No player had a better point of view of what was going on in the closing 75 seconds of Pattonville’s 34-27 victory against Vianney in the Class 5 quarterfinal game than Pirates senior Dakari Streeter.

The Pattonville defense stopped Vianney on 3rd down with 1 minute and 15 seconds left in the 27-27 game on a goal-line stand and Streeter had the best perspective of the referees measuring the ball around the 2-yard line which took more than a minute to officially determine.

“After he straightened out the chains, I knew they didn’t get it right away,” Streeter said. “They kept moving the chains and I was waiting for them to straighten it out, but I saw they were a couple links short.”

Vianney attempted to convert for a first down instead of going for a field goal and the Pirates defense pushed them back a yard.

“I had a feeling we were going to stop them after the measurement,” Streeter said. “We had the momentum on our side.”

After a timeout, the Pirates lined up with running back David Ellison Jr. taking the snap in the end zone.

“At first, we were going to try and draw them offsides to give us some extra room to work with but the plan was also to run the ball with David,” Streeter said. “But if the linebacker came up on him from the outside, he was going to throw it out to me.”

When Streeter saw the linebacker that was his man to block get past him, he knew that he had to turn around and look for the ball.

“David tossed the ball right to me and I was just trying to get us a little closer to give [quarterback Kaleb] Eleby a chance to throw a Hail Mary,” Streeter said. “I ended up breaking a tackle and going all the way.”

He went 97 yards. On a cold night. After playing 47 minutes of football against the defending Class 5 state champions.

“I don’t even know where that energy came from,” Streeter said. “I was just thinking that whatever I do, don’t get caught from behind. Luckily, right when I was running out of gas, Derrick Boyce came up from behind me and got the block for me.”

With 47 seconds left in the game, Pattonville had to go back on defense leading for the first time since Charles Shelton IV caught a 70-yard pass from Eleby just 47 seconds into the second quarter to open the game’s scoring.

“All of that happened and then we had to go back onto defense again,” Streeter said.

Vianney opened their drive but Ellison grabbed his second interception of the game and the Pirates offense was able to kneel the ball to run out the clock.

After the student section celebrated on the field with the players on Friday night, the team has to get back to focusing on the next game which is against undefeated Fort Zumwalt North (12-0).

“We just have to practice like it’s any ordinary game,” Streeter said. “We have to come out and do our jobs, and if we do that, we are going to get to state.”

The Pirates will play Fort Zumwalt North on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 1 p.m. at Pattonville for a chance to play for the state championship. Tickets are $7 for all fans ages 6 and up and can be purchased at the stadium beginning at 11:45 a.m.

Pattonville will be selling tickets prior to the game Wednesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the main office at the high school and also during lunch hours for students and staff. There will be a separate entry gate for those who purchased tickets prior to the game.