SNYDER — There was something peculiar about the 25-yard line.
On the first three occurrences — Ethan Howell’s 25-yard pick-6 and Snyder’s two second half scoring drives which started 75 yards away from pay dirt before tying the game at 20 and forcing overtime — the 25-yard line was a beautiful sight.
On the fourth occurrence, it was a bad omen. The 25-yard line was too good to be true.
That’s the spot where Laverne — which was penalized 16 times for 160 yards — started its overtime possession following a late penalty on the final play of regulation after Ryan Kelly’s interception return.
But the Tigers didn’t finish at the 25. They finished in the end zone.
On fourth-and-goal, Laverne quarterback Garrison Long broke a tackle on the edge and scampered free for a back-breaking 14-yard touchdown run to give Laverne a 26-20 lead after a failed 2-point conversion.
The Cyclones were then stopped inside the 1-yard line on their own fourth and goal and walked off the field in despair while Laverne (9-2) celebrated with an emphatic 26-20 overtime victory over fourth-ranked and previously unbeaten Snyder (10-1) in the second round of the Class B playoffs on Friday night.
Snyder’s stellar season — which had realistic expectations of playing in the state championship game — came to a close in a flash.
“That’s your whole season on the line,” Snyder coach Joe Garrison said of the pair of tide-turning fourth down plays in overtime. “We’ve been working since August preparing every week, having hopes of beating really good teams like Laverne. All of it just ends there on one play. It’s tough.”
The ending was tough but Snyder’s start was almost more unbearable.
The Cyclones looked uncharacteristic in the first half, turning the ball over on downs twice in the red zone in addition to two turnovers. If it wasn’t for Ethan Howell’s galvanizing 25-yard pick-6 on an errant third down pass by Long to put Snyder on the board with 6:02 left before halftime, the Cyclones may have never recovered.
But they did recover, just in the nick of time. Trailing 20-6 at halftime, Snyder’s coaching staff reminded the Cyclones to work cohesively as a unit.
“We told the guys, ‘Hey, we have to stick together and play as one or else this isn’t going to work.’ We had some disagreements among each other and some people not playing quite as a unit. Then we fixed it,” Garrison said. “We knew if we stuck together and played football, we could come back.”
Despite the pep talk, the second half couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start as an inadvertent whistle nearly resulted in a safety and Snyder went 3-and-out, punting from its own end zone. Laverne took over at the Cyclones’ 45-yard line threatening to put the game away.
With first-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Snyder had a choice.
The Cyclones chose to buckle down.
“I told them that without a stop, it’s over. If you want to win this game, you need to get a stop here,” Garrison said. “You can either lay down or you can fight. It was up to them. Knowing what that play meant, they went out there, fought and took care of business.”
Snyder notched back-to-back sacks — the latter of which came from senior defensive end Austin McPherson — and shoved Laverne back to the 25-yard line where Snyder took over on downs.
The Cyclones quickly marched 75 yards to pay dirt as McPherson, who had 61 rushing yards, scored a touchdown from four yards out to make it 20-12 with 11:00 remaining.
Snyder forced another turnover on downs and started at the 25-yard line again while battling the clock. With the chains needing to be fixed with 2:45 left, “Cyclone power” chants rang out throughout the crowd.
Snyder fed off that boost and scored the game-tying touchdown with 35 seconds remaining as Ryan Kelly hit Tristen Smith on the outside before the senior spun away and broke a tackle to waltz into the end zone from 16 yards out.
McPherson scored the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 20 and the Snyder faithful erupted.
But the jubilation was short-lived as Laverne — which racked up 369 yards of offense to mitigate three turnovers — re-took the lead on the opening possession of overtime before stuffing Snyder on three straight runs up the gut.
The Cyclones — who committed two turnovers and racked up 275 yards of offense — had their season end in heartbreaking fashion, inside the 1-yard line.
Laverne, which was last year’s Class B runner-up and won a state championship in 2016, got off to a quick start as Cody Madsen — who had 18 carries for 116 yards — burst free up the middle for a 42-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the game.
Long then found Rustin Dome in the back of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown pass on third down to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead with 7:12 in the first quarter. The third down back-breaker only foreshadowed what Laverne — which went 5-of-11 on third down and scored on the fourth down overtime play — would pull out of its hat in dire late-down situations.
Following Howell’s interception, Snyder threatened to tie it up before half, but had to give the ball back to Laverne, which completed to passes for 79 yards — including a 38-yard touchdown pass from Long to Houston Bockelman on third-and-33. He was left wide-open as his score with 23 seconds left gave Laverne a 20-6 lead heading into the locker room.
For Garrison, Friday’s ending was particularly tough given this talented senior class was the first class he ever coached when moving to Snyder. They were sixth graders at the time.
“Watching them grow and play all sports — football, basketball, baseball, track — they’ve become your kids. You know everything about them,” Garrison said. “Now they’re going on their next journey and the next chapter of their senior year. They’re a great group and I love them to death. And I’m so proud to be able to coach them.”