Boyd-Buchanan's sophomore place-kicker, Eli Terrell, warms up on the sideline before he booted a 24-yard field goal with 12 seconds left to give the Bucs a 24-22 win over Tyner on Friday night.
photo by Dennis Norwood
In the chaos of the final seconds ticking down, Boyd-Buchanan sophomore place-kicker Eli Terrell was one cool dude.
Terrell, who had never kicked competitively on a football field before this season, calmly kicked a 24-yard field goal with 12 seconds left that gave Boyd-Buchanan’s unbeaten Bucs a spine-tingling 24-22 Region 3-2A victory over Tyner at David L. Boyd Field.
“That’s the first time I’ve been in that situation,” Terrell said. “I just did my own thing. I had faith in my line to block for me and they did. I kicked it through for them. I knew when I hit the ball it was a perfect kick.”
Terrell missed a 32-yard attempt with 1:46 left in the second quarter that would have given the Bucs a 10-3 advantage.
He was, however, true when it counted the most.
“He nudged it through there,” Bucs coach Carter Cardwell said of Terrell. “I worked for Pat Dye (at Auburn) one time and he told me I was the kicking coach. I said, ‘What do I need to know about kicking. He said, ‘The only thing is if it goes through those pipes you’re good.’ ”
A few minutes earlier, the Rams threw a lightning bolt at the Bucs and took a shaky 22-21 lead with 4:55 remaining. The touchdown came on an 80-yard hookup between quarterback Shaylan Bailey and wide receiver Ke’un Webb.
Webb caught a short 5 yard out in the right flat, made a nifty fake that froze two Buc defenders and raced down the right sideline. Webb, who finished with five catches for 114 yards, turned toward the middle of the field and finally zipped into the end zone. He very likely covered as much as 90 yards on the run after the catch.
“The coaches were talking before they kicked the extra point,” Cardwell said. “I said, ‘Guys, have a plan to be ahead and a plan to be behind.’ The good thing is we practice what we call ‘hot field goal’ every week. We practice last play on defense every week. We have these things in place and it was fun to watch the guys execute them win or lose. It’s gratifying.”
Following the kickoff, Boyd-Buchanan (4-0, 2-0) had possession at its own 21.
The Bucs had 4 minutes, 47 seconds to work with.
Fullback Will Watkins carried on the first six plays, gaining 41 yards.
Quarterback Ross Wortman completed back-to-back passes to Evan Morris and Kade Owens for 7 and 12 yards, respectively. Watkins picked up 6 yards. Wortman gained 7 and 4 yards on the next two plays.
Wortman, who scored twice on runs of 3 and 15 yards, fumbled the snap and a teammate recovered for a 2-yard loss.
Watkins was stopped for no gain on third-and-goal.
With no timeouts, the Bucs field-goal unit raced on the field, Terrell lined up the kick and booted it through the uprights for the game-winner.
“Eli was awesome,” Wortman said. “For him to come out there and make a field goal like that was great. He missed one earlier, but made the one in the clutch. It was awesome.”
After the ensuing kickoff Tyner (1-3, 1-1) had 0.8 seconds to run play. It went nowhere and the time expired.
Boyd-Buchanan was then free to celebrate.
“We did some good things and we did some bad things,” Tyner coach Wayne Turner said. “If we didn’t get two extra points blocked we would’ve been tied. If they hadn’t drove the ball on us there at the end, we would’ve won the game. You guys battled all night.”
Boyd-Buchanan defeated the Rams 40-7 during the 2015 regular season and then lost to them 13-7 in the playoffs – that was the Bucs’ lone loss in 12 games – but didn’t make enough plays to win Friday’s contest.
Wortman admitted the Bucs had thought about that playoff loss last November.
“It gave us some incentive,” he said. “We knew they would come out with everything they had; they put us in our place at the end of last season. So we had to play hard tonight. We’re trying to win every game and see how far that takes us.”
The Bucs’ ground game was impressive in piling up 249 yards.
Jeremy Borders had 89 yards on 16 carries; Will Watkins added 81 yards on 18 tries and Wortman picked up 60 yards on 11 runs.
