IHSAA football 5A final: Valparaiso beats Whiteland in 'a championship game for the ages.'

The Cardiac Kids from Valparaiso had time for one more comeback.

In the final high school football game of the season Saturday night —  and arguably the best, considering the stakes in the Class 5A state championship —  Valparaiso lived up to its never-say-die reputation by converting four third downs and scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 19 seconds remaining on a 11-yard touchdown pass from Justin Clark to Rocco Micciche for a 35-31 thriller over Whiteland.

Clark threw the ball into the left flat to Micciche, the 5-7, 150-pound senior. Micciche, who had not touched the ball all night, juked a defender at the Whiteland 5 and nearly went to the turf, then sprinted to the left corner of the end zone, diving for the pylon and into the end zone.

IHSAA football finals: Scores, highlights, photos, stats and more

“I was definitely close,” Micciche said of going down. “I’m lucky I got that hand down.”

It was a fitting finish for a Valparaiso team that won its sectional championship by a touchdown over Chesterton before back-to-back one-point wins over Merrillville in the regional and Fort Wayne Snider in the semistate. It is the first state championship for the Vikings since the 1975 team won the Class 3A title in a three-class system.

“We thrive through adversity and that’s what we did today,” Clark said. “We all knew deep down in our hearts that we had it in us.”

The 6-foot, 220-pound Travis Davis was a workhorse for the Vikings (11-3), carrying 36 times for 193 yards. Clark was 10-for-14 passing for 163 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 57 yards and three TDs on 14 carries. Julian Stokes caught two passes for 78 yards and a score.

“There’s been a community waiting for 47 years to be able to go ahead and have another one of these,” Valparaiso coach Bill Marshall said. “To be able to take this back home with this group of underdogs, to be honest with you, is remarkable.”

On the other side, of course, there was heartbreak. Second-ranked Whiteland (12-1), making its first appearance in the state finals, started with a flourish on a 98-yard kickoff return by sophomore Maalik Perkins. The Warriors then recovered a pooch kickoff and later grabbed a 10-0 lead after a 36-yard field goal by David Mathis as the huge contingent of Whiteland fans roared the fast start.

But by the second quarter, the game settled into a back-and-forth, blow-for-blow battle and stayed that way until the final gun. There were seven lead changes, starting with Clark’s 11-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give Valparaiso a 14-10 lead.

“Two lions in a cage,” Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher described the game.

It appeared Whiteland might have the better of it, taking a 31-28 lead after Kevin Denham’s 13-yard play-action touchdown pass to Jakarrey Oliver with 5:32 remaining. The defense then had Valparaiso backed up to its 12, but were unable to land the knockout blow.

“Whose will to win was going to win out in the end?” Fisher said. “They made one more play than we did. Our defense has played phenomenal all year long. With the game in our defense’s hand there, we felt pretty good. A lot of times we’ve made that stop this season. Tonight, Valparaiso just made some plays.”

Whiteland’s diverse running attack accounted for 222 yards overall with Slate Valentine leading the way with 95 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Peyton Emberton added 71 yards on 10 carries. Denham threw for 108 yards and two touchdowns, including a 34-yarder to Gunnar Hicks just before halftime to give Whiteland a 24-21 lead.

After the team photos, Fisher gathered his team and told them not to hang their heads. “You played a championship game for the ages,” Fisher said.

On the other side, the Vikings celebrated with their fans. Clark credited his mom, Sally, for having vision about Saturday’s game.

“She always tells me exactly what she thinks is going to happen,” Clark said. “Today she told me, ‘You’re going to do something amazing.’ I feel like we did it.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school football 5A state final: Whiteland vs. Valparaiso