The Otis High School football team endured a most heartbreaking ending to it season, last Friday night in Peetz.
Leading 30-24, Otis gave up a touchdown with under one minute left. Peetz then made the extra point to advance to the semifinals with a 31-30 win over the Bulldogs.
Otis finished its season with an 8-4 record, all of its losses coming to teams in the top four in 6-man, including twice to Peetz.
The Bulldogs had lost 37-22 at Peetz on October 25. However, this time they almost pulled off the win in the quarterfinals.
It was a tight game from start to finish, appropriate for a game between the fourth and fifth seeds.
Both teams scored on their first drives as they were tied 8-8. Peetz went ahead 16-8, but Otis answered with Austin Hornung’s five-yard TD pass to Cambric Klinzmann. Gavin Price got the 2-point conversion and the team’s were tied again at 16 at the end of the first quarter.
Peetz went ahead 24-16 in the second. Otis eventually answered with Mitchell Stivers’ 45-yard touchdown run, but the extra point was missed, leaving Peetz ahead 24-22 at halftime.
Neither team could generate a scoring opportunity in the third.
Otis took the lead midway through the fourth on Klinzmann’s touchdown run, and Price made the 2-point conversion to make it 30-24.
The Otis defense forced a turnover on downs with 3 minutes left, giving the Bulldogs a chance to salt away the game. However, they ended up having to punt the ball back to Peetz with 2 minutes left, and the hometown Bulldogs took advantage with a short touchdown run with under 1 minute left, and made the conversion to escape with the one-point win.
Otis finished with 338 total yards, while Peetz had 264. The Bulldogs ran for 277 yards, and passed for another 61.
Stivers ran for 196 yards and two touchdowns, Klinzmann 78 and one touchdown, and Austin Hornung one run for three yards. Hornung completed four of six passes for 56 yards and one touchdown. Stivers completed one pass for five yards. Gracen Bechtle had two catches for 47 yards, Klinzmann the TD catch, Hornung one for five yards, and Grady Bechtle one for four yards.
Defensively, Klinzmann was in on 22 total tackles, Gracen Bechtle 14, Stivers 11, Hornung 11, Blake Stivers three, Emiliano Varela three, Grady Bechtle three, Raegan Torres two, and Hayden Chambers, Travis Wood, Price and Aiden Horinek one each.
The game concluded the high school careers of seniors Mitchell Stivers, Austin Hornung, Blake Stivers, Emiliano Varela, Grady Bechtle, Hayden Chambers, Travis Wood, and Matthew Seward.
The top-four teams have made it to the semifinals in the 6-man playoffs. Peetz now travels to No. 1 Idalia on Saturday, while No. 3 Cheyenne Wells hosts No. 2 Stratton. Idalia beat Sierra Grande 56-7, Cheyenne Wells won 70-21 against Branson/Kim, and Stratton ran out Caliche 70-32.
The semifinal winners will meet in the championship game on Friday, November 28, at 1:30 p.m. at CSU-Pueblo.