On Sunday, Oct. 22, a mid-afternoon football championship was decided on the campus of Hastings College, and Lloyd Wilson Field. The defending champions, the Big G Jets, 6-0, versus the Hastings Pepsi Chargers, 5-1, with the Chargers lone loss coming at the hands of the Jets in the regular season.
Three Clay County players, Charlie Shaw, Landry Borer, and Lincoln Davis, of the defending champion Jets came up big.
The first quarter was dominated by the Chargers behind a primarily runheavy offense, directed by quarterback Wesley Martin, as Martin accounted for all of the Chargers’ scoring in the first two quarters.
The first possession, the Chargers took the opening kickoff, drove 67 yards to draw first blood, with Martin running it in from two-yards out, and added the extra point.
First possession for the Jets, quarterback Cooper Drake fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Chargers, who drove the ball downfield, with Martin again scoring, this time on a 29-yard run to give the Chargers a 14-0 lead.
The Jets quarterback, Shaw, had 1:11 left on the second quarter clock to add a spark to the Jets offense. Shaw directed his team down the field, eventually to the 10, with mere seconds left on the first half clock.
Shaw tried to connect with Borer in the endzone, but the pass fell incomplete, with the Chargers holding a 14-0 halftime lead.
Jets coach, Nick Drake said, “we made adjustments at halftime, as we had the right body-on-body to counter their scheme on defense.”
There was little scoring in the third quarter, as each offense struggled. With 60 seconds left in the third brought a pivotal play. The Chargers were driving, behind Martin, when a thunder rush from Dawson Gerritsen flushed Martin from the pocket, as Martin’s pass was intercepted by Greyson Gerritson and returned six-yards.
With 50 seconds remaining in the third, Cooper Drake ran 60-plus yards on a Jets quarterback keeper for the Jets first score of the game.
A failed conversion left the Chargers with a 14-6 lead, before Shaw, Colston Karr, Lane Hemberger, and Borer were lights out in the fourth quarter.
COURTESY PHOTO | CLAY COUNTY NEWS
Shaw ran the Jets offense to perfection. After almost stalling out, a facemask call on the Chargers gave the Jets a new set of downs.
Shaw, a three-year veteran of the league, wasted little time to find his favorite receiver, Karr on a 15yard touchdown pass. Shaw threw a Patrick Mahomes type pass to Karr, who made a catch only done by the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs Travis Kelce. Following an added conversion the game was tied at 14.
Shaw, after the Jets stopped the Chargers on three downs, took control of the game, behind key blocks from his offensive line, ran for 27 yards down the left side, then Shaw finished off the drive for the go-ahead score from 29 yards out to preserve the eventual 22-14 win, and gain the repeat league championship.
Borer shared, “it was great to repeat again. It was an amazing opportunity to play 11-man football.”
Brian Shaw, a former Sandy Creek standout, and Nebraska Cornhusker said, “I’m a big promoter of Hastings Midget Football. My oldest son, Josh, who is in college, played Midget football here.” Now Shaw’s youngest son has played in the league. The elder Shaw hoped the Hastings program would foster a love for the game of football.
Charlie Shaw, the soft-spoken quarterback, gave all the credit to his fellow players. “It was a complete team effort. We made improvements all season long.”
Coach Tom Ratzlaff shared that his team “is a great group of kids.”
“They’ve worked hard, and had a lot of fun this year. We always tell the kids that winning is not the end all, be all, but it’s a lot of fun.”
Speaking about the three Clay County kids on the Jets team, Ratzlaff shared, “Charlie is a great player, a kid you love having in practice, always focused and working hard. He had a great season and has a lot of good football ahead of him, and he’s an even better young man and I’m very proud of his growth and accomplishments.”
“Landry has grown a lot these last couple of seasons. I’m really excited to see what next year has in store, he’s a great character kid.”
“Regarding Lane, I love that kid. He always has a smile on his face, works hard, and he will be a force next season.”
