Maroa-Forsyth’s legend-making final scoring drive ends QND’s season in state quarterfinals

MAROA, Ill. — As soon as Josh Jostes saw his defense force a late game turnover on downs the Maroa-Forsyth football coach went to find his quarterback.

“I pulled (Ryne Sheppard) over and said, ‘This is what legends are made of,’” Jostes said.

Sheppard led the Trojans on an 11-play, 94-yard scoring drive capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass to Zach Smith and two-point conversion toss to the same receiver. It erased Quincy Notre Dame’s advantage and ended the Raiders’ season in Saturday’s Class 2A quarterfinals as Maroa-Forsyth won 22-21 in front of a standing-room only crowd on a blustery afternoon at Walter Boyd Field. 

Before the drive started, Jostes made sure to tell Sheppard there was no hesitation if they scored a touchdown. The Trojans were going for two rather than settling for a game-tying point after attempt.

“We play a lot of 7-on-7 games in the summer, and we probably converted that (play) 70 times,” Jostes said. “I’m not sure it’s ever been stopped.”

The Trojans (11-1) advance to the semifinals for the third consecutive season while the Raiders’ first quarterfinal appearance in five seasons concluded with their first loss since the regular season opening setback to Quincy High School. 

“I’m very proud of the way that our guys played and very proud of the way they fought back after getting in the hole early,” QND coach Jack Cornell said. “Credit to (Maroa-Forsyth) for having a good game plan and playing really well. Just one or two plays we left out there and we could have made it a different situation.”

QND (10-2) seemed to have the upper hand in the game’s final minutes. Clinging to a 21-14 lead, Raiders running back Oliver Triplett’s 24-yard run put the visitors at the Trojans’ 11-yard line. But the next four plays netted 5 yards, including senior backup quarterback Wyatt Mueller’s fourth down failed conversion when he was brought down for no gain. 

QND could have lined up for a 23-yard field goal on fourth down to make it a two-score contest, but Cornell wanted six points instead of three.

“I wanted to be aggressive and score a touchdown,” Cornell said. “(Maroa-Forsyth was) obviously ready for that play that I sent in. That’s on me 100 percent. I think that our guys tried as best they could to find success in that situation, but just couldn’t.”

The thought of putting pressure on freshman kicker Rowan Stegeman didn’t factor in Cornell’s decision.

“I think that we just believed in how we were moving the ball down the field in that situation,” Cornell said. “We thought that we could put it in (the end zone).” 

The Raiders’ final drive started at their own 26-yard line with 47 seconds left and they got to the Trojans 42-yard line with six ticks left when Mueller connected with wide receiver Gavin Doellman near the 25-yard line. But as time expired Doellman’s backward lateral attempt was unsuccessful and put an end to an ill-fated last chance at a game-winning touchdown.

“(Maroa-Forsyth) had a lot of great athletes, and their play calling was really good, and we couldn’t capitalize on it,” Mueller said. “But I couldn’t be prouder of how we’ve done this whole season, and all of my teammates are my brothers.”

The showdown of small-school powerhouses started like it may be one-sided. After QND went three and out on its opening drive and Ivan Hun’s punt traveled only 16 yards, Maroa-Forsyth needed just five plays to score the game’s first touchdown as Sheppard found tight end Grant Smith, a University of Illinois commit, in the corner of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 8:54 to play in the opening quarter. A few minutes later, the Trojans went 67 yards on nine plays to make it 14-0 when running back Khanton Wilson found paydirt from 3 yards out. 

But the Raiders didn’t back down.

“You can never get too high or too low,” QND senior lineman Ryan Darnell said. “You just can’t or you’ll lose.”

Maroa-Forsyth fumbled on its third drive and QND seized the momentum right before halftime. The Raiders went on a 13-play, 58-yard scoring drive mostly riding Hun on the ground. Hun picked up 44 rushing yards on the series and cut the deficit in half thanks to a 5-yard touchdown. Hun finished with 132 yards rushing on 22 carries.

In a span of a little more than three minutes of the third quarter, the Raiders took advantage of a pair of Trojans miscues to take their first lead. 

On Maroa-Forsyth’s opening drive of the second half, a botched snap sailed over the head of the punter and Raiders senior defensive end Nolan Ehrhardt recovered it at the Trojans’ 20-yard line, leading to a 1-yard touchdown on a sneak by QND junior quarterback Hunter Schuckman to even the score at 14. Mueller picked off Sheppard’s pass on the ensuing drive and Mueller ran it back to the 2-yard line. Hun punched it in on the very next play to give the Raiders a 21-14 lead midway through the third quarter.  

“The guys up front were really doing a great job of being physical at the point of attack and really taking the fight to (Maroa-Forsyth),” Cornell said.

QND junior running back Oliver Triplett added 86 yards on seven carries while Schuckman was 8 of 10 through the air for 73 yards, and senior wideout Jack Brenner and junior wide receiver Gavin Doellman combined for 64 receiving yards. 

Sheppard paced the Maroa-Forsyth’s offense with 203 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns, and the Trojans gained 138 yards on the ground.

A QND season with lofty interior expectations and exterior curiosity ended shy of the program’s fourth-ever semifinal berth. The 10 victories were the Raiders’ first double-digit win total since 2013. 

“We got a lot of guys who wanted to step up and do the work and be leaders,” senior linebacker Taylin Scott said. “The guys that I played with are great people and I’m forever grateful that they were who they were.”