2011 Football: Heitz takes South Harrison to playoff heights with 42-26 victory over Gallatin

South Harrison runningback Wyatt Thomas surely felt like "window dressing" in the Bulldog backfield during the first half of Thursday’s district showdown with Gallatin.

Quarterback Dylan Heitz accounted for 298 of South Harrison’s 299 offensive yards in the first half, and only twice handed off to a teammate in the backfield. The dynamic sophomore completed 25 of 40 passes on the night for 410 yards and five touchdowns to lead his team to a 42-26 victory over Gallatin and Class 1, District 14 title.

Operating with a one-back/four receiver set all night long, Heitz riddled Gallatin’s defense, which was forced to reshuffle assignments in the absence of Hayden Bott, who broke a thumb last week during the loss to Polo. Combined with Gallatin’s scoring output, eight of 10 touchdowns came through the air.

Still, Gallatin went down swinging, with an intensity that never faltered up to the final gun. Down, 35-6, early in the third quarter, Gallatin scored three times in the second half to keep the pressure on the home Bulldogs.

For the second week in a row, Gallatin had an apparent lead out of the gate. Jordan Jeffers broke a 35-yard run for a touchdown, but the score was nullified by a holding penalty. Chad Ness took a third and long handoff and scampered to the South Harrison 14. A field goal attempt by Dexter Daniel just missed to the right of the goal post.

Heitz went to work. He tossed TD passes of 49 and 51 yards to Cole Osborne in the first quarter, and threw scoring passes to Osborne (15 yards) and Dylan Foster (21 yards) in the second quarter.

A late second quarter pass from Zach Lollar to Ness broke the drought for Gallatin. Ness leaped high in the air and tipped the ball in order to make the catch. Having done so, he cut across the grain of the field and beat pursuit to the pylon to complete a 32-yard play.

South Harrison took advantage of a third quarter interception to showcase the Heitz to Osborne connection one more time as the two quickly converted on a five-yard pass play. South Harrison faked the PAT kick and tacked on a two-point conversion with a pass play.

Gallatin kept up its end of the scoring load. Lollar hit Ness on a short route and the junior flanker made the most of yards after the catch, racing 41 yards to the end zone. Jeffers ran for the two-point conversion to make it a 35-14 ball game.

An early fourth quarter drive featured some tough running by Jeffers that set up an Isaac Mattis TD catch of 12 yards.

South Harrison would not let its lead shrink to just one possession. With 3:14 remaining, Wyatt stepped out of the shadows to take a handoff into the end zone from six yards out.

Gallatin would add a final score less than a minute later on a 70-yard kickoff return by Ness.

The Bulldogs posted some impressive offensive totals in the loss. Lollar finished with 199 yards passing. Ness caught six passes for 134 yards. Jeffers rushed 26 times for 156 yards. Gallatin amassed 435 yards total offense while playing from behind the entire night.

Gallatin defensive totals came from open-field tackling. Wes Cole finished with six solos and four assists. Mattis made five solo stops with two assists. Dexter Daniel had 10 combined tackles, Jeffers finished with eight and Peter Steele and Brandon Hunt each chipped in six.

Final GRC Standings — Week 10

Oct. 27 Results

S. Harrison 42, Gallatin 26

Hamilton 31, LeBlond 13

King City 56, Maysville 18

Marceline 17, Princeton 6

Albany 20, Rock Port 10

Polo 59, Braymer 14

Nov. 2 Playoff Schedule

Hogan Prep at Hamilton

Polo at Wellington-Napoleon

St. Mary’s at S. Harrison

Albany at East Buchanan

West Platte at King City