KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On a day when the Chargers took a big step toward the postseason, the Kansas City Chiefs lost their most important player.

What started in balmy Brazil ended Sunday in the bitter cold of Arrowhead Stadium. The Chargers completed a season sweep of AFC West bully Kansas City with a 16-13 victory that ultimately knocked the Chiefs out of playoff contention for the first time in 11 years.

It was the third-coldest game in Chargers history — 15 degrees at kickoff — and showcased a red-hot defense that paved the way to Los Angeles wins over Philadelphia and Kansas City, last season’s Super Bowl teams, in consecutive weeks.

“This is a ball team,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said, gleeful after his team won for the sixth time in seven games. “A real ball team.”

This Chargers season, which began with a 27-21 victory over the Chiefs in São Paulo, is just the second in the last 13 years in which they beat their division rival twice.

Harbaugh began his postgame remarks on a somber note, wishing the best for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who left the game late in the fourth quarter after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee when he was hit by defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand.

Gardner Minshew closed out at quarterback for the Chiefs, and the game ended when Derwin James Jr. intercepted his final pass. There would be no fantastic finish for the franchise that won the last nine division titles.

“We’ve been going at those guys for a while, going back to Baltimore,” said Chargers edge rusher Odafe Oweh, acquired in a trade with the Ravens this season. “It was long overdue.”

A week after Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals in the win over Philadelphia, he kicked three more against the Chiefs.

Oweh had two sacks of Mahomes, and Tuli Tuipulotu had two more. The defense had the Chiefs in a hammer lock, limiting them to 190 yards in the air and a mere 49 on the ground.

Still, the Chargers had to dig themselves out of a hole. They faced a 13-3 deficit late in the second quarter before tearing off 13 unanswered points.

Justin Herbert threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to rookie KeAndre Lambert-Smith with five seconds left in the first half to start the comeback. After that it was Dicker and defense for the visitors.

“It was really cool that we were able to close out a one-score game like that,” said Herbert, who said his surgically repaired left hand felt tight in the cold weather but was better, as was his grip on the ball. “How many times we’ve played them and it’s been those one-score games? The defense came up with the turnovers and the stops.”

Kansas City, trailing by three, got all the way down to the visitors’ 17 early in the fourth quarter but the Chargers yet again came up big on defense. Linebacker Daiyan Henley intercepted a third-down pass near the goal line, getting position on running back Kareem Hunt and essentially becoming the receiver on the play.

“I was surprised to even see the ball go up in the air, but I had to revert back to my receiver days and get an over-the-shoulder look,” said Henley, who last lined up as a pass catcher six or seven years ago at the University of Nevada Reno. “Eye-hand coordination is something you just have to have in those moments.”

Not everything the Chargers defense did was so smooth. Safety Tony Jefferson was ejected in the fourth quarter after a helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked Chiefs receiver Tyquan Thornton out of the game. The call to send Jefferson packing was not made by officials on the field, who flagged him for unnecessary roughness, but by league officials watching from New York.

Earlier in the second half, Jefferson flattened receiver Rashee Rice with another devastating hit, and Rice came after him as the Chargers safety made his way off the field and toward the locker room. Players from both sides intervened.

Chargers safety Tony Jefferson leaves the field after being ejected against the Chiefs on Sunday.

(Reed Hoffmann / Associated Press)

In response to the booing crowd, Jefferson raised both middle fingers, a gesture that likely will draw more attention from the league.

“I apologize for that,” he said afterward. “I’m classier than that. I was just caught up in the moment. Emotions get high. I won’t sit here and act like I’m a perfect man. I messed up when I did that.”

The Chargers (10-4), who finish the season at Denver, have yet to lose an AFC West game. They are 5-0 in those and remain within striking distance of the division-leading Broncos.

It won’t be an easy road. The Chargers play at Dallas next Sunday, then play host to Houston before closing out the regular season against the Broncos.

“I started thinking, this is my favorite ball team I’ve ever been on,” Harbaugh said. “Been on some good ones. None better than this one.

“They’re tight. Fates are intertwined. It’s unselfish. Nothing anyone is doing is for themselves.”

And on this frigid Sunday, that paid some unforgettable dividends.

Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza became the first Hoosier to win the coveted Heisman Trophy, college football’s most prestigious award.

Mendoza claimed 2,392 first-place votes, beating Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (1,435 votes), Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (719 votes) and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (432 votes).

Mendoza guided the Hoosiers to their first No. 1 ranking and the top seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket, throwing for 2,980 yards and a nation-best 33 touchdown passes while also running for six scores. 

Indiana, the last unbeaten team in major college football, will play a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game in the Rose Bowl Jan. 1.

Mendoza, the Hoosiers’ first-year starter after transferring from California, is the triggerman for an offense that surpassed program records for touchdowns and points set during last season’s surprise run to the CFP.

A redshirt junior, the once lightly recruited Miami native is the second Heisman finalist in school history, joining 1989 runner-up Anthony Thompson. The trophy was established in 1935.

NO 2 INDIANA CAPS OFF COMEBACK WIN OVER PENN STATE WITH SENSATIONAL TOUCHDOWN, KEEPS UNDEFEATED SEASON ALIVE

Mendoza is the seventh Indiana player to earn a top 10 finish in Heisman balloting, and it marks another first in program history. It now has had players in the top 10 of Heisman voting in back-to-back years. Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke was ninth last year.

Quarterbacks have won the Heisman four of the last five years. Travis Hunter of Colorado, who played wide receiver and cornerback, won last season.

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Mendoza was named The Associated Press Player of the Year earlier this week and picked up the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards Friday night while Love won the Doak Walker Award.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Sometimes it can be difficult when a high school coach also has his son on the team, but then there are those unforgettable moments that make every second spent together magical. Such a moment happened on Friday night for Oak Park basketball coach Aaron Shaw and his son, sophomore guard Grant Shaw.

Grant made a three-pointer from beyond the top of the key as the buzzer sounded to give host Oak Park a 54-51 win over rival Agoura.

Then, for some unknown reason at the time, Grant ran in the opposite direction, followed by his teammates and delirious Oak Park fans. There were so many people celebrating he ended up pushed into the gym foyer.

Watching from the bench was his father, who didn’t understand why his son was headed out of the gym. “The coaches were asking, ‘Where is he going?’” he said.

It turns out the surge of people celebrating forced Grant into the foyer. His father reminded him afterward to perhaps next time stay in the gym.

But make no mistake about, Aaron has won two Southern Section titles as a coach, and this moment ranks up among the best.

“Proud dad moment,” he said.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.