WALTON — Lewis Cass’ football team stood three yards away from another regional championship.

Quarterback Damon Foreman sprinted to his right on a two-point attempt on the final play of the game, turned up field, crashed into Fort Wayne Bishop Luers defenders and stretched the ball toward the end zone — but came up a yard short.

The Knights’ stop gave them a 54-53 win in double overtime in a Class 2A regional championship game Friday night at Owens Memorial Field.

“It’s a shame somebody had to come out on the short end of a game like this,” Luers coach Matt Lindsay said. “Cass is awfully good — it’s very impressive the way they’re drilled, their kids run hard. They looked like they were going to kick our tails early and our kids hung in there so I’m very, very proud of them.”

The No. 9-ranked Kings jumped to a 20-7 advantage in the first half and went on to lead 20-10 at halftime and 27-24 after three quarters. The Kings scored a touchdown to go up 39-31 with 1:43 remaining — but they missed the extra point, leaving the door open. The Knights took advantage, scoring a touchdown and adding a two-point conversion to knot the score at 39-all with :39.4 remaining.

Two overtimes later, Luers emerged with the 54-53 win.

“It’s not like we didn’t have a chance,” Cass coach Scott Mannering said. “We missed three extra points — if we make one of those, we win the game. We make one [more] defensive stop in the second half, we win the game. If we convert our two-point play, we win the game.

“We played well, but not well enough to win. I’m very disappointed and I know the players are too, but doggone it, we had chances. We didn’t execute when we needed to execute to win.”

Mannering noted the Kings failed to execute on the decisive two-point play.

“I thought we had that,” he said. “We didn’t block it right. We had two timeouts and went over it and we’ve run it before … it just didn’t happen. Congratulations to Luers — they beat us.”

The squads gave the fans an offensive show. Cass (9-4) recorded 456 yards of offense. Luers (8-5) countered with 295 yards of offense and a pair of big kickoff returns totaling 138 yards that led to one-play scoring drives.

Cass opened the game with a 10-play scoring drive that Foreman capped with a 2-yard TD run. Luers’ Ken Mullen III followed with a 58-yard kickoff return and a 22-yard TD run.

The Kings scored on two of their next three possessions and forced the Knights into three straight three-and-outs in building their 20-7 lead. But the Knights came alive when they regained possession with 2:06 remaining in the first half, putting together a 15-play drive that resulted in a field goal in the closing seconds.

Luers received the ball to open the second half and ripped off a quick six-play scoring drive to close to within 20-17.

“We gathered some momentum in the second quarter and carried it through the rest of the game,” Lindsay said. “Offensively, I thought we had some advantages, but we just couldn’t stop them. They are just a machine the way they do things.”

The Kings scored on their next possessions — but the Knights answered both times, making the score 33-31 at 10:03 of the fourth quarter. The Kings had a 33-24 lead but Mullen’s 80-yard kickoff return and 1-yard TD plunge erased the Kings’ momentum.

Cass had an 11-play drive that stalled at Luers’ 34-yard line — but the Kings seemed in good shape when punter Aaron Richardson pinned the Knights on their own 2 at 5:06. Cass forced Luers into a three-and-out, regaining possession at Luers 38 at 4:03.

Cass marched down the field for a touchdown. Fullback Josh Knutson, who carried the ball six times on the seven-play drive, crashed the end zone on a 3-yard run at 1:43 to put the Kings up by eight — but the extra point went wide right.

Luers pounced on the opportunity. Quarterback James Knapke led the Knights on an eight-play drive. Knapke threw a 10-yard TD pass at :39.4 and Mullen — who saw time at running back, quarterback and wide receiver during the course of the game — knotted the score when he threw a halfback pass for the two-point conversion.

In the first OT, Knutson scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion, but Knapke and the Knights answered.

In the second OT, the Knights went first and Knapke fired his fourth TD pass of the game. The Knights kicked the extra point for a 54-47 lead.

Cass needed just two plays for a touchdown. Derrick Worden scored on a run — but the two-point attempt came up short.

Knutson finished with 150 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries for the Kings. Worden (12 carries, 95 yards), Foreman (14-76) and Matt Eckelbarger (3-43) also ran well. Foreman completed 7 of 17 passes for another 66 yards.

Cass fell a game short of its seventh straight 10-win season.