Last-second game-winner advances Wichita East in Kansas high school football playoffs
Only one thing was on the mind of Karlan Ransom when the ball was in the air to decide the fate of the season for the Wichita East football team.
“Win or go home,” Ransom said. “And I wasn’t going home.”
With the Blue Aces needing a touchdown for the win as time was expiring in a Class 6A regional championship game, East quarterback Robert Hunter lofted a prayer into the end zone targeting Ransom in double coverage.
Three players jumped at the same time at the goal line, but only one emerged with the ball — Ransom — for an improbable 38-yard touchdown with 10 seconds left to lift East to a 21-17 victory at Dodge City on Thursday.
“It might look like a 50-50 ball, but it ain’t 50-50. It’s more like 90-10 with Dappi (Ransom),” East coach Ene Akpan said. “He just attacks the ball in the air. I think he’s the best receiver in the state of Kansas. That was a big-time catch and he’s a big-time player making plays in the big-time moments for us.”
Thursday’s game was a rematch from the regular-season finale played in Wichita, which Dodge City won 21-14. The Red Demons seemed poised to win again on Thursday with a 17-14 lead and Hunter, East’s dynamic quarterback, sidelined during East’s final drive with cramps.
But after seeing East’s drive stall, Hunter fought through the pain to help spark the offense. With 17 seconds left, the Blue Aces moved to the Dodge City 38-yard line. That’s when Akpan dialed up a vertical play with Ransom in the slot.
“It takes guts to do what (Hunter) did,” Akpan said. “That’s a tough spot to go back in the game, so to get his mental right and then it was a great ball he threw. Probably the best ball he threw all night. Man, it was just a blessing. That was God there.”
After going four decades without a deep playoff run, Akpan has led the Blue Aces (7-3) to their second straight appearance in the Class 6A quarterfinals.
East could face No. 1-ranked Derby next Friday depending on Friday’s results.
“Man, it’s a feeling I can’t even describe,” Ransom said. “It’s just an unbelievable feeling, for real. This means a lot to us as a team and now we’re onto the next week.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2024 at 5:03 AM.
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