Brandon Valley holds off furious rally to beat Washington Warriors
It looked like the Warriors were going to do it.
After having trailed by 21 early in the second half, Washington mounted a spirited and impressive comeback, and after a fourth down stop with 2:24 to play gave them one last chance, they’d driven from their own 28-yard line to the Brandon Valley 3-yard line.
With only seconds left on the clock and one timeout remaining, Washington ran it with Elijah Taniah, but he was wrapped up at the 1-yard line with 12 seconds left. The Warriors did not call the timeout. If they hurried, they could run a play, and if they didn’t score, still have time to use the timeout for another shot, or a field goal. But as the clock ticked and Washington tried to get set, it was obvious they were taking too long.
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So Washington coaches signaled for a timeout. By the time it was granted, two seconds were left on the clock. The officials put two back on, but four seconds wasn’t enough for two plays. Rather than try to punch it in from a yard out, coach Ryan Evans sent his field goal team onto the field for a game-winning 18-yard attempt.
And why not? Kicker Justin Zetino-Martinez had made all four of his extra points and a 30-yard field goal to that point.
But this time the kick barely got off the ground, easily blocked by the Lynx, and Brandon Valley escaped with a 35-33 win.
“With the way high school games are won, it was the best option with four seconds left,” Evans said of going for the field goal. “And honestly our PAT team has been fantastic all year and it was virtually a PAT. But things happen. We’re in it together. It just didn’t go our way.”
Warriors players lingered on the field, dejected and in disbelief after the kick failed, as they’d seemed certain to pull off what would’ve been a huge comeback. Roosevelt scored on all three of its first half possessions in addition to getting a defensive score to take a 28-14 lead into halftime, then added a Dylan Langerock touchdown catch to go up 35-14. It looked like the game was over.
But Washington answered with a defensive score of their own, with Deontrell Smith returning a fumble to make it 35-21, and after recovering an onside kick, they added three to make it 35-24.
They got another big play early in the fourth when Abraham Meyers blocked a punt that went for a safety, then got within two on a 35-yard touchdown run by Taniah. That made it 35-33.
Washington got it back with 4:35 left, but turned it over on downs at their own 38 with 3:10 to go. The Lynx could’ve put it away there, but on fourth-and-1 at the 29 they went for it and were stopped by inches, which gave the Warriors the ball back for their would-be game-winning drive.
“Super fun game,” said Lynx coach Matt Christensen. “Football is fun when you lose, too, but winning’s way better. I’m just so proud of our guys because there were a lot of times where we could’ve lost that game, just let the wheels fall off and given up and started blaming each other. But we kept it together. A special effort by Washington, and their quarterback (Thomas Hoffman) played a heck of a game.”
Indeed, Hoffman completed 29-of-40 passes for 358 yards and two touchdowns, though he also threw four interceptions. Two of them were by Tristan Bisbee, who returned one for a touchdown. Taniah rushed for 97 yards and Tryg Auten caught nine passes for 140 yards and a score.
Langerock had six catches for 119 yards for the Lynx (4-5), while backup quarterback Jack Thue was 18-of-26 for 221 yards and two touchdowns. With starter Lucas Slack injured, the Lynx leaned more heavily on their power running game, and Evans said it took the Warriors (3-6) a half to adjust to that. Delvoun Spears-Witte rushed for 82 yards and two touchdowns for Brandon.
“It’s a huge win for the kids,” Christensen said. “The kids love winning, they love succeeding. They work so hard and when you get beat it seems like it’s all for naught. It isn’t, but when you win it’s great for the program and great for the kids morale.”
Perhaps the Warriors can take those words to heart. The comeback didn’t succeed, but it wasn’t for naught. The second half might be as well as they’ve played under Evans.
“We’re really proud of ‘em,” Evans said. “They fought back. We took some risks and they worked out, but for turning over the ball as much as we did we really battled. That’s the best fight our kids have had all season and we need to carry that momentum onto next week, no matter who we play.”
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Brandon Valley holds off furious rally to beat Washington Warriors
