Game of the Year: Derby holds on to beat Maize in Kansas high school football classic
.JPG "Derby’s Dylan Edwards")
Avery Johnson and Dylan Edwards have played in a lot of football games together, dating back to their days as junior football teammates.
But the game they might remember the most together came on Friday night as opponents.
Johnson, the star quarterback recruit for Maize, and Edwards, the star running back prospect for Derby, traded big play for big play all the way until the final minute in a game between two of the best teams in Kansas high school football that somehow exceeded the hype.
Edwards put Derby ahead with a touchdown run with 1:38 to play, only for Johnson to march the Eagles down for a touchdown a minute later. Trailing the No. 1-ranked team in Kansas and the three-time defending Class 6A champions by one point on the road with a league title on the line, Maize decided to go for the win with a two-point conversion.
A sold-out Panther Stadium collectively held its breath as the potential game-winning throw was in the air. When the ball was caught, one side erupted in euphoria with the other crushed in defeat.
Derby had come up with the game-saving interception in the end zone to preserve a 42-41 victory and improve to 6-0 this season.
“I know we’re going to talk about this one later and we’re going to be like, ‘Dang, we really just played one of the best games in Kansas,’” said Edwards, who finished with 301 total yards and three touchdowns. “I think this will be talked about for years. I’m just very happy we were able to come out with the win.”
On the game’s most-important play, the two-point conversion, Maize tried to fool Derby’s defense with a play-action fake, but Derby linebacker Kade Shelton rushed unblocked to meet Johnson as soon as he began his roll-out. Johnson evaded the defender’s grasps momentarily, but the incoming pressure forced him to rush a throw that didn’t have enough height to travel over Derby sophomore linebacker Britton Pascual standing on the goal line.
The play ultimately did not work, but if you think Maize or Johnson, who finished with 287 passing yards, 104 rushing yards and four touchdowns, have any regrets about going for two, then you would be mistaken.
“If we get that chance again, I want to go for two again,” said Johnson, a four-star prospect who is one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the class of 2023. “That’s how I’m always going to be. I’m aggressive. I want the ball in my hands in clutch situations. I wouldn’t change a thing about that.”
“We came here to win the football game,” said Maize receiver Justin Stephens, who caught the touchdown pass with 38 seconds left. “I think 10 times out of 10, we’re going for the win and I put all my faith in Avery. He’s the best quarterback I’ve ever played with and I think he’s the best quarterback in the state.”
Johnson certainly delivered some of his best plays when the stakes were at their highest.
Maybe the best play of the night came from Johnson on a crucial third-down play for Maize near midfield, trailing Derby 35-28 with less than six minutes left. The snap sailed well over Johnson’s head and traveled 25 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
For almost any other quarterback, the play is over. They’re either falling on the bouncing ball for a huge loss or scooping it up and throwing it away. Not Johnson.
“I knew I had to make a play or else we’re going to be punting,” Johnson said. “When it went over my head, I just found it and then found some open space and that gave me some room to work with and I just tried to make a play.”
Needing to get to the 50-yard line for a first down, Johnson picked up the loose ball on the run at his own 20-yard line. He sprinted toward the right sideline, then when his angle was cut off, reversed field, going backward to his own 15-yard line. But offensive lineman Nick Reyes had sprinted back to protect his quarterback and he delivered the sealing block Johnson needed for some space.
One hard cut later and Johnson was streaking up the field with Derby’s defense completely scrambled. He sprinted past a diving defender, then past another, then past another. Finally, Johnson dragged the last defender the last two yards he needed to pick up the first down. In all, Johnson probably ran somewhere close to 75 yards just to pick up the five he needed for the first down.
“That’s just what Avery does,” Maize coach Gary Guzman said. “We know he’s capable of making amazing plays and making things happen and that’s what he did there.”
“Avery is just a really, really good football player,” Derby coach Brandon Clark said. “He’s a phenomenal quarterback, but he’s an even better football player. He took that bad snap and made a couple of our guys miss. You want to get mad at our guys for not making the play, but you’ve got to look at what you’re trying to tackle. He’s very smart. He’s very physical. He’s got the size and the speed and he’s just a tough kid to bring down. He’s a real football player.”
Johnson’s improbable run became even more important because it extended a drive that he ultimately finished five plays later with an 11-yard touchdown strike to Bryce Cohoon for the game-tying score with 3:37 remaining.
But Johnson wasn’t the only game-breaker on the field. Now it was Edwards’ turn to show his former teammate and still close friend what he could do.
