Lamar rallies to beat Valle Catholic in overtime to win Missouri Class 2 football championship

Tigers overcame 21-point deficit to win 35-28 in overtime

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI – After back-to-back losses in the Missouri Class 2 football championship game the past two years and facing an early 21-point deficit, the Lamar football team could have quit on Saturday. 

"Instead of saying here we go again," Tigers coach Jared Beshore said, "we said here we go."

Trailing by three touchdowns midway through the second quarter, Lamar fought back to tie the score and then defeated Valle Catholic in overtime, 35-28, to win the Missouri Class 2 title in a thriller at Memorial Stadium.

"It's tough to put into words right now," Beshore said. "They jumped right on top of us. That's a great football program. They've been doing it for a long time. I'm just so proud of our kids fighting back and they never gave up. That is a poetic justice ending. That couldn't have encompassed our season and our team and these seniors better than being down 21-0 and having to fight back and claw their way back and ending up with the W. That's what these guys have been through all season."

The championship is the second in four seasons for Lamar (13-1) and the ninth in school history. The Tigers won seven straight titles from 2011 to 2017 under previous coach Scott Bailey and then won again in 2020 under Beshore.

Valle Catholic (12-2) was back in the title game for the first time since winning the Class 1 crown in 2019 – which was the Warriors' 15th state championship. Valle Catholic has won six Class 1 titles under Judd Naeger (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015).

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The Warriors led 14-0 after one quarter and build a 21-0 lead with 8 minutes and 7 seconds remaining in the first half on three Grant Fallert touchdown passes – a 37-yarder to Rylan Fallert to open the scoring and then two TD passes to Tyler Gegg.

Lamar trimmed the deficit to 21-14 by halftime after a 69-yard touchdown pass from Alex Wilkerson to Chase Querry with 6:18 left and then a 2-yard touchdown run by Logan Kish with 2:01 left.

Grant Fallert's fourth touchdown pass of the night – a 37-yarder to Colin Henderson midway through the third quarter – extended Valle Catholic's advantage to 28-14 going into the fourth quarter.

Wilkerson scored on a 3-yard run with 10:18 remaining and then connected with Querry again on a 91-yard touchdown with 6:11 left to tie the score at 28-all.

Wilkerson scored on a 25-yard run on the first play of overtime to give Lamar a 35-28 lead and then the Tigers defense stopped Valle Catholic on four downs to secure the victory.

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Wilkerson, the Tigers' junior quarterback, completed eight of 15 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a team-high 135 yards and two scores on 23 carries. 

Querry, a senior wide receiver, finished with three catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns. Lamar racked up 474 total yards. 

Fallert, Valle Catholic's senior quarterback, completed 11 of 24 passes for 264 yards and four touchdowns (with two interceptions) and also ran for 68 yards on 16 carries. Gegg, a junior wide receiver, finished with four catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns.

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MISSOURI CHAMPIONSHIPS SCOREBOARD (12/1/2023)

MISSOURI CHAMPIONSHIPS SCOREBOARD (12/2/2023)

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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveMiz