By Jim Stanford on November 10, 2007
Jake Vosika hoists the championship trophy following the 10-6 victory.
With four inches and 34 seconds to play, the Jackson Broncs dug in and stopped the Buffalo Bison to win the state football championship.
Before an overflowing crowd clad in black and orange, the Broncs (11-0) came up with their third goal-line stand of the game to claim a 10-6 victory and the school’s first state title in 21 years.
The heart-stopping finish capped an improbable season and earned the Broncs a measure of respect from the rest of the state, which long has regarded Jackson as a playground for the rich and pampered.
Coach Bill Wiley, who kicked the winning field goal the last time Jackson won the championship, had told his team that the game could be decided by two feet.
“It came down to two inches, and our guys got ‘er done,” Wiley said while being swarmed by players, media and well-wishers afterward on the field.
Overmatched by the hulking Bison (10-1), which fielded several players at or near 300 pounds, Jackson won with speed and defense, as it did all season.
Quarterback Blane Woodfin scored on an 80-yard run on the Broncs’ second possession, and Sean McDonald booted a field goal at the end of the first half to give Jackson a 10-0 lead.
After the Broncs squandered a couple of opportunities to put the game away, Buffalo rallied in the second half and nearly took the lead with two minutes to play. But Jackson’s Mitchell Clark, a senior defensive back, saved the game with a diving tackle that forced Buffalo quarterback Tyler Gibbs out of bounds at the 6-yard line after Gibbs had broken free on fourth down and raced along the sideline for 74 yards.
A crowd estimated at more than 5,000 roared in celebration as Jackson ran out the clock after the final stand.
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