Jaidyn Doss didn't appear among the rushing leaders through the regular season for the Raymore-Peculiar Panthers.
The speedy sophomore receiver did lead the Panthers in receptions, reception yardage and receiving touchdowns. But running the ball? Hadn't cracked 100 yards.
Saturday afternoon, he cracked it. Really cracked it.
"We just took advantage of the opportunities they gave us in the run game," Doss said after he ran for 190 yards and three touchdowns to lead Raymore-Peculiar to a 23-0 victory against the De Smet Spartans in the Class 6 state championship game Saturday afternoon at Adkins Stadium. "And since I wasn't doing too much outside, I was moved to the backfield to see what I could do."
Doss did all of his work on just 10 carries. His 43-yard touchdown accounted for the lone score of the first half, then had touchdown runs of 64 and 28 yards in the second half.
It's the first Class 6 state title in program history for Raymore-Peculiar, who won three straight Class 5 championships from 2004-06.
For defending state champion De Smet, the loss snapped a 20-game winning streak. The Spartans were missing eight starters due to injury, then lost starting quarterback Byron McNair in the first half.
"It is what it is, we showed up to play and we expected to win," De Smet coach Robert Steeples said.
Doss' first touchdown came on Ray-Pec's second possession of the game. On second-and-4, he sprinted around the left side and ran untouched to the end zone.
"It took a lot of my nerves away," Doss said. "To break that one felt good."
That was all the scoring for the first half. It didn't take long for Doss and the Panthers to get back on the board in the second half.
De Smet got the ball first and drove to the Ray-Pec 36 before turning it over on downs. On the next play, Doss broke free again for a 64-yard touchdown that made it 14-0.
"We just failed to make the play at times," De Smet senior defensive tackle and Missouri recruit Mekhi Wingo said. "You have to make the tackle when you have the opportunity."
After forcing a De Smet punt, Ray-Pec drove to the Spartan 28 before Trey Kudron came on to attempt a 45-yard field goal.
"Up until two weeks ago, we hadn't made a field goal all season, we'd missed two," Ray-Pec coach Sean Martin said.
Kudron's kick hit where the crossbar connects with the goal-post standard, then bounced through to give the Panthers a 17-0 lead for his third made field goal of the postseason.
"It was pretty unusual," Martin said. "You could think things were going to go our way when things like that happen."
Doss' final touchdown came on a 28-yard run with a little more than nine minutes remaining.
It was the first time De Smet had been shut out since a 20-0 loss to Hazelwood Central on Oct. 21, 2017. The Spartans were averaging 38 points this season.
"Our offense has been struggling the past couple of weeks to get back into a groove," Steeples said. "But we need to find a way to get the ball to our playmakers in space and we didn't execute as well as their defense."
The game was a rematch of a Class 6 semifinal last season, won 37-0 by De Smet.
"We've been wanting to beat them since last April," Ray-Pec quarterback Conrad Hawley said.
De Smet finishes with a record of 6-1, not having started the season until Oct. 10 due to COVID-19 restrictions in the St. Louis area. Steeples thinks the short schedule may have played a role Saturday.
"I'll take conditioned legs over fresh legs," he said. "Week 1 De Smet cannot beat Week 7 De Smet because we've had 40 practices and played seven games. You can't skip steps in the process.
"But we're competitors and we're always going to be ready for the challenge. But if we get a chance to play for a state championship, we're going to show up and play for it."
Raymore-Peculiar ends its season at 12-2.