<b>Tigers end playoff drought, beat Broncos</b></p><p><i>Editor's note: Click on picture to right to see more photos from both games</i></p><p>Twenty one years. </p><p>That’s where the streak will stop for the Lee’s Summit football team, as they will no longer be absent from the playoffs thanks to a 24-21 win Friday night over cross-town rival Lee’s Summit North on its home field. </p><p>“It feels good. It feels great to be the first in 21 years,” Tiger quarterback Corbin Berkstresser said. “It was a great game. It was fun.”</p><p>Added head coach Mike Spiegel, who was a part of the last Tiger team to make the playoffs in 1988 as an assistant coach, “It’s been a long time coming. We challenged the seniors on Sunday to leave a legacy here, to get something going as far as playoffs are concerned. They took that to heart, and they all worked really hard this week. Their goal came true. I’m very proud of the entire team and coaching staff. It’s exciting.”</p><p>And thanks to a play by a little-used senior in the fourth quarter, the Tigers were able to breathe a little easier down the stretch. With 6 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the game, Lee’s Summit had watched its 17-0 lead evaporate and were ahead just 17-14 thanks to Bronco touchdown runs by Caleb Cole and Montreal Robinson. </p><p>The Tigers were hoping to run the clock down but had failed to move the ball effectively in the second half. But with the playoffs in sight, the message was simple. “We just have to finish,” Berkstresser said. “I think in the second half a lot of player’s thought we were done already. But against a team like that, you’re never done.”</p><p>The first three plays of the drive went to running back Zach Stark. On a third and short, Stark inched past the first down marker to keep the clock moving. </p><p>On play number four, the Tigers went to a different option, senior D.J. Nelson, who found a hole on the left side of the line, made one cutback and was gone, 51 yards for a score, his first of the season at the best possible time. </p><p>“I just went through the hole,” Nelson said. “The line blocked real good. It was wide open from there. It was a sprint to the end zone. That’s my biggest run.”</p><p>“D.J. has done everything we’ve asked him to do and tonight, he just had a huge, huge place in this game,” Spiegel said. “His touchdown was the difference in the game.”</p><p>The Broncos got the ball back twice and after their first possession resulted in an interception, they were able to drive down the field and score on a 23-yard run by Cole, but with just 13 seconds left, it was too late, as their onside kick was recovered by the Tigers. </p><p>Looking at the stat sheet it might appear as if the game was one-sided. The Broncos finished the game with three more first downs and 161 more yards of total offense than the Tigers. But the most important stat was the turnovers. North turned the ball over four times – three on fumbles – while Lee’s Summit didn’t commit a single turnover for the second straight game. “That’s hard to overcome, especially at crucial times,” Broncos head coach Ty Kohl said. “You have to take care of the football. We’ve turned the ball over in crucial situations and you can’t do that.”</p><p>The biggest one might have been the first. </p><p>The Tigers had just run a successful fake punt but the Bronco defense had forced another punting situation. North returner Aaron Sorrell tried to run up and field the Berkstresser punt but he couldn’t handle it and Tiger cornerback Richard Chungong recovered. </p><p>The fumble gave the Tigers the ball on the North 26-yard line and three plays later on third-and-10 they were in the end zone on a 26-yard pass from Berkstresser to Sam Sealer for a 17-0 lead. </p><p>“They were pretty big for us,” Tiger senior King Frazier said of the turnovers. “We needed to get the offense the ball as much as we can, keep them from scoring and we did our job.”</p><p>Sandwiched around the Broncos’ first score was a pair of fumbles and after their second score came the interception. While North moved the ball better in the second half, mistakes proved costly. “In the first half we just didn’t play like we’re capable,” Kohl said. “In the second half we played like we know how to play and we just turned the ball over.”</p><p>The loss finished North’s season at 3-7, the first under Kohl, and he feels it was a positive step. “I’m proud of our kids’ effort; they were fighting to the very end,” Kohl said. “I’m real excited in the direction that Lee’s Summit North is moving. I feel good about the kids in our program and I know they’re starting to understand what it’ll take to be successful.”</p><p>Lee’s Summit moved to 4-6 on the season and will face a red-hot Blue Springs team on the road next Friday. But you can believe the Tigers are going to enjoy their first playoff berth in 21 years. “Anything can happen in the playoffs,” Berkstresser said. “The key is to believe and keep going,” King added. </p><p><b>Titans ride big first half to win</b></p><p>Lee’s Summit West advanced to the Class 5 playoffs with a 35-6 home win over Springfield Central on Thursday. The Titans took the drama out of things early, taking a 21-0 lead in the first six minutes as they rolled to a 35-0 halftime lead. </p><p>West started the game with a touchdown run by Jordan Wade, which was started by a fumble recovery. Max Morgan had the second score on a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown, and Erik MacDowell ran in from 13 yards out for the quick 21-0 lead. </p><p>The final two scores for the Titans came on another run by Wade and a 44-yard pass from Zach Harris to Trevor Smith. The Titans will face the District 9 winner on the road Wednesday at 7 p.m.