McCarthy, Holler Lead Paladins Over Trion in Overtime Thriller
In one of the most anticipated and exciting games to ever be played between the pines, the Pinecrest Paladins remarkably came back from a two touchdown deficit to defeat the Trion Bulldogs, 27-24.
Trion, a 1A public school, was stunned when Pinecrest beat them 21-14 in their house last year. On Friday, though, until the last six minutes, it appeared as if Trion was going to have it their way this time (keyword: “appeared”). The visiting Bulldogs brought five buses and enough fans to overflow the visiting section, but they still didn’t have enough fans (or players) to stop the Paladins’ high-powered triple option attack.
The game started with a kickoff return for a touchdown by Trion, but they missed the extra-point, so they took a 6-0 lead. Minutes later, Pinecrest stormed back. Ryan McCarthy powered his way into the endzone on a keeper and Michael Birozes made the extra-point to give Pinecrest a 7-6 lead with 9:10 left in the first quarter. In their next drive, Trion scored on a jet sweep and their kicker actually made the extra-point to give Trion a 13-7 lead with 6:56 left in the first. When the Paladins got the ball back, they ended up turning it over on downs, and Trion gained possession to round off an action packed first quarter.
The second quarter was pretty quiet, despite two Trion turnovers. Trion fumbled for the first time with nine minutes left in the second quarter, and the Paladins recovered. Unfortunately, they made that recovery deep in their own territory, which limited the play calling and Pinecrest ended up punting the ball. When Trion got the ball, they decided that fumbling the ball was a good strategy, so they did it again. PA recovered once more, with five minutes left in the half, and this time they (almost) scored a touchdown. With twenty-five seconds left in the half, a holding penalty brought back what would have been a 41-yard touchdown pass to Will Patota. PA then ran the clock out to cap off the first half of football.
Half time passed, and after an exciting performance by the cheerleaders, the bright lights, green grass, and and cheering fans begged for more football. Pinecrest received the ball to start the third quarter and drove it 65 yards down the field in a 7 minute drive. Unfortunately, after converting on fourth down earlier, PA went for it again and McCarthy was sacked, giving Trion the ball at their own 29 yard line with 5:20 left in the quarter. Trion thought that it would be fun to try and win the time of possession battle, so they held the ball for 11 MINUTES, stretching the drive into the fourth.
With 6:45 left in the game, Trion’s super long drive finally ended with a goal line touchdown run. To gain an even two-touchdown lead, the Bulldogs went for two and converted. So, there were the Paladins, down by two touchdowns with six minutes left in the game. When PA Head Coach Todd Winter was asked about the situation, he had one thought: “We gotta start throwing the football.” So they did.
With the ball on the 19 yard line, McCarthy exploded for what would have been a 45-yard run, if it weren’t for another holding call. After the next play, though, everyone forgot about the holding call as Mitchell Ojeda burst into Trion territory on a 63-yard reception. Before the student section could even stop cheering, McCarthy tossed it to Holler for an 18-yard TD pass on the next play, reducing Trion’s lead to one touchdown after a Birozes extra-point. Trion recovered a PA onside kick at their 41 yard line, leading 21-14. The Paladins defense profoundly stood tall and forced a 3-and-out. What happened next was, in one word: awesome.
Trion punted from their own 47. Holler fielded it at the PA 20, and started running towards the eastern side line. He made it to the 25 before he made a huge cut to the opposite direction, made possible by a great block from Brooks Binkley. From there, Holler had one man to beat, until that man met Ryan McCarthy. After the block by Ryan and a little bump from an opponent, Holler was in pay dirt. He stayed humble after the big play, praising his teammates: “I can’t put that all on me... Ryan had that block and the rest of the punt team did a great job keeping their blocks… I couldn’t have done it without them.” Birozes made the extra-point and tied the game up 21-21, completing Trion’s “worst case scenario.”
Trion again recovered a Paladin onside kick, with three minutes left in the game, and started the drive at their own 46. After two downs of nothing, Will Patota happened. The sophomore broke through Trion’s offensive line and sacked the QB on a critical third down. About the implications of the sack, Patota said: “I knew we had a chance to win the game if we kept fighting.” The sack forced Trion to punt, PA held the ball, and a magical 4th quarter came to an end.
Overtime came, and Trion started with the ball. Once again, the defense stood like a wall and forced Trion into a field goal, which they made. “Once we got the field goal out of them, I felt like we were in great shape (Winter).” Now, according to the overtime rules, the Paladins had to score a touchdown to win the game, or kick a field goal to move to the next overtime period. PA started at the 15 yard line, and Mitchell Ojeda had a nice run to get the offense to the seven. After a small gain by McCarthy, the offensive line destroyed Trion’s defenders and allowed Matt Walters to truck his way into the endzone for the game winning touchdown.
The Paladins return to action this Friday night when they host the defending State Champion Eagles from Mount Paran. Kickoff will be at 7:30pm.
