Inside Wichita East’s stunning high school football win over Northwest in bizarre finish
MJ White didn’t have time to panic — the ball in his hands with 30 yards to go and 39 years of history at stake.
In the final seconds of last Friday’s high school football game at Northwest, with the score tied, East attempted a game-winning field goal, but the snap was botched and White, the holder, was left on his own to make something happen.
“Maybe I was a little nervous at first, but once I picked the ball up, everything came natural to me,” said White, who doubles as a star receiver for East.
Because Northwest’s defense sold out to block the kick on the right hash, White had an open field on the left side after he bobbled the hold. After racing toward the left sideline, White tightroped the final 5 yards and won the footrace to the end-zone pylon to complete an improbable walk-off touchdown — and deliver a stunning upset of undefeated and No. 2-ranked Northwest.
By the score of 34-28, the Blue Aces had toppled the Grizzlies for the first time since 1984.
“MJ is a straight gamer,” East coach Ene Akpan said. “He’s a ball player, a gamer, one tough kid, nasty. Man, I just love him.”
DaeOnte’ Mitchell leads East to clutch comeback
It seemed unfathomable East would even be in position for White’s heroics early in the fourth quarter, when Northwest held a 28-14 lead with less than nine minutes remaining.
East had proven scrappy, scoring the game’s first touchdown, then striking on a 68-yard receiving touchdown to White just before halftime. But it appeared as if the Grizzlies were pulling away for their 22nd consecutive win over the Blue Aces.
On the sidelines, East senior quarterback DaeOnte’ Mitchell had other plans.
“I just kept telling my teammates to stay calm, we’re still in this game,” Mitchell said. “The clock does not say zeroes.”
Mitchell had thrown two interceptions and lost a fumble earlier in the game. Rather than feeling shell-shocked, he was resolute after Northwest took a 28-14 lead.
Immediately after, Mitchell ran an option play to the right, followed the block of right tackle Lathan McCoy and sprinted 64 yards untouched for a touchdown. On the two-point try, Mitchell once again followed McCoy on the right side to plow his way into the end zone.
If his teammates didn’t believe him before, Mitchell had restored confidence to everyone on East’s sideline — in 13 seconds.
“He had some turnovers early, then comes back very poised and very clutch,” Akpan said. “That’s what being a competitor is all about.”
Botched extra-point kicks haunt East
In the season-opener, East lost 26-25 to Washburn Rural because its game-tying extra point attempt was blocked in the final minutes.
That was still fresh in the mind of Akpan after East’s defense forced a three-and-out, then running back Rayvelle Leak ripped off a 60-yard run followed by another Mitchell running touchdown to tie the game at 28 with 5:15 left.
Rather than attempt an extra point kick for the lead, Akpan decided to keep the offense on the field for a two-point try.
“We had been having some problems with the snap, so I just said to myself, ‘I’d rather try to take the lead with the ball in Paco’s hands,’” Akpan said, referencing his quarterback.
This time, however, Mitchell handed the ball off to Leak, who was stonewalled by Northwest linebacker Quavon Harris short of the goal line to keep the score tied.
It wouldn’t be the last time Akpan’s mind raced to the Washburn Rural game.
Blue Aces’ defense steps up in win over Northwest
Lost in the chaotic finish was the play of East’s defense, which contained Northwest’s potent rushing attack as well as any City League team has in recent memory.
One week after the Grizzlies were able to rack up 414 rushing yards against Kapaun Mt. Carmel, East limited Northwest to 73 rushing yards on 33 carries. Northwest’s star running back Cencere Thompson, who finished with 227 yards and five touchdowns last week, was held to 11 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries.
“They had a great game plan and gave us a defensive look that we’ve never seen from them,” Northwest coach Steve Martin said. “They got in a three-front look that they’ve never shown and they did a great job with it.”
Akpan said he had been concocting the new defense since last year’s loss to Northwest. The team implemented the system last Monday and the players pulled it off as well as he could have been expected.
“We did some things that were very unconventional for me and not what we’ve been accustomed to doing,” Akpan said. “We’re usually a four-man front defense, but we switched to a three-man front and had four linebackers always bringing pressure. I think that it threw (Northwest) off and it also helped put our best players on the field and allowed us to play fast.”
Northwest has typically won games with its up-tempo running game under Martin. But when the Grizzlies were given the chance to respond after East rallied to tie the game at 28, Northwest threw three straight incompletions to give the ball back to the Blue Aces after taking just 19 seconds off the clock.
The final two offensive drives, both of which ended without a first down, is what Martin pointed to following the loss.
“It was 28-14 with eight minutes left in the game and we didn’t close it out,” Martin said. “They made plays, we didn’t. They closed it out, we didn’t.”
Drama to close out East-Northwest City League classic
Given the ball back one more time with a chance to win the game, Mitchell guided East on a 12-play drive that drained the clock and put the Blue Aces in position to win.
It didn’t come without drama, however.
On a third-down play with 46 seconds left, Leak was swarmed by a group of Northwest defenders and linebacker Quavon Harris emerged from a pile with the football. Despite protests, officials ruled Leak had possession when the play was blown dead.
That set up a fourth-and-short situation, which Leak easily converted to advance the ball to the Northwest 22-yard line. But without a timeout, East took 30 seconds between plays with Mitchell lofting a jump ball intended for L.T. Robinson that was swatted away by Northwest cornerback Jeremiah Harris in the end zone with four seconds left.
An official threw a penalty flag for pass interference but, after a discussion, decided to pick up the flag.
The reversal caught East by surprise. Akpan had kicker Cohen Richardson on the field, but then rushed Mitchell and the offense onto the field when he learned the penalty had been overturned. That sudden change forced Northwest to call a timeout to discuss how to defend the final play.
“During the timeout, we’re talking it over and we said, ‘We got the wind, let’s go for the field goal,’” Akpan said.
So after the timeout, East trotted Richardson out for what would have been a 39-yard field goal attempt for the win.
And then disaster struck, as White bobbled a low snap.
“It was very emotional,” Akpan recalled. “My first thought was, ‘Oh man, it’s Washburn all over again.’”
“I’m not going to lie, I think all of our hearts dropped,” Leak said. “But then we see MJ pick it up and run and we’re all like, ‘Whoa.’”
Adding to the drama was the officials’ delay in ruling White’s play a touchdown or not.
The entire East team had rushed the field to celebrate with White in the end zone, but then was frozen when officials didn’t make an initial ruling — they had been spread across the field prepared for a field goal attempt.
“It felt like it took forever,” Leak said. “Did we just score and beat Northwest? Or do we have to get ready to go into overtime?”
After the officials conferred with one another about what they saw, the head referee ruled it a touchdown and set off pandemonium.
East’s players sprayed water in the air and threw their helmets in celebration, as they had forced their way back into the City League championship race, while Northwest’s players were heartbroken by such a bizarre ending on their home field.
“We proved that the rankings don’t matter, for real,” Mitchell said. “That’s why you got to go out on the field and play the game.”
This story was originally published September 25, 2023 at 2:44 PM.
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