On one of the hardest days of his life, Blue Springs senior quarterback Dylan Cowling witnessed something beautiful — five hogs working their way down field a yard at a time.

“There's not much more beautiful than that,” Cowling said.

It was pretty and effective as Blue Springs powered its way past CBC 35-21 in a Class 6 semifinal Friday at CBC.

The No. 3 team in Class 6, Blue Springs (11-2) advanced to play Kirkwood (11-1, No. 2 Class 6) in the state championship game at 7 p.m. Nov. 18 at Faurot Field in Columbia. It will be the third state championship appearance for Blue Springs in the past five seasons and the first since it won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.

For Cowling, the overwhelming joy of the moment meant so much more.

“I can't describe it. I've dreamed of this since I was 5 years old,” Cowling said. “With my grandpa passing last night it's an unbelievable feeling.”

The top-ranked team in Class 6 and the No. 2 large school in the STLhighschoolsports.com rankings, CBC (11-2) made its fourth semifinal appearance and lost for the first time. It had its string of 28 consecutive home victories broken, too. The last team to beat the Cadets on their field was De Smet on November 9, 2012.

“It was not our night, it was their night,” CBC coach Scott Pingel said.

It was, from the start.

Tyree King returned the opening kickoff 90 yards to give Blue Springs a lead 15 seconds into the game that it would never relinquish.

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