Blue Valley senior quarterback Luke Bernard had known Friday night he’d get a chance to try this play.

He needed to get out of the pocket, he needed to sprint several yards to his right and he needed to find senior wide receiver Ben DeZube over the heads of Olathe North’s line.

When he finally got the chance in the second quarter, trailing by four points with about 5 minutes remaining in the first half of the Kansas Class 6A sectionals in Stilwell, he executed the scheme to perfection. DeZube hauled in the short pass, ripped away from a trio of Olathe North defenders and ran the rest of the way for a 79-yard touchdown that returned the lead to the home team.

The Tigers never trailed again, and Blue Valley beat Olathe North 48-21 on a near-freezing evening in front of a crowd sheathed in coats and blankets.

“He’s the fastest guy on the field. How could I not give it to him?” said Bernard, who was 17 of 29 passing for 268 yards. “It was desperation time. We were down 10 to 14 at that point and that play just flipped a switch and turned the whole play around for us.”

Blue Valley (8-3) will host Blue Valley North (7-4), which defeated No. 1 seed Shawnee Mission East (9-2) 45-10 on the road, on Nov. 17 for a spot in the state championship game.

Blue Valley beat BV North in the regular season, scoring 10 points in the final 1:06 for a 34-33 victory.

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