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Crown 'Em Champs!

By Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 11/27/17, 10:15AM CST

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Staley wins title on last-second drive, conversion

Raybourn Leads March in Final Minute

The play has been on Staley coach Phil Lite’s sheet for months, printed alongside a handful of others that will likely never see a game. The Falcons have practiced it for weeks, despite expecting to never use it. But, hey, just in case, right?

With nine seconds left in a state championship game and the Falcons trailing by one — facing the decision of whether to kick a game-tying extra point or try a two-point conversion — Lite called a timeout. Then he finally called the play.

The timing couldn’t have been better.

Staley converted a do-or-die two-point conversion with nine seconds left, the lasting highlight in a 36-35 seesaw victory over Pattonville in the Missouri Class 5 state championship Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

“The kids came over (during the timeout), and I told them that we’re gonna go win this damn thing,” Lite said. “We’ve been talking about destiny for weeks. I had to back up my words.”

The play-call required only one word.

Snag.

Four weeks ago, the Falcons (14-0) spent the end of a practice installing “snag” into the playbook. Here’s how it looked in a game setting: Quarterback John Raybourn scrambled to his right, brought the Pattonville defense with him, then turned and passed back to his left.

There stood a wide-open J.D. Benbow, who cradled the ball in his stomach. He fell to the turf. The Staley sideline turned into a madhouse, celebrating the second state title in the program’s 10-year history.

This one read: Staley 36, Pattonville 35.

“I’m just an option on that play. If he rolls back the other way, I’m there,” Benbow said. “When I saw there was going to be an opening, I just sat there and waited for him to make his move.

“We made eye contact, and he threw it.”

As the Falcons marched down the field on the game-winning drive — which covered 72 yards in just 48 seconds — Lite told the coaches in his headset that he planned to go for two.

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