LA JUNTA — Clint Buderus’ offense is not designed to overcome a two-touchdown deficit with about eight minutes to go in a football game.
So even he seemed stunned when his La Junta players celebrated on the field after beating Bayfield 14-13 in the Class 2A state semifinals.
It took a John Nuschy touchdown pass to Matthew Espinoza and a botched two-point conversion attempt that somehow succeeded to get the job done.
Eight minutes earlier, the Tigers had yet to score a point. It was shades of last years playoff loss to the Wolverines (9-3 overall) all over again.
“We were talking about (that loss) the whole week,” Espinoza said. “We wanted revenge. They embarrassed us on their field last year so we needed some revenge.”
But overthinking things resulted in a slow start for the Tigers (12-0) and Bayfield was able to take advantage. Josh Westbrook found Brian Mashak on a fly route and connected with him for an 84-yard touchdown pass.
The extra point was no good, but the Wolverines had a 6-0 lead.
The defenses then started dominate the game and neither team was really able to find momentum. It wasn’t until the closing seconds of the third quarter that things began to look dire for the Tigers as Westbrook once again found Mashak, this time of a 64-yard touchdown pass.
Westbrook ended the game with 169 passing yards and two touchdowns. Not bad for a team also built to run the ball and wear down its opponent.
“I knew that we had a chance to make some big plays,” Bayfield coach Gary Heide said. “We made two, but we needed three I guess.”
In fact, they nearly had that third.
The Tigers finally got on the board with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Nuschy to Apela Furtado-Tom, but like Bayfield’s first touchdown, missed the extra point. The Wolverines got the ball back with a chance to burn clock and potentially regain a two-score lead.
Carl Heide broke off a 29-yard run off a reverse to get the ball deep into La Junta territory. But it was the strength of La Junta’s team that showed up just in the nick of time. Will Tyler intercepted Westbrook and gave the Tigers new life with 6:10 remaining in the game.
“We had our back against the wall and kids just made plays,” Buderus said. “That’s all it came down to.”
And they did it when they needed to the most. Nuschy threw his team on his shoulders and he marched the Tigers down the field looking to tie the game. When they got in the red zone, they went with a couple of big runs to Dax Bender, setting up second down inside of the Bayfield 10-yard line.
That’s Nuschy found Espinoza on the outside post, sending Tiger Stadium into a frenzy.
“Right as the play was called I knew it was going to be open,” Espinoza said. “I’m not used to running that, it’s usually Apela Furtado-Tom running that route. But when I got that number called, I was ready.”
As La Junta lined up for the extra point, they were called for a false start, prompting a timeout for Buderus and a discussion on the sideline.
“I wanted to go for two right away,” Nuschy said. “After we backed up, we knew we had to go for two. We wanted that win.”
On the two-point conversion, the Tigers learned sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Furtado-Tom took a handoff off a bobbled snap, was pursued by the Bayfield defensive line and lost his footing in the process.
He was able to stay up and throw the ball to the end zone where it found the waiting hand of Kain DiRezza.
“That was one of the luckiest things I’ve ever seen,” Nuschy said.
La Junta had 14-13 lead.
And just to be safe, on the ensuing kickoff, a little squib kick found some space and the Tigers fell on the ball.
As a result, they’ll host the 2A state title game against Kent Denver, a team they beat at home earlier in the season.
“We’re just going to enjoy this and get back to work on Monday,” Buderus said. “I know Kent Denver is much improved. They’ll be as tough as Bayfield.”
Which means all La Junta has to do is make plays at the right time and hope some that luck holds over from Saturday. If that’s the case, they could be hoisting state championship gold in a week.
