(Cover photo by David Rainey, special to Examiner)

When Blue Springs High School used a 56-yard scoring strike from Dom Harkness to Cooper Willich early in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead at Lee’s Summit North Friday night, Broncos coach Jamar Mozee wondered how his young team would respond.

“They’ve been jittery this season, like they didn’t have a lot of confidence in themselves,” said Mozee, who watched his team respond in dramatic fashion as the Broncos downed Blue Springs 31-21, earning their second win in the past two seasons against a team that had won the previous 18 encounters.

“This is the team I’ve been waiting to see all season. They responded, they dominated on the offensive and defensive lines, our quarterback and running back did a great job – it was just a great team win. I’m proud of the guys.”

Mozee had been using a rotating system at quarterback, but junior Carlton Perkins had a breakout game, completing 17 of 26 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown.

With the line giving him plenty of time to pass, Perkins was nearly flawless in running an offense that totaled 294 yards and owned the ball for 34 minutes, 28 seconds compared to the Wildcats’ 12:32.

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