In 1995, North Nodaway, minus five of their starting players, took on Worth County and gave the eventual state champions all they could handle. The winner would have gone on to districts while the loser would have likely gone home. It was 22-22 after four quarters of play, in which both teams were giving everything they had. P.J. Sanders was the quarterback for Worth County, and he was known for his ability to run and throw. When his final regulation pass to Dustin Lambert squirted out of his grasp in the end zone, it looked like the Mustangs would dodge a bullet. But then Worth County stopped the Mustangs in double overtime, and then Sanders broke through on third and goal from the one and Worth County went on to win 28-22. They would go on to win state; North Nodaway would go on to be supplanted by Stanberry, a rising football power.
Folks at North Nodaway still talk about that game and what might have been. Ever since then, it seems that franchise has been cursed in overtime games. In 2003, Worth County denied the Mustangs’ two point conversion attempt to win 14-12 in overtime; North Nodaway won districts anyway that year when Stanberry beat Worth County 42-6 the following week. It was the last district title North Nodaway won on its own; in 2014, North Nodaway and West Nodaway won districts after forming a cooperative. In 2015, the overtime curse continued; the Muskets had a huge comeback against Albany and had a change to win in regulation with the game tied 54-54. But the Muskets couldn’t convert, and Albany went on to win 62-60 in overtime.
And once again, it happened Friday night. North/West Nodaway did everything they could to win against a loaded Stewartsville squad. They had their chances to win that game, and this time, it went to two extra periods. But once again, North/West Nodaway could not pull it off, falling to the Cardinals 42-36.
It was not for lack of effort or spirit. “I just wanted you all to know, I feel like a dying grandpa after cheering for you guys,” said sophomore Dalton Smyser to his teammates after the game and losing his voice in the process. “I’ve never been more proud of a team I’ve coached than I am of you guys tonight,” said coach Cody Marriott to his team.
Both teams traded blows throughout the first three quarters, with North/West Nodaway leading 24-22. They had one opportunity to add to their lead when Parker Ogle ran back a Cardinal punt to the Stewartsville 18. But a participation penalty, a blocking breakdown, and a pass breakup by Stewartsville’s Gage Rush killed the drive.
The slick field wreaked all sorts of havoc on the playcalling for both sides, and the Cardinals lost the ball on downs after a bad snap, putting North Nodaway in good field position at the Cardinal 36. Once again, they couldn’t convert as a false start set them back. Stewartsville drove as far as the Musket 32, when quarterback Gage Rush dropped back to air it out and Austin Bird missed a sack on him after having him dead in his sights. But somehow, Korbin Koch picked it off at the 8 and Stewartsville missed a chance to go on top.
North/West went three and out and Rush nearly ran back the punt, but Wade Torres made a shoestring tackle on him at the 25 to save a possible score. Isaiah Parker, Stewartsville’s main receiver, was open on one play, but Rush couldn’t connect. Finally, North/West took over on downs at their own 30.
North/West wasted little time getting into the end zone, as Gabe Goff went behind a blue wall for 16 yards to the 34. Korbin Koch then got loose as he swept to the left on a keeper and cut back to the right to get into the end zone with 9:06 left. But with a chance to go up two possessions, North/West could not convert. Koch wrestled and fought with the red shirts, tried to bounce it outside, but was brought down one yard short of the two point conversion that would have made it two possessions. North/West led 30-22 at that point.
The Muskets needed to have a stop on the ensuing kickoff, but Cain Rush got loose after two missed tackles and only Karson Oberhauser’s touchdown-saving tackle stopped them at the 39. A pass to Dusty Jones netted 9 yards to the 32, while Rush stiffarmed his way to the 22. A short pass to Keaton Nelson set up a pass over the middle to Jones with 7:15 left. A controversial play tied it up as Rush ran it in down the left side. The Muskets contended that the ball was coming out before he broke the plane, which would have negated the score. However, the call stood, and the game was tied at 30.
North/West was driving to take the lead again, but another controversial call ended the drive. With the Muskets having first and 10 at the Cardinal 34, Tyler Bix took a handoff and landed on his back. The ball popped out of his grasp as a result of his back hitting the ground, it was ruled a fumble, and Stewartsville ran it back to the Musket 34. The rule is that the ground cannot cause a fumble under any circumstances; however, that is a call that even officials at the NFL level have gotten wrong before.
The Cardinals sought to run out the clock as much as possible. A 15 yard pass to Parker, taller than any of the Musket defenders, put it on the 15. A block in the back wiped out a 14 yard run by Cain Rush, but Parker victimized the Muskets again, catching a 13 yard pass back to the 6. Dalton Martin picked up three more to the 3, but once again, the slick field wreaked havoc at the worst possible times for both teams. A bad snap busted the next play and Gage Rush was driven back to the 12. Martin caught a pass over the middle at the 2, but a hard tackle by one of the Muskets was not to his liking and he shoved the blue shirt after the play. That was a 15 yard penalty, and the ball was moved back to the 17, where the drive stalled.
With time running down for North/West, Korbin Koch scrambled for a first down at the 27 with 1:25 and scrambled for another at the Stewartsville 36 with 35 seconds left; had he not been knocked off balance, he might have gone all the way. But then a pair of delay of game penalties set the ball back to the Musket 34, and then the slick ball wreaked havoc as a bad snap squirted out of Koch’s grasp and the red shirts were on it at the North/West 22 with 24 seconds left.
But then Austin Bird was the man of the hour as he flushed out Gage Rush three times, forcing him to throw prematurely to avoid a sack. Finally, Korbin Koch broke up the final pass of regulation.
North/West got the ball first in the first extra period, and there was a heartstopping moment as they fumbled it on their first play and one of the red shirts pounced on it. But one of the blue shirts wrestled it back, and despite Stewartsville 300-pounder Kyler Holcomb trying to pull it out of the pile, they were able to hang on somehow. Koch took advantage of the break as he got through the first level on a quick hitter and found nothing but daylight to make it 36-30.
But Stewartsville tied it right back up as the taller Isaiah Parker got loose again for an 18 yard pass to the 7. With the Cardinals facing third and goal at the two, they sold a fake handoff perfectly, and Gage Rush was in to make it 36-36. Stewartsville had a chance to win it, but Dylan Carden put a big hit on Rush and dropped him.
Stewartsville got the ball to start, and it looked like North/West might hold after a pass breakup by Parker Ogle left them with third and 10 at the 25. But then Cain Rush came in at quarterback and aired it out to Gage Rush for the 25 yard strike. The extra point pass short-hopped Dusty Jones on a quick slant, which left North/West with a chance to tie or win. But on their first play from scrimmage, Koch tried to air it out, underthrew it, and Gage Rush got the pick to end the game.
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