WIAA 4A state football championship: Final kick sends Sumner into a dreamy title-winning night

Austin Ferencz nails a 21-yard field goal on the final play to lift Spartans to 27-24 victory at Husky Stadium

Longtime Sumner coach Keith Ross hoists the trophy after his Spartans won the WIAA Class 4A championship with a 27-24 victory over Camas on Saturday night. / Photo by Vince Miller

SEATTLE - If Austin Ferencz was feeling any angst from missing two earlier kicks, he wasn't letting on.

Keith Ross didn't want any of his Sumner High School players approaching the team's big-footed placekicker either, leaving the moment all to him.

And Ferencz delivered an ending the Spartans won't soon forget.

In Week 1, Ferencz kicked a game-winning field goal to bury the reigning Class 4A champions from Lake Stevens. And his 21-yard field goal as time expired crowned his team the new kings of the classification with a 27-24 victory Saturday night over Camas at Husky Stadium.

It was the Spartans' first state title in 47 years - and first for Ross in his 23rd season in the program.

"We did this for Coach Ross," Ferencz said. "We call him our 'Shepherd.' He guides us all."

And in his first Gridiron Classic appearance, Ross guided Sumner to a last-second victory in what will be remember as a classic back-and-forth affair betweet these two heavyweights.

Up until the final drive, the 4A SPSL champions rode a big effort from tailback Steele Isaacs (35 carries, 170 yards, two touchdowns), who was the first 100-yard rusher a stout Camas run defense had given up all season.

As for the 4A GSHL champions, it was a struggle finding any room to run, so quarterback Jake Davidson, the recently-named Gatorade state player of the year, kept picking on Sumner's defense with short sideline passes, hooking up twice with wide receiver Chase McGee on big scoring plays (39 and 61 yards).

Camas kicker Jackson Tyler tied the game at 24-24 on a 34-yard field goal with 6:07 remaining.

All that stood between Sumner and a memorable finish was 69 yards to the far end zone.

Easily the second-biggest sequence was the Spartans' play call facing a fourth and 2 at their own 37-yard line.

Sumner lined up in punt formation, but suddenly Ross thought of Dan Campbell, the NFL coach with Detroit who is notorious for gambling on fourth down.

"I thought, 'We are not going to win the game unless we get a score now.' I didn't know if we could stop them again," Ross said.

So, Ross saw what formation Camas was in, and called for a fake punt.

"And then I tried to call it off," Ross said. "But nobody heard me. ... I was going to either be the hero or the goat,"

Good thing, because up-man Aaron Black converted it on a 7-yard run to keep the drive alive.

Two plays later, quarterback Nate Donavan found his hot target all night - Kainoa Grounds - for a 29-yard connection to the Papermakers' 27. Sumner was now in business.

"We saw they were going to bring pressure and try and man our guys up," Donavan said. "We've got great receivers, so I trusted him ... and he did a great job coming back to the ball."

Six plays later, Sumner's slow crawl left the offense at the Papermakers' 4 with four seconds remaining. That is when Ross waved Ferencz in to win it.

"He nailed it," Ross said.

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