Here's the story from the Post Dispatch:
Kirkwood football coach Larry Frost doesn't want his players or coaches to wonder what might have been Saturday night. But the veteran coach knows how difficult that will be for his Pioneers.
Kirkwood lost three fumbles, which helped turn the tide in the Class 5 championship game at the Edward Jones Dome.
Running back Derrick Washington and Raymore-Peculiar took advantage and walked away with a 42-32 victory for their third straight state championship.
"I told my kids never to think about that, but they're going to do it," Frost said. "I told us coaches not to think about that, but we're going to do it. Turnovers are crucial in the game of football. We know that. They haven't hurt us all year long. We haven't had turnovers all year long. We've always won the turnover battle. Today, they got us."
Raymore-Peculiar (10-3) became the sixth team to win three straight Missouri High School Activities Association championships and the first school to do it in Class 5. "It doesn't get old, that's for sure," Ray-Pec coach Tom Kruse said. "It was one of those football games where it seemed like we kind of hung on. First of all, I have to give Kirkwood a ton of credit because they are a very, very, very talented, good football team."
But Kirkwood (10-2), which was appearing in the championship game for the first time in school history, had no answer for Washington, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior who has committed to the University of Missouri.
He rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns, caught two passes for 24 yards and another score and returned a punt 68 yards for his fifth touchdown while the game still was in doubt.
Washington has been a big part of all three title game victories.
He racked up 214 total yards (115 receiving yards, 99 rushing yards) and scored four touchdowns in last year's 43-21 victory over McCluer North in the championship game.
As a sophomore, Washington had 116 total yards (93 rushing, 23 receiving) and scored three touchdowns as Ray-Pec defeated McCluer North 37-18 to win the Class 5 title.
Kirkwood got off to a rocky start Saturday. The Pioneers fumbled away the opening kickoff, and Ray-Pec quickly turned that into seven points as Washington rushed through the right side of the defense for a 13-yard run just 34 seconds into the game.
Kirkwood answered on its next series. Quarterback Marcus Harris escaped pressure and picked up some key blocks downfield on his way to a 60-yard touchdown run with 10:13 left in the first quarter.
The Pioneers took a 14-7 lead following an interception by Robreese Williams and a 26-yard touchdown run by sophomore Kimuel Keller with 2:07 remaining in the quarter. But Raymore-Peculiar answered by scoring on four straight possessions — a 36-yard touchdown pass from Gabe Crumpley to Gavin Lutman, a 1-yard run by Washington, a 23-yard pass from Crumpley to Washington and a 65-yard run by Washington to take a 35-14 lead with 10 minutes 44 seconds left in the third quarter.
That's when Kirkwood began its improbable comeback.
The Pioneers cut the deficit to 35-21 on a 2-yard touchdown run by Delvon Adams with 7:47 left in the third quarter, then to 11 points with a 40-yard field goal by Kristopher Turek with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter.
Kirkwood turned the ball over at Ray-Pec's 13-yard line on the Pioneers' next series, which came back to hurt them after trimming the deficit to three points with 7:35 left in the game. That's when Harris scored on a 1-yard run and then connected with D'Marco Austin for a 2-point conversion to make it 35-32.
Washington ended the Pioneers' comeback bid when he returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown, his fifth of the game, with 1:59 remaining to put Raymore-Peculiar ahead 42-32.
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