Porters Chapel earns victory in double OT

Published 12:32 am Saturday, August 27, 2011

In a game that was, at times, a comedy of errors, it was Porters Chapel that got the last laugh.

Jonah Masterson pushed the ball across the goal line on a 2-yard quarterback sneak in the second overtime Friday night, giving the Eagles a 20-14 victory over Deer Creek that was often as ugly as it was exciting.

The teams combined for seven turnovers — six of them by Deer Creek — and each missed a field goal in the fouth quarter that would have given it the lead. PCA also misfired on two drives inside Deer Creek’s 15-yard line and came away with no points, and Masterson was sacked six times.

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“It’s just a dogfight. We just had to bow up there at the end and make plays. Luckily we made a stand at the goal line and punched it in. It wasn’t a pretty ballgame, but it was a great ballgame,” Porters Chapel coach Wade Patrick said.

Despite all the blunders, the game had plenty of exciting moments and highlights, the least of which was the finish.

Deer Creek (1-1) took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Tanner Bennett caught a middle screen pass from Hobie Hobart and went 31 yards up the seam for a touchdown.

PCA (2-0) came back with an even bigger, and more unorthodox, pass play to tie it up.

Late in the third quarter, the Eagles got the ball at their own 15-yard line when Dewayne Russell intercepted Hobart for the second time. On the next play, Kawayne Gaston took a pitch from Masterson and lofted a perfect halfback pass toward Peter Harris.

Harris, who was 10 yards behind the closest defender, caught it in stride and sprinted the rest of the way to the end zone for the tying score. Harris lay on the ground cramping up for several minutes afterward.

“We saw they’re not playing a safety, they’re playing man up,” Patrick said. “We were talking about throwing it early in the game, but you saw why we weren’t throwing the ball. We were getting hit every time we stepped back. So we decided let’s toss it. Cornerback’s looking run and we go over the top with it.”

Each team missed a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Russell pushed a 25-yard field goal wide right for PCA, and Hunter Kirby did the same on a 41-yard attempt for Deer Creek.

The game eventually went to overtime, where the field shortened up to 10 yards and it became harder for each team to shoot itself in the foot.

Gaston scored on PCA’s first play in overtime, pushing his way in for a 10-yard TD and a 14-7 lead. Deer Creek answered on its possession, with Bennett scoring on a 6-yard run.

Deer Creek got the ball first in the second overtime and finally cracked. A third-and-goal from the 1 yard line was stuffed in the backfield. PCA was flagged for a late hit to bring the ball back to the 4, but Deer Creek was not awarded an automatic first down for the penalty.

“I don’t know what made it a fourth down. I was just glad it was,” Patrick said.

The lucky break allowed the Eagles to stuff Bennett on a fourth down play and regain control. They took over at the 10, and an offsides penalty and short run by Gaston moved it to the 2. From there, Masterson punched it in for the walk-off victory.

“When we got the ball back, I knew we were in control. We had Kawayne and we could punch it in four times if we had to. We did a silent count on the last play and everything worked out,” Masterson said.