Saturday, with a spot in the Section VI Class C championship game on the line, the Trojans needed 1 yard to take control against Clymer/Sherman/Panama.

Coach Jake Burkholder turned to a power running formation.

His players did not disappoint.

Zishan Munir scored on a 1-yard plunge into the end zone with 8:15 remaining and Southwestern held off the Wolfpack down the stretch en route to a 24-21 victory.

OBSERVER Photo by Scott Reagle The Trojans’ Nate Johnson is tackled after intercepting a pass.

The win sends the Trojans into next weekend’s Class C title game against Medina, which beat Eden/North Collins 54-6 on Friday night.

“Seniors, regardless of the outcome, that’s the last one,” Burkholder said. ” … We’ve got a week to prepare … and we’ll be ready to go.”

Southwestern took a 17-14 lead into the final quarter Saturday before quarterback Aidan Kennedy led an 11-play 63-yard drive.

On third-and-9 from the C/S/P 34-yard line, the junior signal caller scrambled for 32 yards down to the 2-yard line.

Munir was then stopped on first and second down prompting Burkholder to call a timeout. On the next play, Southwestern lined up with left tackle Calvin Ricker and right tackle Drew Wigren in the backfield in front of Munir. The 5-foot-9 back followed his blockers and burst into the end zone for a 24-14 lead after Neves Hoose’s third successful point-after kick.

OBSERVER Photo by Scott Reagle Clymer/Sherman/Panama’s Brendon Ramsey is hit by a Southwestern defender before scoring a touchdown during Saturday’s Section VI Class C semifinal in Clymer.

“We just have to have different looks,” Burkholder said. “All year we’ve been getting those chunk plays and short yardage hasn’t come into play a lot. We had to make sure we had something ready for that.”

“Those are our guys,” Burkholder added. ” … Those are the people you have to lean on when you need something. They were able to come through for us.”

“We didn’t really question going with that play call. We put that in this week,” Kennedy said. “If we’re at the goal line, we trust those two guys making a push.”

The Wolfpack answered with a five-play, 55-yard drive that was finished off by Brendon Ramsey’s 24-yard scamper into the end zone. Jordan Svetz added the PAT to pull the hosts within three with 6:09 remaining.

“Brendon Ramsey made a great run at the end to get us within three,” C/S/P coach Ty Harper said. “At that point I thought we were right on the doorstep, but we just didn’t make enough plays.”

C/S/P then got the stop it needed, but muffed a punt from Kennedy and Garrett Swan fell on the ball at the 35-yard line to give possession back to Southwestern.

The Trojans converted a fourth-and-1, and then with 2:40 remaining Munir broke free for 9 yards on third-and-3 to put the game away.

“Any time you don’t win the last game of the year,” Harper said, “you just want to get back out on the field and play again.”

Southwestern struck first in the opening quarter when it turned a failed fourth-down conversion by the Wolfpack into a 10-play, 50-yard drive that was capped by a Kennedy-to-Ashton Mathews 12-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone.

“We knew Aidan was going to present some challenges. They have a lot of great athletes over there,” Harper said. “We knew we’d be tested, but I felt the defense played well enough to win today.”

C/S/P answered with a six-play, 43-yard drive that was finished off by 5-foot-10, 235-pound tackle Justin Massing, who pushed forward into the end zone to make it 7-6 with 4:36 left in the first quarter.

Hoose made it 10-6 just over two minutes later when he converted a 26-yard field goal.

The Trojans then made it 17-6 when they drove 90 yards in 15 plays and took over seven minutes off the clock. The longest play of the drive was a 33-yard completion from Kennedy to Swan five plays before Kennedy scored on a 1-yard keeper.

“He’s a dual-threat kid. He’s able to do a little bit of everything,” Burkholder said of Kennedy. “He’s expanded his repertoire with the run game. … Moving forward that’s something we can work into our offense a little more.”

Munir and Nate Johnson had interceptions to end the next two Wolfpack drives and help Southwestern maintain its 11-point lead into halftime.

“Our kids watch a ton of film. … They’ve got keys that they pick up on,” Burkholder said. “… We were able to kind of know what was going on most of the time and make adjustments.”

“They had us searching for answers at halftime,” Harper said. ” … We really got punched in the mouth and we didn’t have many answers.”

C/S/P forced a three-and-out on the first drive of the second half and then put together six-play, 63-yard drive that ended on a 3-yard touchdown run by John Swabik.

“We went back to some of our most basic stuff on offense,” Harper said. “The line was blocking great and John Swabik made a couple of great runs.”

But the teams traded punts over their next four possessions before Munir’s mid-fourth quarter touchdown helped the Trojans move on to face the Mustangs looking to defend their 2019 sectional title.

“I know all of our guys are going to leave it out on the field,” Kennedy said. “We have a great senior class that doesn’t want to end on a loss.”

NOTES: Kennedy finished 13 of 29 for 162 yards and a touchdown through the air to go along with 69 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Munir ran for 55 yards and a score. … Swabik ran for 115 yards and a touchdown. … Wigren was in on 11 tackles and Ricker was in on six for the Trojans. … Owen Gratto was in on 13 tackles and Zach Chase was in on 11 for the Wolfpack.

SOUTHWESTERN 10 7 0 7 — 24

CLYMER/SHERMAN/PANAMA 6 0 8 7 — 21

Sou–Mathews 12 pass from Kennedy (Hoose kick)

C/S/P–Massing 3 run (run failed)

Sou–Hoose 26 field goal

Sou–Kennedy 1 run (Hoose kick)

C/S/P –Swabik 3 run (Swabik run)

Sou–Munir 1 run (Hoose kick)

C/S/P–Ramsey 24 run (Svetz kick)

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