Henderson Heartland outlasts Kenesaw for D-1, District 6 Title.

Heartland offense (white jerseys) getting ready to score against Kenesaw. *(photo by Bobby Mills)

Henderson Heartland outlasts Kenesaw for D-1, District 6 Title.

By Bobby Mills (1000 Yard Guy)

Heartland got it's usual high octane performance from 2,000 yard rusher Austin Stuhr, but in the end, the Huskies needed help from the passing game to turn back stubborn Kenesaw, 52-34 Friday night.

Heartland turned to Lane Huebert for some extra firepower and the junior QB responded with an 8 for 9 passing performance that netted just 75 yards, but produced three touchdowns.

Despite the high score, there was an abundance of defense when it came to hard-nosed, high energy hitting on the pristine Kenesaw football field. The back and forth battle after Heartland took a 12-0 lead, was everything a District championship should be and more.

Would you believe this game was scoreless after the 1st quarter? Defenses ruled and you knew for sure that's what you would get from Craig Schnitzler's Kenesaw crew. Always has been. But it took only 5 seconds into the 2nd quarter before both coaches figured out how to put some points on the board.......and how.

With Kenesaw targeting the Nation's leading 8-Man rusher, Austin Stuhr, Huskie head coach Matt Maltsberger turned to Lane Huebert and the the air attack to draw first blood. Hubert hit junior Hayes Oswald for a 9 yard scoring pass to make it 6-0.

Four minutes later, Stuhr could be stopped no more, and dashed in from the Blue Devil 7 yard line, giving his Heartland team an important 12-0 lead.

What is huge about that deal is the fact that Heartland never had more than a two touchdown/double PAT lead until the end of the game.

Neither one of these teams relied on the pass much this season, especially Kenesaw. In fact QB Alex Heier, the 160 pound junior, had attempted only 47 throws through the first 7 games, good for 380 yards.

But Craig Schnitzler had a card up his sleeve he hadn't flashed earlier in the season, and that card turned out to be leading rusher Tysen Burr. In fact Burr, who had run for 896 yards coming into the game, snuck out of the backfield only 11 times all year for 161 yards.

Yeah, well that wasn't the case tonight.

Quarterback Alex Heier hooked up with the glue-handed Burr 11 times for 209 yards and a couple touchdowns. What had to be frustrating for Heartland, was Burr's pass routes were nearly the same every single time. The dude was always covered well, sometimes double covered, yet would leap up and come down with the reception.

I could have sworn Burr had 800 receiving yards coming in the way he operated on those Blue Devil pass routes.

Typical of this back and forth battle was the absolutely insane final one minute, forty seconds before halftime. It left you dizzy.

Leading 12-6, Heartland took only 1 play to score after a short Kenesaw punt. QB Lane Huebert actually took the shotgun snap instead of Stuhr, took off around right end, then reversed his field and cut back against the grain for a beautiful 31 yard touchdown scamper.

Less than a minute later, Kenesaw's Heier found a Heartland defender out of position and nailed Austin Anderson for a 39 yard scoring strike. Heier ran over 2 defenders for the double PAT, cutting the Huskie lead to 20-14. The clock read :51 seconds left in the 2nd.

Twenty six ticks later, Heartland QB Huebert hit Ben Driewer with a 27 yard scoring toss to up the lead to 28-14. The clock read :25 seconds left until halftime.

No more scoring right? Wrong, and this next Kenesaw score stung the Heartland defense bad.

Alex Heier lofted a 35 yard scoring pass to Tyson Burr to the exact same spot in the right corner of the end zone he had previously scored on. This time Burr was smothered with choke-hold double coverage and still came up with the catch.

Two seconds left on the clock and Kenesaw had cut the lead to 28-20 at the half.

The teams traded touchdown for touchdown in the 2nd half, but the rare passing game continued for both squads. The main difference was that the Huskies allowed the Heier to Burr aerial circus to continue, but cut off the scoring receptions.

Quite the opposite for Heartland, who continued to lean on the outstanding Austin Stuhr for rushing yards, and why not. But the Huskies snuck in a big scoring pass from Lane Huebert just when Kenesaw packed the box to stop Stuhr.

Huebert found Hayes Oswald for his second TD of the night, a 15 yard strike toward the end of the 3rd stanza. That gave the Henderson school a 44-28 lead.

Kenesaw made things interesting with 8:10 left in the 4th, when tough running running FB Daniel Duffy bolted in for a TD from 7 yards out, slicing the lead to 44-34. The crucial double PAT attempt followed, but not without big time drama.

First, a Heartland defender was whistled for pass interference on the first go-around. That moved the ball to the 1 and a half yard line. The next play, the Huskies were whistled for a "where do I go to give up" lining up offside infraction. Now the ball was on the three quarter yard line. Is there a such thing?

About right then Heartland had to be feeling like 'Heartbreak", the entire Huskie defense came crashing through to stuff Tyson Burr's PAT run. That was huge.

Kenesaw never recovered from the missed double PAT and Heartland eventually added a 12 yard vintage Austin Stuhr scoring run, giving the Huskies a 50-34 cushion with 3:07 left in the contest.

What transpired on Heartland's PAT attempt had to seem like poetic justice after the two penalties on the previous Kenesaw point after fiasco.

Huskie quarterback Lane Huebert scrambled around before floating a pass to Ben Driewer. The 6 foot senior went up for the pass, juggled it twice, then ended up with his arms wrapped around an official, eventually making the catch just as it was about to bounce of the officials head. Why not.

The incredible Austin Stuhr ended up rushing for 277 yards on 35 carries and 3 TDs on night. And the crazy thing? It's 21 yards below his 298 yards a game rushing average.

Heartland quarterback Lane Huebert was one pass away from perfection, hitting 8-9 for 75 yards and 3 TDs. Ben Driewer led the Huskies receivers with 4 grabs for 45 yards and a score.

Big news for Kenesaw was the Alex Heier to Tyson Burr passing connection. Heier ended the night with 15-21 passing, good for 260 yards and 2 TDs. It was a huge night for Tyson Burr and that's an understatement.

The Renaissance Man rushed 19 times for 45 yards, hauled in 11 passes for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns and had 55 yards on two kick returns for a total of 254 All-Purpose yards.

Burr also made 13 tackles for the fierce hitting Blue Devils defense.

Heartland will host 3-5 Nebraska Lutheran (Waco) Thursday in the opening round of the Class D-1 playoffs while Kenesaw travels to Medicine Valley (7-1). Heartland is in the East Bracket, while Kenesaw will compete in the West.

.................................1.......2.......3.......4..........F

(7-1) Heartland......0......28.....16.....8.........52

(5-3) Kenesaw........0......20......8......6.........34

2nd Quarter:

H - Hayes Oswald 9 pass from Lane Huebert......(pass failed).....0-6

H - Austin Stuhr 7 run.............................................(pass failed).....0-12

K - Tyson Burr 23 pass from Alex Heier................(kick failed).....6-12

H - Huebert 31 run...................................................(Stuhr run)......6-20

K - Austin Anderson 39 pass from Heier...............(Heier run).....14-20

H - Ben Driewer 27 pass from Huebert.................(Stuhr run).....14-28

K - Burr 35 pass from Heier.....................................(run failed).....20-28

3rd Quarter:

H - Stuhr 6 run...........................................................(Stuhr run).....20-36

F - Daniel Duffy 1 run................................................(Heier run).....28-36

H - Oswald 15 pass from Huebert...........................(Stuhr run).....28-44

4th Quarter:

K - Duffy 7 run............................................................(run failed).....34-44

H - Stuhr 12 run..........................................................(Driewer pass from Huebert)...34-52