But Lane Judisch picked off a Mitzel pass at the goal line in the waning seconds to preserve a 22-18 North victory in the 20th annual Class B All-Star football game at Rocky Mountain College.
The North's victory, made possible when Malta's Chance Demarais bulled his way into the end zone from 9 yards out with 6:47 remaining, was its ninth in the overall series between the teams.
He toted the ball six times for 33 yards on his team's game-winning drive.
“It was fun. You've got to love getting the ball,” said Demarais, who had 62 yards in the second half. “We needed to score so we did.”
But the South nearly stole the game in dramatic fashion.
Mitzel, a quarterback from Loyola Sacred Heart, led the South down the field in just 1:23 while completing passes to Rams teammate Mac Cuffe and Columbus' Tanner Leak, and converting a fourth-and-4 with a 7-yard run of his own.
But with his team on the doorstep from the North's 26-yard line, Mitzel's pass to Cuffe was intercepted by Conrad's Judisch with nine ticks on the clock and the game was effectively over.
“I thought the whole time that we had it,” said Plentywood linebacker Zach McCoy, the North's defensive MVP. “We weren't nervous at all. We were just having fun, playing football. Lane made a great play.”
A series earlier, Mitzel overthrew Seeley-Swan's Zach Evans streaking down the right sideline, which almost certainly would have been a go-ahead touchdown had the ball been caught.
Mitzel, named the South's offensive MVP, lamented that play afterward.
“I overthrew Zach by just a couple inches,” said Mitzel, who finished with a game-high 114 yards through the air. “The wind was at my back and I threw it a little too far. That would have won the game for us.”
The South took a 12-0 lead midway through the second quarter when Ennis quarterback Ryan Martello snuck his way across the goal line for a 2-yard touchdown.
Cuffe and Evans each made circus catches on that drive, the last by Evans that set up the South first-and-goal from the 2.
Mitzel had scored earlier in the first quarter on a draw play that went for 10 yards and a 6-0 lead. The highlight of that drive was the game's longest play from scrimmage, a 46-yard run by Deer Lodge running back Trent Thomas.
But thanks in part to the play of Harlem quarterback Rick Haluszka, the North stayed in the game.
Haluszka led the North on its first scoring drive of the day late in the second quarter, a march that was culminated by his 36-yard touchdown pass to Malta's Kruiz Siewing, who juggled the ball before securing it and hitting the end zone.
Haluszka and Co. took the lead in the third quarter as fullback Cody George of Boulder scored from 11 yards away.
Haluszka, who split time under center with Eureka's Tanner Newell, completed 7 of 9 passes for 106 yards.
“Being the quarterback, I hope to do the right things at the right times,” said Haluszka, a Montana State signee. “I was happy with the way I played.”
Soon after George's score, Mitzel got a touchdown early in the fourth quarter with a 1-yard plunge up the middle, which preceded Demarais' game-winning TD.
Thomas led the South with 76 rushing yards on 12 carries. South wide receiver Leak had seven catches for 84 yards, both game highs. Leak caught his team's first five passes.
“Overall we played real well. We ran the two-minute offense at the end of the game as if we'd been practicing it for a year,” said North head coach Chad Sealey of Roundup. “It came down to an exciting finish. It was a good game.”
Notes: Bob Turnquist, a longtime organizer of the event, was honored at halftime for his contributions to the game over the last two decades. Š Columbus' Matt Seibert, with two sacks, was named the South's defensive MVP. Š Judisch was the runner-up to Malta's Gordon Webb in this spring's state Class B boys golf tournament.
North 0 7 8 7 - 22
South 6 6 0 6 - 18
S - Luke Mitzel 10 run (kick failed)
S - Ryan Martello 2 run (run failed)
N - Kruiz Siewing 36 pass from Rick Haluszka (Brandon Damaskos kick)
N - Cody George 11 run (Haluszka run), 6:58.
S - Mitzel 1 run (kick failed), 11:17.
N - Chance Demarais 9 run (Damaskos kick), 6:47.
Individual statistics
RUSHING - North: Demarais 18-92, Wade Kelly 17-66, George 8-33, Tanner Newell 5-0, Haluszka 8-(-1). South: Trent Thomas 12-76, Martello 14-57, Mitzel 14-35, Chad Hoffmann 6-28.
PASSING - North: Haluszka 7-9-0-106, Newell 0-1-0-0. South: Mitzel 7-21-1-114, Martello 4-9-67, Thomas 0-2-0-0.
RECEIVING - North: Matt VanWinkle 2-19, Siewing 1-36, George 1-20, Miles Werk 1-11, Jeff Handley 1-11, Kelly 1-9. South: Tanner Leak 7-84, Mac Cuffe 3-54, Zach Evans 1-33.
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