CBC Misses Perfect Season in Title Game

 perfect season came to an end Friday night, imperfectly.

The Cadets fell 37-40 to the Blue Springs South Jaguars (12-2) in the Class 6 football state final last night at the Edward Jones Dome. ends with a 12-1 record.

In spite of senior Dalton Demos' 330 yards passing and junior Aarion Maxey-Penton’s total 201 yards, the Jaguars, who had been to the Dome, and won, three previous times in the past ten years, did it again.

“It could have went the other way,” CBC coach Scott Pingel said. “I think we missed a couple throws that we normally hit. We missed a couple catches we normally make. We missed a couple tackles we normally make. We never found a great rhythm tonight. ”

Blue Springs South’s passing, rushing and pass-intercepting, 220-pound quarterback, senior Connor Harris could have been the reason for that. He accounted for 136 yards total offense, and two intercepted CBC passes. The first came in the first quarter in the Cadet’s fourth possession, closing in on the Jaguar’s red zone. The last Harris interception ended the Cadet’s last hope, with 2:23 left in the game.

CBC struck first with a 2-point safety before Harris' 40-yard return of an intercepted Demos pass gave Blue Springs South a 7-2 point lead.

The Jaguars held the Cadets, then scored again. CBC added two touchdowns with passes to Maxey-Penton and a 71-yarder to junior Bert Birdsall to go ahead 16-14.

In the second quarter, Harris struck again with a rushing touchdown. Cadet senior Antonio Brown’s 4-yard run finished a CBC drive to put the Cadets up 23-20, then the multi-purpose Harris  kicked a 33-yard field goal to end the first half 23-23.

Harris nailed his second field goal to start the second half to give Blue Springs South a 26-23 advantage. CBC answered with a 15-play, 74-yard drive finishing with junior Jon Parker's 3-yard touchdown. Advantage CBC, 30-26.

Two more Blue Springs South touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters were answered with only one CBC touchdown, a 12-yard Demos pass to Maxey-Penton. The teams traded possessions until Harris’ interception ended the Cadet’s last hope.

The two teams had met last for the state title in 2006. That game ended 41-7 for Blue Springs South. This year’s Cadets were looking for retribution.

“It’s a terrible feeling to be so close, but yet so far away,” Demos said. “We almost had the perfect season, but like the old saying goes, you can’t be perfect. Nobody is perfect.  We were almost there, but we couldn’t capitalize on a couple different plays and we end up losing the game.”