Panthers stun Belton in a double-overtime classic
A blocked extra point, a 4th-and-goal stop, and a freshman's nerve of steel: how Raymore-Peculiar pulled off the upset of the season under the Friday night lights.
PECULIAR. For three quarters, this looked like Belton's night. The Pirates led by ten, the home crowd was loud, and Raymore-Peculiar could not find the end zone. Then everything changed.
A blocked extra point early in the fourth quarter gave the Panthers a sliver of hope, and they spent the next twelve minutes turning that sliver into a roar. By the time the teams reached a second overtime, the scoreboard read 14-all and neither sideline could sit down.
That last play belonged to a freshman. With the game on the line, head coach Travis Hoyt waved off the tying kick and called for two. The snap was clean, the rollout calm, and the throw found a diving receiver in the corner of the end zone. Final: Raymore-Peculiar 20, Belton 17.
The turning point
The Panthers' defense had been bending all night, but on Belton's first overtime possession it finally broke the other way, a 4th-and-goal stop from the two-yard line that flipped the momentum for good.
The win moves the Panthers to 6-4 and back into the district picture with one week to play. Belton, which had won four straight, falls to 8-2 but keeps the top seed within reach.
Next up: a rematch nobody in Cass County will want to miss. The two could meet again in the district semifinal in two weeks. As Hoyt put it, walking off the field: "See you soon."