BLAIRSBURG – One play from the 1-yard line with no time left on the clock – that’s what it came down to during the tense final moments of Saturday’s Southern Plains Football League showdown.

Someone was going to blink.

And it wasn’t the Midwest Rampage.

With the No. 2 seed for the upcoming playoffs on the line, the vaunted Rampage defense – the self-dubbed Black Plague Defense – stuffed South Central Hawgs’ quarterback Greg Gainey on an attempted sneak on the final play of the game to preserve a 23-20 victory.

The elation was not without a sense of relief. The Rampage (5-1) squandered a 20-0 lead midway through the second quarter and a 23-7 edge at the break, but came up huge when it mattered most to avenge a pair of losses to the Hawgs (4-2) a year ago, including a 24-14 setback in the playoff semifinals.

“In all of my years coaching this was easily the biggest and best goal-line stand I have ever been a part of,” Rampage defensive coordinator Marty Hart said. “Huge kudos to the entire defense for playing unselfishly all day and stopping the Hawgs when it mattered most.”

Rampage head coach Matt Girdley shared in the excitement, but couldn’t overlook the letdown that occurred in the second half.

“I’m proud of this team as we overcame some adversity and pulled off the victory, (but) it’s obvious we have to finish our opponents and not get comfortable,” he said. “Once we got up 20-0 it was obvious we began to relax and if we want to win a championship, we have to stay hungry for 48 minutes.”

The Hawgs moved inside the Rampage 10 in the final few seconds and attempted to tie the game on a short Jonny Christensen field goal attempt. The kick sailed wide left, but a roughing the kicker penalty on the Rampage gave the Hawgs an untimed down from the 1-yard line.

Defense was key for both teams; neither accumulated 200 yards of total offense. The Rampage came up with three turnovers – an interception by Justin Engh and two fumble recoveries by Caleb Bonjour.

Joe Cason and John Elkin both registered seven tackles in the win. Shon Osborn and Tyler Kibbee both finished with six.

Cason came up with two sacks and Ben Scott had one.

Rampage quarterback Ben Jass completed 8 of 18 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown that covered 10 yards to Gunnar Wyatt in the second quarter that upped the team’s cushion to 20-0. Wyatt made six catches for 38 yards, while Taylor Karas reeled in one that went for 38 yards.

“After last week when I threw five interceptions (in a loss to the Southwest Huskerz), my goal this game was to manage the offense by not forcing things and allowing our defense and (kicker Chuck) Tack’s leg to do their thing,” Jass said. “It feels good to be 5-1.”

With starting tailback Ross Haren not in uniform, Kris Schult took over and churned out 100 yards and a touchdown on 28 totes. He rammed his way across the goal line from 4 yards out in the second quarter.

Tack, a valuable weapon when he’s been in uniform, connected for three field goals from 44, 37 and 31 yards out.

Gainey tossed a pair of touchdowns to Mohammed Thurman (18 yards) and Alek Borchardt (31 yards). Thurman also returned a punt 65 yards to the house to trim the Hawgs’ deficit to three points in the fourth quarter.

The Rampage will finish off its regular season schedule on Saturday against the Buffalo Ridge Wildcats in Lake Benton, Minn., at 7 p.m.

The orange and black will then host a first-round playoff game on Saturday, June 27. A win would send the Rampage on to the semifinals, which it would also host on Saturday, July 11.