By Nathan Baird
Lafayette Journal and Courier

WEST LAFAYETTE – The final play of the Class 3A Sectional 20 championship Nov. 7 at Straley Field seemed to take an eternity to develop.

Players from both West Lafayette and Yorktown will remember the play forever.

Tigers senior Wes Winkle knocked away a Matt Lancaster pass intended for Andy Huber in the end zone, preserving No. 11 Yorktown's 34-26 upset of the second-ranked Red Devils.

"We knew we could do it," said WL junior Andrew Pekny, who caught seven passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. "We got so close and then we just fell a little bit short. You had to believe the entire time."

Yorktown (10-2) handed West Lafayette its only loss and advances to face No. 4 Bellmont in regional play. The Red Devils (11-1) had not played in a sectional final since 1993.

"It's amazing," said Yorktown senior Jay Neal, who rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns. "I've imagined this in dreams, but this is awesome."

West Lafayette nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback after Neal's second touchdown put the Tigers up 34-19 with 1:56 left.

Starting at his own 18, Lancaster completed 6 of 6 passes, including a 12-yard touchdown pass to Paul Schumann. West Side pulled within 34-26 while using just 46 seconds and none of its timeouts.

Yorktown recovered the onside kick, and West Side burned two timeouts while forcing third-and-10. Jacob Walker overthrew a wide open Nick Upchurch, and after the punt, the Red Devils had the ball at their 22 with 45.2 seconds left.

Facing second-and-10 at the Yorktown 46 with 16.5 seconds left, Lancaster and Pekny connected on a pass play down to the Tiger 1. Lancaster scored on the next play, but West Side was flagged for an illegal shift, setting up the final play with 3.8 seconds left.

"We have a designed play, but with three seconds left, you just have to get open," said Lancaster, who threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 103 yards and another score.

"I was scrambling in the backfield, and he was open and I tried to get him the ball, and they made a great defensive play there."

West Lafayette led 13-7 at halftime after outgaining Yorktown 184-79. But the Red Devils' final two first-half drives started in Tiger territory, and they settled for two pooch punts and no points.

Yorktown dominated the first 10 minutes of the third quarter behind Neal. The senior fullback, who became the Tigers' go-to back after starter Derek Kundenreich went down with a sprained ankle, rushed for 132 yards on 21 carries after halftime.

Neal's 1-yard touchdown plunge capped the opening drive of the second half. Jacob Walker's 31-yard touchdown pass to Russell Walker on third-and-10 put Yorktown up 21-13 late in the third.

"They made some really good blocks, pushing us off the line so we couldn't get to him," WL junior Raymond Lipscomb said of Neal, who totaled just 331 yards in the first 11 games. "Every time we got to him, he was at the first-down marker."

West Lafayette's seniors completed a two-year run which included a 19-3 record and a Hoosier Conference championship.

"You've got to realize how good the other team is," WL coach Marshall Overley said. "You start thinking maybe we let down, or didn't do this. You realize they outplayed us at that point, and they've go to be complimented on it."