Staley needs four overtimes to post 76-70 Missouri playoff football win

By Staff Report Nov 18, 2011, 11:12pm

The Falcons oust Class 5 defending state champion Lee's Summit West behind running back Morgan Steward.

Give the Staley (Kansas City North, Mo.) football team credit. The Falcons do whatever is necessary to win. Survive and advance in the playoffs is all that matters.

This week in the Class 5 state semifinals, Staley outlasted Lee's Summit West (Mo.) 76-70 in a contest that took four overtimes and nearly four hours to complete. That comes after the Falcons held on for a 7-6 win against Fort Osage a week earlier in the quarterfinals.

MaxPreps Missouri Class 5 state football brackets

Staley improved to 13-0 and will face the winner of Saturday's semifinal between Hazelwood East and Kirkwood in the championship. It also avenged a loss to Lee's Summit West at the same point of the brackets last season.

The Falcons finally closed it out on a 25-yard run by senior running back Morgan Steward, who entered the game as the state's ninth leading rusher with 1,734 rushing yards (22 TDs). The Falcons recovered a fumble in the fourth overtime to end the Titans possession, before scoring.



Steward and quarterback Trent Hosick combined for nine touchdowns in the game, according to the Kansas City Star.

Staley led the defending champions by 14 points midway through the fourth quarter, before Lee's Summit West quarterback and Iowa State recruit Luke Knott rallied.

The Titans forced the extra session when Shaq Harrison nabbed a scoring reception on the game's final play, according to the newspaper.