Photo courtesy of Tanner Colvin

GREAT BEND — Salina Central linebacker Abram Owings admitted that he had no idea it was coming.

The Mustangs’ defense had just stopped Great Bend cold for a second straight series and he was on the sideline as the offense tried to run out the clock with a trip to the state championship game at stake. On fourth down and 4 with less than a minute left, quarterback Griffin Hall dropped back and fired a perfect strike over the middle to linebacker Jesus Delgado, who was lined up at tight end.

The result was a 23-yard touchdown, and suddenly the Mustangs had a two-possession lead with 33 seconds left.

“I had no clue,” Abrams said of the play call that all but sealed Central’s 30-28 Class 5A semifinal victory Friday night at Great Bend High School Memorial Stadium. “I was sitting there, and I had no clue.”

Senior linebacker/running back Abram Owings

“Mind blown. So many emotions came in.”

The first career completion for Delgado, Central’s leading tackler, was just one of several big plays on a night when the Mustangs needed them all against a previously unbeaten Great Bend team. With the victory they improved to 11-1 and now head to Emporia to take on Basehor-Linwood (12-0) at 2 p.m. Friday for a state championship.’

“That’s amazing. It’s unbelievable for the team, the school and the community,” Owings, a senior outside linebacker, said of securing Central’s first state final appearance since the 2005 team won it all. “It’s unmatched.”

That it was a defensive player who scored the deciding touchdown seemed fitting. Apart from a pair of long Great Bend scoring passes, including a 46-yarder in the closing seconds, the defense bailed the Mustangs out time and again in the second half.

“When your name gets called, you’ve got to do a job, and I’ve got the right guys around me,” Delgado said with a smile. “We do the job, we execute, and good things happen just like this.”

Senior linebacker Jesus Delgado

Delgado’s touchdown came with Central protecting a precarious two-point lead. The Mustangs had fumbled the ball away on their two previous possessions, but the defense came to the rescue both times, first forcing a three-and-out and then turning Great Bend over on downs near midfield with 4:36 left.

“They stepped up huge and played probably their best game of the year,” Hall, the Mustangs’ junior quarterback, said of the defense. “Our offense wasn’t moving right and somehow the defense stepped up and kept us in the game.”

Junior quarterback Griffin Hall

The Mustangs limited Great Bend (11-1) to 266 yards total offense and its lowest point total of the year. They also scored more points than any Panther opponent.

Central’s offense finished with 342 total yards and converted on all five fourth-down plays, plus drew Great Bend offside on another to keep a drive alive. Two of the conversions came on trick plays that also involved defensive players.

On one, linebacker Eli Kreighbaum, who also is the backup quarterback, lined up for a punt at his own 30-yard line and completed a pass to Bodie Rodriguez that led to a field goal before halftime. The other came on a fake field goal to start the second half when Owings took a pitch from holder Hall, rolled to his right, and found Rodriguez for a 7-yard touchdown to give the Mustangs a 23-6 advantage.

“We were going to be aggressive, but we were going to be timely, too,” Central coach Mark Sandbo said of the trick plays and fourth-down decisions. “We’re too good not to do what we do, but they’re also too good not to take advantage of some aggressiveness and what they were doing when those situational opportunities present themselves, and our kids made the most of them.”

Elijah Duxler’s 32-yard field goal on the last play of the first half put the Mustangs up 16-6 at the break. Then when they faced fourth-and-goal at the 7 to start the second half, Duxler lined up for another attempt from 25 yards out, only to watch Owings throw for a touchdown instead.

“We call it Steeler,” Owings said. “I come around, Griffin pitches it back to me and I either throw it to Bodie or Keaton (Smith), and Bodie happened to be open.”

“That was the first time we ran it this year. We ran it once last year and I think twice the year before, but that was the first time I ever got to run it.”

With the Mustangs already up by double digits, Sandbo liked the chance to open a 17-point advantage instead of settling for three.

“Not that three (points) wouldn’t have done anything for me, but 17 (lead) is a different animal and we got the look we wanted and executed,” he said. “We rep that one quite a bit.”

Hall, who completed 8 of 13 passes for 86 yards, including three on fourth down, was all for the aggressive play-calling.

“It’s awesome. I love that (the coaches) were able to trust me,” said Hall, who also rushed for 89 yards on 19 carries. “And when they trust me, I’ve just got to make the play, because they do a great job of putting me in great situations every game.”

In the first half, it was running back Cooper Reves who carried most of the load for the Mustangs with touchdown runs of 4 yards on Central’s opening drive and 16 in the second quarter. He finished with 155 yards on 37 carries.