crazy," said Union junior quarterback Hunter Atyia, who had 152 total yards and scored the game's first TD. "He's special. He came out with big plays. Without him, I don't know if we'd be celebrating right now.
"A little Redskins magic happened. We got breaks and the offense struggled a little bit. BA's defense played good. Our defense showed up and made plays when it counted."
Union (13-1) won its seventh state football title in 10 years and eighth overall.
"I'm super stoked," said Union senior linebacker Blace Walser, who had a game-high 15 tackles. "This is the definitely the best one (title) so far."
Broken Arrow (12-2), which was looking for its first state title, was in its first state final since losing 52-3 to Union in 2002.
"We played well," Broken Arrow coach Steve Spavital said. "We had our opportunities and we had the game. We just had a few turnovers and put them back in the game. I was just real proud of our guys. They did a great job and we fought hard. It's just really hard right now."
After forcing Union to punt with 3:59 left, Broken Arrow took possession at its 36, needing only a first down or two to seal a state title.
But on the first play, there was a missed handoff between Broken Arrow quarterback Zack Mills and tailback Devon Thomas, leading to a fumble that was picked by Evans and returned for a touchdown.
"The ball just popped out," Evans said. "I was just there at the right time. I scooped and scored. I wasn't going to be stopped."
Early in the fourth quarter, Broken Arrow threatened to increase its 14-10 lead when Evans intercepted a pressured Mills pass and returned it 84 yards to the 2 where was tackled by Will Armstead. After a personal foul, Union's Kyle Crutchmer scored on a 1-yard run to give the Redskins a 16-14 lead as the conversion failed.
Broken Arrow, however, quickly regained the lead on Mills' third TD pass of the game, a 40-yarder to Levi Copelin, with 9:36 left. Mills passed to Quad Ware for the two-point conversion that made it 22-16. Mills completed 18-of-40 passes for 284 yards.
Union's hopes seemed bleak after its offense lost a fumble and punted on its next two possessions before Evans' dramatic fumble return.
"Everyone was confident that we were going to pull through," said Evans, who had 13 tackles.
After Evans' TD, the Redskins had to stop two more Broken Arrow possessions before they could celebrate another title. Broken Arrow, on its last possession that began on its 14 with 1:26 left and no timeouts, moved to the Union 40 but Chase Dahlquist intercepted a fourth-down pass at the Redskins 20 to end the Tigers' hopes with eight seconds left.
It was the third consecutive one-point win in the playoffs for Union, which needed a last-minute stop in all of them.
"It's almost humbling," Union coach Kirk Fridrich said. "Sometimes you've got to be lucky. And you've got to have kids who don't lose their composure."
Broken Arrow, which trailed by three points at halftime, took a 14-10 lead on Mills' 17-yard pass to Ware with 2:54 left in the third quarter. That came two plays after Broken Arrow's Chris Ladd recovered Terrell Buchanan's fumble at the Tigers 22.
Both of Broken Arrow's losses this season were to Union as the Redskins won a Week 3 meeting, 21-14.
"Our kids fight hard the whole time and have fought the whole season," Spavital said. "I can't be more proud of a group of young men right now. Unfortunately, we're on the short end. We had our moments and our chances. We're just disappointed right now."
The Redskins' only loss was 41-38 to Owasso in Week 6.
"Words don't describe the way that our seniors fought through this year," Fridrich said. "It was an amazing playoff run."
Atyia capped Union's opening possession with a 19-yard TD run after a beautiful fake handoff, a similar play as his game-winning TD against Jenks in the semifinals. Key plays on the drive were Atyia passes of 9 and 23 yards for first downs to Ryan Mischler.
Union had chances to extend its 7-0 lead but missed two serious scoring chances. Butler missed a 33-yard field goal and Broken Arrow's Zac Veatch knocked the Redskins out of field goal range with a sack that forced a punt instead.
On the next play, Mills connected on an 89-yard bomb to a wide-open Armstead for the tying TD with nine minutes left in the second quarter.
A leaping interception by Union's Sterling Thomas and Kaylor Pearson's 45-yard run on a fake punt set up Butler's 21-yard field goal with nine seconds left to give the Redskins a 10-7 lead going into intermission and set up a thrilling second half.
"I expected a claw fight, a bear fight," Atyia said. "I knew it would come down to the final wire."
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World sports writer Eric Bailey contributed to this story.
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Title Games
Scores from high school football state championship games involving Union:
2011, 6A: Union 23, Broken Arrow 22
2010, 6A: Union 50, Jenks 47
2009, 6A: Union 52, Jenks 19
2008, 6A: Union 34, Jenks 20
2007, 6A: Jenks 42, Union 24
2005, 6A: Union 33, Mustang 7
2004, 6A: Union 27, Jenks 17
2002, 6A: Union 52, Broken Arrow 3
2000, 6A: Jenks 31, Union 12
1999, 6A: Jenks 14, Union 7
1998, 6A: Jenks 41, Union 28
1994, 6A: Midwest City 21, Union 13
1963, C: Union 24, Mooreland 14.
Most finals appearances
24: Clinton
22: Ada
21: Jenks
17: Morrison
15: B.T. Washington
14: Turpin
13: Midwest City, Union
Note: Union and Clinton includes 2011.
Most consecutive trips to the state final
9: Morrison (1986-94)
7: Clinton (1992-98)
6: Clinton (1965-70), Jenks (1996-2001), Morrison (2003-08) , Shattuck (2003-08)
5: Ada (1955-59), Carl Albert (1997-2001), Jenks (2006-2010), Ryan (1987-91), Union (2007-present)
MARK FOSTER World Sports Writer
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CLASS 6A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: UNION 23, BROKEN ARROW 22
UNION STATE FOOTBALL TITLES • 1963 • 2002 • 2004 • 2005 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011
Union's Coleby Evans (right) hauls in an interception while Broken Arrow's Devon Thomas (left) watches from the ground during the Class 6A state championship game in Stillwater. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World
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