It only took Derby six plays to march down the field, as Edwards provided one of the loudest roars of the night when he cut through a hole and sprinted untouched into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:38 remaining to put Derby up 42-35.
“I’m so blessed,” said Edwards, who finished with 266 rushing yards. “My team played great and my o-line played even better. I had two great blocks there that helped set that up. I’m thankful for all of my blockers because without them, I wouldn’t have gotten that last touchdown.”
But now, Johnson was taking the field to lead Maize one last time to decide the winner.
“Your heart is racing and you’re out there and you know one mistake could lead to chaos,” Stephens said. “It’s pretty nerve-racking, but at the end of the day, you just have to stay calm and perform.”
“The atmosphere tonight was just electric,” Clark said. “The crowd was going nuts. The kids could have let the pressure get to them easily, but our kids rose up and didn’t let the moment get too big for them. I thought both teams did a really good job of doing that.”
When Maize needed a receiver to step up on the final drive, Stephens was there. It was a heroic performance for a junior who was essentially playing with one hand because he broke a bone in his right wrist and had the hand in a cast.
But that didn’t stop Stephens from delivering in the game’s biggest moments. After hauling in a 30-yard pass to put Maize in position, Stephens broke free on a 3rd-and-6 play and Johnson made one of his best throws of the night, perfectly lofting the pass over the defense to the opposite corner of the end zone and hitting Stephens in stride for a 16-yard touchdown.
“I made a commitment to my team and to my teammates at the start of this season,” said Stephens, who finished with seven catches for 148 yards. “If I can play, I’m going to play. I made a promise to these guys and I want to be there for them. I wouldn’t want to do this with anybody else by my side.”
It was a surreal sight to Edwards, watching from the Derby sideline. He had seen Johnson pull off so many two-minute drills in his time, but usually he was cheering because he was on the same team. It was an unusual feeling on Friday night with the game on the line like that.
“It was definitely nerve-racking because I know what Avery can do,” Edwards said. “We still train together in the offseason, so I wasn’t surprised. But at the same time, I was really hoping we would win. There were a lot of emotions going on.”
During the timeout before Maize took the field to attempt the potential game-winning two-point conversion, it was hard not to take a moment to appreciate the greatness of the game.
Regardless of how the attempt went, Maize had displayed a resiliency that would make any team proud. The Eagles had played a stellar game and in turn, extracted the best performance of the season out of Derby.
The two teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of total offense, as Johnson and Edwards traded blow for blow. Both teams even erased 14-point deficits, as Derby climbed out of a 21-7 hole with four straight touchdowns, only for the Eagles to rally to tie the game at 35.
It was only fitting the game came down to the final minute with one play determining the winner and the loser. Sometimes that’s how small the margin is between a championship and walking away with nothing.
Maize hopes the next time it doesn’t feel the same way it did leaving the field on Friday.
“There’s certainly some disappointment because we know we had a great chance to win the game at the end,” Guzman said. “I loved how our kids battled. They weren’t intimidated. They came out here and battled the entire game and even though it didn’t go our way, I’m very proud of our kids.”
Derby 42, Maize 41
Maize (5-2) 21 0 7 13 — 41
Derby (6-0) 7 14 14 7 — 42
M—Carter 5 run (Segraves kick)
M—Johnson 37 run (Segraves kick)
D—M. Thatcher 1 run (Simmons kick)
M—Helm 11 pass from Johnson (Segraves kick)
D—M. Thatcher 7 run (Simmons kick)
D—Edwards 13 run (Simmons kick)
D—M. Thatcher 7 run (Simmons kick)
D—Edwards 70 run (Simmons kick)
M—Carter 41 run (Segraves kick)
M—Cohoon 11 pass from Johnson (Segraves kick)
D—Edwards 23 run (Simmons kick)
M—Stephens 16 pass from Johnson (pass failed)
Individual statistics
Rushing—Maize, Carter 20-120, Johnson 13-104; Derby, Edwards 27-266, M. Thatcher 20-108, Brown 1-24, Zerger 1-0.
Passing—Maize, Johnson 18-33-2-287; Derby, M. Thatcher 8-14-0-89, Zerger 2-3-0-40.
Receiving—Maize, Stephens 7-148, Cohoon 6-89, Doty 3-37, Helm 2-13; Derby, Keener 4-58, Edwards 1-35, D. Thatcher 2-15, Zerger 1-12, Brown 2-9.
This story was originally published October 16, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
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