Quarterback Anthony Sharp knew Victory Christian had time before it began its final drive.
Turns out, Sharp was right — just barely.
Roy Boden caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Sharp as time expired Friday night to lift Victory Christian to a 54-52 victory against Tuscaloosa Christian School in an Alabama High School Activities Association Christian Eight-Man Football League game.
Boden caught three touchdown passes, including scoring strikes on the final play of each half as Victory Christian celebrated Homecoming by wrapping up second place in the league.
“We knew we had time,” said Sharp, who threw three touchdowns and ran for four two-point conversions. “We prayed to the Good Lord and asked him to deliver us. He did just that. It was a hard-fought game between two good teams.”
With the victory, Victory Christian completes the regular season at 6-1 and 4-1 in league play. It will play host to North River Christian on Friday night in the first round of the playoffs.
“I am very proud of how we played tonight,” Victory Christian coach Chris Hamm said. “We only turned the ball over one time in the second half and it was right there at the end. I thought that might do us in. But the kids refused to give up. We made a defensive stand. We got the ball back and found a way to make some plays at the end.”
A hard-fought contest saw myriad bizarre officiating moves, including one at the end. Victory Christian appeared to be driving for a game-winning touchdown when workhorse back Kaleb Holliness was stripped of the football. Tuscaloosa Christian recovered on its 19-yard line with 1 minute, 16 seconds left in regulation.
With two timeouts remaining, the Eagles burned both on a pair of rushing plays. On third down, the Warriors gained 2 yards, setting up fourth-and-3. TCS ran the clock down before burning a time out. The Warriors then elected to go for the fourth down and gained only 2 yards.
With 11 seconds left, VCA took over on the Tuscaloosa 28. Sharp hit Holliness for a 25-yard pass pickup. The officials took an extended amount of time to move the chains and set the ball ready to play. The officials continued to hold up play until Victory Christian broke a huddle and was ready to snap the ball.
Taking the snap with two seconds left, Sharp rolled to his right and found Boden for the game-winner.
“It was a hard-fought game, I am really happy we were able to pull it through,” Boden said. “We dedicated this one to the seniors tonight. No one on our team ever gave up. We always thought we could find a way to win the game.”
In the postgame, Hamm jokingly referred to the contest as a “defensive struggle.” However, he may have been more right than most people thought. Each team scored eight touchdowns, with VCA getting the only two stops on two-point conversion tries,
Strong defensive play also allowed VCA to rally from a 22-8 deficit in the second quarter. In the third quarter, the Eagles got the ground game going. In that quarter, VCA ran 20 plays and held Tuscaloosa Christian to four.
“I thought we really did a good job of taking over the ballgame there in third quarter,” Hamm said. “We were down big early and came back. To start the second half, we came out determined to run the ball. We built the 10-point lead and had a chance to put the game away there.”
The visiting Warriors (4-4, 2-3 league) scored on two of their first three possessions and led 16-0 after one quarter. VCA threw an interception on its first possession and turned the ball over on downs on its second possession.
In the second quarter, things changed dramatically. Battling back from a 22-8 hole, the Eagles strung together back-to-back touchdowns to grab a 24-22 lead. The Eagles scored first on a 47-yard run by Paul Blair and followed that up with a 50-yard run by Jay Pace.
A 54-yard run by Holliness gave the Eagles the 24-22 advantage with 55 seconds left before halftime. That score set off a wild final minute, as Tuscaloosa Christian came back on the very next play with a 55-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Potter to Logan Foster.
A 51-yard kickoff return by Holliness set the Eagles up for another score. This time, Sharp hit Boden on a 28-yard touchdown pass as the first half clock ran out. With a 2-point conversion reception by Michael Elliott, the hosts led 32-30 at halftime.
“The coaches told us at halftime we had to block better and find a way to run the football,” Sharp said. “That was the key to the victory. We came out with a little more determination in the second half. I thought we did a real good job of building some drives.”
A 3-yard scoring run by Holliness was the lone score in the third period.
VCA then appeared ready to take complete control of the contest with another strong drive at the end of the third quarter. However, a pair of holding penalties brought an end to that march as the Eagles were flirting with the red zone.
Given new life, Tuscaloosa roared right back. Maison McCullough scored on back-to-back possessions with runs of 42 and 69 yards. The 69-yard rush preceded another critical failed conversion. That score placed TCS on top, 44-40 with 6:36 left in regulation.
VCA answered with a 62-yard, eight-play scoring drive. Boden caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Sharp to cap that scoring march. Elliott added his second 2-point conversion reception and the hosts led 48-44.
“I really can’t say enough about the performance of Anthony Sharp,” Hamm said. “He is a ninth-grader. He played one of the gutsiest games I have seen out here in a long, long time. My other quarterback broke his arm earlier in the year. Anthony stepped in and has done a tremendous job. I am really proud of him.”
After VCA grabbed the lead, the Warriors came right back on the game’s next snap. Caleb Smith broke off a 62-yard scoring run. The 2-point rush by McCullough made it 52-48 TCS.
It did appear that would be enough after the strip of Holliness. However, the VCA defense had other ideas and made the final stop. The successful rally gave the home team a satisfying revenge for last season.
Tuscaloosa Christian defeated Victory Christian 24-20 in last year’s state championship game.
“Even though I wasn’t on the team, I went and watched the game with friends,” Sharp said. “This has turned into a great rivalry. We had to get this one back tonight for our seniors. We owed it to them.”
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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