Brady Rust’s 309 rushing yards help Derby top Blue Valley for Class 6A title (+video)

They say it in casual conversations in Derby, as both a greeting and as a goodbye. Works fine both ways.

They say it at Panther Stadium on game days. They say it in the coffee shops. They say it to their neighbors when they walk out to get the newspaper in the morning.

Green is magic.

Every generation in Derby has its heroes. Guys like Josh Riedel or DeAndre Goolsby. Guys who get to say they were the very best football players on the very best teams in the state.

Saturday, after Derby’s 27-14 win over Blue Valley in the Class 6A championship game at Welch Stadium, add Brady Rust’s name to the list.

“The magic is in the town … it’s in the people who support us and the people who believe in us, because we rely on them,” said Rust, Derby’s senior quarterback. “Our freshman year, one of our best friends died in a car accident, and before he passed we always talked about winning a state championship, and we got it done. That’s in our hearts forever.”

Rust was magic against Blue Valley, rushing for 309 yards and two touchdowns and throwing for 97 yards and two more scores. Afterward, he invoked the memory of teammate Braxton Kooser, who died in a car accident in January 2013.

“This state title is going to be our best memory, ever,” Rust said.

It was the second state title in three years for Derby (12-1) under ninth-year coach Brandon Clark, a Valley Center native who played for Kansas State.

“It’s nothing about me, it’s about our players and our coaching staff as a whole,” Clark said. “It’s been a fun run this year, especially because we came in as kind of an unknown, with a lot of guys who haven’t been in the limelight.

“It’s awesome getting this win, and I’ll let myself enjoy it and let the kids enjoy it, but it’s also sad because I don’t get to coach these seniors again. I don’t know how to express my feelings about how much I love them. They took us here, and it doesn’t take much to coach that up.”

Blue Valley took the lead on an 11-yard touchdown run by quarterback Colton McCumber with 5:13 left in the first quarter, but Derby answered on its next possession with an 80-yard touchdown run by Rust, who went mostly untouched up the Blue Valley sideline.

“I actually didn’t think I was able to run that well on the ice,” Rust said. “I wasn’t able to get the edge like I wanted. The times I did, it was because my offensive line was setting the edge up for me.”

Derby took a 13-7 lead into halftime thanks to a 20-yard touchdown pass from Rust to 6-foot-3 junior wide receiver Kenyon Tabor on fourth-and-5 with 9:47 left in the second quarter.

“We ran all-stop, sent me on a post route and Brady found me,” said Tabor, who finished with four catches for 56 yards. “Brady just kept making great passes, kept finding me.”

Both teams slugged it out in the third quarter until Rust passed to tight end Kaleb Kelley for a 7-yard touchdown and a 20-7 lead with 2:32 left.

Blue Valley rallied after a muffed Derby punt deep in its own territory, making the score 20-14 on a 21-yard touchdown pass from McCumber to Taylor DeBey. After Blue Valley blocked a 19-yard field goal attempt by Derby with 4:15 left in the fourth quarter, the Tigers had the ball back at their own 6-yard line with a chance to tie or go ahead.

“It was exciting,” Blue Valley coach Eric Driskell said. “The kids had been battling and the defense had been playing as much as they could, but they were on the field too much. We didn’t get much going after the first drive and that was a huge momentum swing.”

Derby’s Tommy Carter sacked McCumber on third-and-6, then the defense swarmed McCumber on fourth down. Rust iced the win with a 3-yard touchdown run to go up 27-14 with 1:38 left.

“Brady is special player, but even more special as a person,” Clark said. “A great ambassador for our school, for our town. He’s amazing.”

Carter led Derby with 10 tackles, including 2 1/2 tackles for loss, and Blue Valley (10-3) managed 149 yards of offense.

Rust and senior linebacker Dan Conner picked up the state championship trophy at midfield, touching off a wild celebration. 　

“I’ve got another year left, so hopefully we get another one,” Tabor said. “Around here, it’s life. It’s everything. Green is magic ... that kind of means whatever you want it to. It can be anything.”

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 4:28 PM with the headline "Brady Rust’s 309 rushing yards help Derby top Blue Valley for Class 6A title (+video)."