One way or the other, the fourth-ranked Hickman football team was going to be hurting at the conclusion of last night’s Class 6 District 6 game with Jefferson City.

Parker Eshelman photos

Above, Hickman football players Anthony Sims (32), Chris Mason (5) and Camerin Cole (13) react after the Kewpies’ 33-30 loss to Jefferson City last night on Hickman Field. The Kewpies had a 30-13 lead in the third quarter before losing their chance to advance to the state playoffs. Below, Rob Heath is helped off the field after suffering a knee injury in Hickman’s 33-30 loss to Jefferson City last night.

The only thing that would ease the pain of the injuries that sent key starters Rob Heath, Russell Davis and Josh Williams to the sidelines for the entire fourth quarter of the physical battle on Hickman Field would be a win over the archrival Jays.

It didn’t happen.

Jefferson City 33, Hickman 30.

And this one proved more agonizing than all of the injuries the banged-up Kewpies piled up this season.

"It hurts. It definitely hurts," senior lineman Dan Evans said. "It’s just a pain."

Needing a win to clinch their first district title since 2004, the Kewpies (7-3, 2-1 District 6) let a 17-point lead slip away in the second half. Trailing 30-26 with 6 minutes remaining and with virtually no hope of making the playoffs, Jefferson City (8-2, 2-1) ruined Hickman’s playoff plans by driving 95 yards on 17 plays for a game-winning touchdown with 38 seconds left.

Brad Allen’s 7-yard pass to Cole Boyce put the Jays in front and silenced the large Hickman crowd, but the Kewpies had one last drive in them.

Starting from its own 32-yard line with 32 seconds left, Hickman used seven plays and 30 seconds to move the ball to the Jefferson City 26-yard line. Senior kicker Stephen Peel, who had made seven field goals this season, had a chance to tie the game.

From 43 yards out and with 2 seconds on the clock, Peel drove his right foot into the ball from the right hash. The kick easily had the distance, but the ball sailed wide right.

No good. No playoffs. No justice for a Hickman squad that had overcome so much this year - most notably last year’s 3-7 season - to get so close to the prize of a playoff berth.

"What heart do these guys have?" Hickman Coach Jason Wright said after a heartfelt speech to his crushed players. "We didn’t win on the scoreboard, but we won in my heart. The legacy that these seniors have left for these juniors and sophomores is more important right now. They really laid it on the line. It just wasn’t in the cards."

Things were looking good early for the Kewpies, who scored on their opening possession - a 2-yard run by Heath - and held a 10-0 lead midway through the second quarter after a 20-yard Peel field goal.

A 4-yard touchdown run by Desmond Wilson at the 4:36 mark of the first quarter cut Hickman’s lead to 10-7, but Hickman answered seconds later when Williams took a fullback dive up the middle for a 52-yard score.

With 1:23 remaining until halftime, the Jays covered 73 yards in seven plays to get their second score. Allen found Boyce on a 10-yard pass completion similar to the game-winning TD that cut the Kewpies’ lead to 17-13 at halftime.

Hickman opened the third quarter with what looked like a game-defining play when Jefferson City was unable to field Peel’s squib kick. The ball rolled close to the end zone, and after a Jefferson City player again tried to field the ball, it slipped from his grasp and freshman Spenser Washington recovered in the end zone for a Hickman touchdown.

After forcing a Jefferson City punt, Hickman extended its lead to 30-13 with 8:02 left in the third quarter with a 17-yard touchdown by Heath. The senior tailback led the Kewpies with 133 yards on 19 carries but left the game with a knee injury on the final play of the third quarter and did not return.

Tucker Bounds, who finished with 100 yards on eight attempts, set up Heath’s second score with a 47-yard run.

With nothing to play for but pride, the Jays didn’t quit and scored 20 unanswered points. With the Kewpies keying on Wilson, Jefferson City turned to fullback Aaron Terrill and Allen to move the ball. Terrill, who scored two short touchdown runs in the second half, finished with 154 yards on 18 carries and Allen added 110 yards on 16 attempts. Allen also threw for 189 yards for the Jays, who accumulated 506 yards of total offense.

Jeff City’s final 95 yards came on an epic march down the field that was kept alive by one fourth-down conversion and aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty after a third-down incompletion.

"I thought we were one play away in the fourth quarter," Wright said. "Jeff City had the momentum a little bit, but our kids were still fighting and still competing."

The Kewpies continued to fight until the end. Quarterback Doug Luetjen completed four passes to Bounds on the desperate final drive and even scrambled for 13 yards and a first down despite playing his eighth game with a torn ACL.

The gritty senior finished with 152 passing yards and had the Kewpies in position to extend the game with a long field goal, but it wasn’t meant to be. Both teams walked off the field eliminated from the playoffs - Fort Zumwalt West (9-1, 2-1) won the district title via the 13-point tiebreaker - but the Jays celebrated a satisfying victory.

"I know we all played our hardest," Evans said. "You can’t hang your head at that. It just didn’t work out."

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