Boyd-Buchanan took the opening kickoff and methodically drove 59 yards in six plays for the game’s first touchdown.
Wortman hit Kade Owens on a 22-yard gainer to start the drive. Regan Pettway picked up a yard. Borders, who appeared as fast as Tyner’s skill players, gained 16 yards on two carries. Wortman had a 7-yard run and then scored from 3 yards out. Terrell kicked the extra point.
On the Bucs’ next possession, Tyner’s Ke’un Webb intercepted a Wortman pass. On the next series, Pettway fumbled and Devon Waight recovered.
The Rams marched 57 yards before stalling at the Bucs’ 14. Luke Qualey salvaged the drive with a 31-yard field goal.
Boyd-Buchanan, which suffered its lone 2015 loss in the second round of the playoffs when Tyner posted a 13-7 revenge victory, gave the Rams another short-field situation on its next possession.
Wortman’s option pitch was behind the trailing back and Tyner’s Tyon Young recovered at the Bucs’ 11. Bailey’s pass to Waight picked up 10 yards and then scored from the 1. The extra point attempt was blocked by Kohl Henke and Tyner led 9-7.
A few minutes later, Michael Mincey intercepted a Tyner pass at the 10 and scooted into the end zone to give the Bucs a 15-9 lead with 11:50 left in the third quarter.
After a 17-yard Tyner punt, the Bucs went 42 yards in eight plays – Wortman capped the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run. A two-point pass for the conversion failed and the lead was 21-9.
That set up the wild fourth quarter.
Boyd-Buchanan is 3-7 against Tyner dating to 1997. That season the Rams demolished the Bucs 95-3. With Friday’s win, the Bucs have won two of the last three games in the series.
Wortman credited Tyner with playing a stout all-round game against the Bucs.
“Their front line was strong and they were physical,” he said. “They made us work for every single thing we got. You can’t say enough about how hard they made us play. They’re a great team and they’ll go far.
“But when we play our game we’re pretty good too.”
SCORING
Tyner 0 9 0 13 -- 22
Boyd-Buchanan 7 0 14 3 -- 24
First Quarter
BB – Ross Wortman 3 run (Eli Terrell kick), 9:34
Second Quarter
TY – FG Luke Qualey 31, 8:21
TY – Devon Waight 1 run (kick blocked), 7:47
Third Quarter
BB – Michael Mincey 10 interception return (Jeremy Borders run), 11:50
BB – Wortman 15 run (pass failed), 6:47
Fourth Quarter
TY – Jeremiah Batiste 21 pass from Shaylan Bailey (kick blocked), 10:00
TY – Ke’Un Webb 80 pass from Bailey (Qualey kick), 4:55
BB – FG Terrell 24, 0:12
YARDSTICK
TY BB
First Downs 8 17
Rushes-Yds 23-46 56-249
Passing Yards 169 45
Comp-Att-Int 9-17-2 4-8-1
Plays-Total Yds 40-215 64-294
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-2
Punts-Avg 4-28.5 3-31.3
Penalties-Yds 5-30 4-36
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING – Tyner: D’Arius Albert 6-34, Keiontae Halfacre 6-7, Ke’Un Webb 4-5, Devon Waight 3-4, Kortonyo Carter 1-0, No. 44 1-minus 2, Shaylan Bailey 2-minus 2; Boyd-Buchanan: Jeremy Borders 16-89, Will Watkins 18-81, Ross Wortman 11-60, Regan Pettway 8-20, Walker Tyler 2-1, Michael Mincey 1-minus 2.
PASSING – Tyner: Bailey 9-17-2-169; Boyd-Buchanan: Wortman 4-8-1-45;
RECEIVING – Tyner: Webb 5-114, Halfacre 1-31, Jeremiah Batiste 1-21, Donald Cannon 2-3; Boyd-Buchanan: Kade Owens 2-34, Evan Morris 1-7, Troy Bearden 1-4.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Fullback Will Watkins zips past two Tyner defenders for yardage in a Region 3-2A prep football game at Boyd-Buchanan's David L. Boyd Field. Watkins rushed for 81 yards on 18 carries in the Bucs' 24-22 victory.
photo by Dennis Norwood