Overtime heroics lift Maize to victory

NEWTON – Fourth and 25.

Saying it aloud did not help convince Maize quarterback Connor Lungwitz what he had just done was reality.

So he said it again.

Fourth and 25.

It all seemed so improbable. Newton, an inspired underdog playing near its best at home, had Maize backed into a fourth-and-25 situation where a touchdown was required to continue overtime.

Then the impossible happened. Lungwitz dropped back, drifted left, waited for Kendall Stewart to cut and he did pulled the trigger on a 25-yard throw at the foot of the end zone that Stewart hauled in for a touchdown.

“I just stared,” Lungwitz said. “It didn’t seem real.”

Maize had done it, escaping Newton with a 42-41 victory after Alan Sanchez sealed it with the point-after to conclude overtime.

Fourth and 25.

“When you’ve got a quarterback like Connor and the receivers that we have, it’s always possible,” Maize coach Gary Guzman said. “No matter where you are.

“But yes, I was nervous.”

Newton had just scored an improbable touchdown of its own the prior possession, as Maize’s offense had appeared unstoppable and Newton’s lack of a kicker forced the Railers to go for it on fourth down four yards from the end zone.

Quarterback Jack Kingsley rolled out left and threw against his body into a crowd just before the end zone. The ball ricocheted off of its intended receiver, Jamel Wagoner, and into the hands of Josh Fulmer, who planted one foot down while maintaining possession for the score.

It set off a wild celebration that was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play. A 35-yard kick didn’t seem likely, but Newton never found out because it botched the snap and didn’t get it off.

But then Maize was flagged for the exact same penalty, which forced its offense to start 25 yards away from the goal line with four plays to score.

“It was quite the roller-coaster ride,” Newton coach Nate Wollenberg said.

Newton’s crowd could anticipate a victory when Lungwitz was brought down for a 13-yard loss that set up a third down 38 yards away from the goal line. Understanding it had two plays to gain the yardage, Lungwitz took an underneath route to Stewart for a 13-yard gain on third down.

Fourth and 25.

The play called for four verticals by the Maize receivers, except for Stewart, who lulled his defender into thinking he was headed straight to the end zone, then broke to the corner about seven yards away and forced his defender to swivel hips.

That is the precise moment Lungwitz, who finished with 430 passing yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions, put the ball in the air, which caused panic by the Newton defender. Stewart beat him to the spot in the end zone and Newton’s Kade Remsberg slipped going up for it, leaving Stewart alone to pull down the game-tying score.

“I just focused on the ball and made sure my feet were in the end zone before I went up to go get it,” Stewart said. “I didn’t even know he slipped.”

Newton couldn’t hide its disappointment, as it had squandered a two-touchdown lead after Remsberg stunned Maize with two scores (a 90-yard kick return, then a 59-yard run) in 77 seconds in the third quarter.

“It’s really tough to look down the sideline and see your kids with the disappointment like that,” Wollenberg said. “It’s a ... tough feeling.”

Maize would close the game scoring touchdowns on its final four possessions, as Stewart (nine catches for 170 yards) and Gabe Chavez (10 catches for 160 yards) became Lungwitz’s favorite targets.

And when Lungwitz needed to make the impossible play, it was Stewart who he turned to.

“I just tried to keep my cool and make sure everyone else kept their cool,” Stewart said. “I didn’t want us to get a stupid penalty, so we could just win this game.”

This story was originally published October 11, 2014 at 12:57 AM with the headline "Overtime heroics lift Maize to victory."