ABERDEEN — It was a bittersweet homecoming for Calhoun City High School football coach Perry Liles, as his Wildcats dropped a last-second, 40-34 decision to Aberdeen here Friday evening.
Aberdeen quarterback Tramonte Prather, who sat out the first quarter along with a half-dozen other starters for missing practice, found a wide-open Jerrick Orr on a 9-yard scoring strike with 23 seconds to play to give the Bulldogs a win in a game that featured two of the state’s best skill players, a Calhoun City kickoff from the Aberdeen 30-yard line, 738 yards total offense, 62 second-half points, 28 penalties for 294 yards, and three ejections.
Liles, who spent four years at Aberdeen High in the 1990s — two as an assistant under Lynn Moore and two as head coach — had two former players coaching on the opposite sideline: quarterback coach Thomas Clay and linebacker coach Sammie Burroughs, both of whom played prominent roles in handing their former coach his second loss of the season.
Calhoun City (2-2), the defending Class 2A North State champions, had tied the game three minutes earlier, but the Bulldogs rallied for their third win of the season with a last-second score or a late fourth-quarter touchdown reminiscent of the 1980 Cleveland Browns, who were known as the Kardiac Kids for having several games decided in the final minutes.
“Same old, same old,” said Aberdeen coach Eric Spann, whose team improved to 3-1. “Once again, it was Tramonte (Prather) and Jerrick (Orr) doing what they do. We work on the two-minute drill at practice every Thursday, and once again it paid off with a win.”
Spann, who was ejected midway through the fourth quarter when the Aberdeen bench was flagged for its second sideline violation, said the 6-6 standoff in the first half was a result of not getting the ball into Orr’s hands.
“We made it clear at halftime we were going to feed him (Orr) and he showed everyone what he could do once he got his hands on the ball,” said Spann.
After not catching a pass the first half, Orr finished with four receptions for 167 yards and three touchdowns. On his first touchdown catch that covered 74 yards, Orr, a Memphis commit, ran through several defenders and then slipped no less than four tackles on his electrifying 65-yard touchdown reception.
Meanwhile, Prather, who also starts on defense, was 13-for-23 for 310 yards and four touchdowns.
“No doubt, No. 8 (Prather) and No. 4 (Orr) had a big night,” Spann said.
Three minutes prior to the Prather-to-Orr game-winning heroics, Calhoun City had tied the game at 34-all when Brieton Sykes found a wide-open Tyrese Quinn on a 39-yard halfback pass.
But, making his presence felt on the opposite side of the ball, Prather broke up a JoJo Gray pass to Clay Wade on the two-point conversion try to preserve the tie and set up the final 57-yard drive that was aided by two personal foul calls and a face mask penalty.
“We played with great effort, and I’m proud of the effort, but it was all the little discipline things we work on which rear up when you’re fatigued,” Liles said, “things like missed tackles, penalties, and everyone in man coverage except one defender who was playing zone on Aberdeen’s winning touchdown.
“All those little mistakes add up, but when a team loses it’s all on the head coach because I didn’t get those things straightened out.”
The first Calhoun City mistake was a costly one, as defender Tay Carothers got a hand on a punt that gave the Bulldogs a first down at the 19-yard line. Two plays later, Aberdeen had its first touchdown on a 19-yard reception by Isiah McMillian with a little more than three minutes left in the first quarter on a pass from quarterback Byron Butler, who played the first period while Prather sat on the bench.
Calhoun City tied the game at 6 just before half on a 12-yard run by Jordan Pratt that capped a three-play, 64-yard drive that featured a 48-yard Sykes ramble.
Aberdeen broke the tie on its first possession of the second half when Orr latched on to a Prather pass and scampered 74 yards for the score. Prather hit B.J. Williams with a two-point conversion pass. But the Wildcats tied the game at 14 when Sykes capped a 48-yard march with a 1-yard plunge. He added the two-point conversion.
Undaunted, the Bulldogs regained the lead at 20-14 on their next possession thanks to Donte Carter’s 3-yard run with 1:12 left in the third quarter. Butler connected with Dorian Fears on a 19-yard completion and with B.J. Williams on a 24-yard strike.
However, it took the Wildcats 29 seconds to tie it at 20 on a 16-yard burst by Sykes that capped a three-play, 58-yard drive. Gray found Sykes on a 36-yard completion. A face mask penalty aided the drive. Sykes’ two-point conversion fell short, but Aberdeen was hit with two 15-yard dead ball penalties and an ejection.
As a result, Calhoun City kicked off from the Aberdeen 30-yard line, but the squib kick was recovered by the Bulldogs at their 10. Four plays later, the Bulldogs had a 28-20 lead after Prather and Orr hooked up on a 65-yard pass-catch play on which no less than four defenders had him in their grasp. Prather added the two-point conversion run 27 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Calhoun City tied the game at 28 when Jaalen Thomas scored on a 4-yard run and added the conversion with a little more than six minutes to play.
On the ensuing kickoff, Orr’s 38-yard return gave the Bulldogs possession at their 48. Aberdeen quickly broke the tie six plays later on a touchdown pass from Prather to Fields for a 34-28 lead.
Sykes answered with a 43-yard kickoff return and then hit Quinn, whose brother Derrick Jones plays for Ole Miss, on a 39-yard halfback pass to tie the game at 34 with a little less than three and a half minutes to play.
Following Aberdeen’s game-winning drive, Calhoun City had a chance to win, but defensive back Kemar Sims brought Sykes down with an open-field tackle after a last-play, 23-yard pass reception at the Aberdeen 36.
Sykes, who Spann considers one of the state’s best running backs, had 10 carries for 83 yards, two scores and a conversion, and four catches for 74 yards. He also had two pass completions for 53 yards and a touchdown and three kick returns for 80 yards.
“They’ve got him listed at 205 pounds, but he plays like he’s 245,” Spann said. “He’s much man.”
Liles echoed Spann’s assessment.
“I think this is the hardest I’ve ever seen him play,” Liles said. “He’s a talented player, and he played a tremendous game tonight.”
Despite giving up 34 points, Spann said several players turned in solid performances.
“B.J. (Williams) and C.J. (Williams) played well, as did Tay (Carothers), Malik (Holiday), and Justin (Drake),” Spann said.
The Williams boys combined for three sacks and no less than a half-dozen tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
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