WINONA — Chris Duncan transformed from gambler to politician to fire starter in a two-minute span Friday night.
As a result, the Aberdeen High School football team realized a season”s worth of hard work and will get a chance to play for a state title.
Desmond Jones completed a 33-yard pass to Aaron McMillan off a fake punt to provide the spark and Victor Hodges rushed for 192 yards and three touchdowns to lift Aberdeen to a 28-0 victory against Winona in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 3A North State championship.
The victory pushed Aberdeen (14-1), the 2009 Class 3A runner-up, back to Jackson where it will take on Forest (14-0), which defeated defending champion Tylertown, at 11 a.m. Saturday at Mississippi Memorial Coliseum.
“It feels real good (to return to Jackson) because when we left last year everybody said we wouldn”t get back,” Duncan said. “Everybody said we would be third in the division and all of that kind of stuff. I told the kids and they took it on and they worked hard all year and overachieved. I am proud of them.”
Aberdeen can point to Duncan”s decision to call a fake punt on fourth-and-4 from the Bulldogs” 45 late in the first quarter as the game-changer. Whether McMillan convinced Duncan to call the play, as he said he did after the game, or the coaches pulled the trigger remains to be seen. The important part for Aberdeen”s sake is everyone — officials included — did their part to make sure the play clicked.
Jones took the snap and lofted a pass to the left, where McMillan tried to hide in plain sight. Seconds earlier, he had sprinted to the sideline to make Winona (12-3) think he was leaving the field. But he stopped short and then waited and waited and waited for the ball to get to him. When it did, McMillan did everything he could to hang on after a few bobbles.
“I was too wide open, and that is why I juggled it,” McMillan said. “I was thinking, ”Don”t drop it, don”t drop it.” We needed that play so we could change the momentum of the game.”
McMillan said the Bulldogs needed the play because they had fumbled away a golden scoring opportunity at the Winona 18 on their first series and had to take control on the road.
Jones said the Bulldogs work on the fake punt every day. He said they pulled it out Friday night because they “needed it.
“We weren”t down, we just needed a first down so we could drive the ball down and score,” Jones said. “He was wide open, so I couldn”t do anything but throw it straight to him. If I didn”t, it would have been on me.”
McMillan did his part, churning down the left sideline to the Tigers” 22 before everyone on the Bulldogs” sideline saw the penalty flag. All but one of the officials came together and called Aberdeen for a procedure penalty, but Duncan pleaded his case with the official closest to his side of the field. He quickly realized everything would be OK.
“I just told (the official), ”He was on, right? Well go tell him,” ” Duncan said. “I knew we had a good play. I knew we would be OK (if the official) would do what he was supposed to. He told me, ”He was on and I will take care of it, coach.” He took care of it and did a good job with it.”
Aberdeen needed just three more plays before Hodges scored on a 10-yard run to help give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with 10 minutes, 40 seconds left in the second quarter.
“We needed something to turn the game around,” Duncan said. “The game was nip and tuck, and we have worked on that play all year. We thought we had it, and I guess it worked.
“I think it swung (the momentum) our way. It was tit for tat at that point. (After that) we pretty much had the run of the ballgame.”
The big play was just one of several Aberdeen used to punch its ticket to Jackson. On the ensuing kickoff, Winona”s Deion Stinson took the football back to the Aberdeen 25, but a block in the back penalty erased the big gain. Three plays later, the Tigers had to punt.
Aberdeen took advantage again, using a 16-yard pass from Jones to Josh Ewing and a 17-yard run by Brandon Smith to convert key third downs. Hodges” 8-yard run helped make it 14-0 with 2:49 left to play before halftime.
The Bulldogs averted disaster on the opening series of the second half to all but put the game away. Faced with a second-and-32 from its 4-yard line, Hodges gained 8 yards to give Aberdeen breathing room. The next snap, an isolation play designed to go left, was supposed to help give the Bulldogs a little bit more room before a punt.
But Hodges didn”t get the memo that Aberdeen was going to punt.
The senior running back quick-stepped at the line of scrimmage and broke through a hole on the right side for a 47-yard run. The run flipped the field and helped set the stage for a 4-yard touchdown run by Hodges. The score capped a 14-play drive that ate up seven minutes.
“The offensive line blocked it pretty well and we wanted it more,” Hodges said. “I just happened to break it off.”
Winona failed to move the ball on its only possession of the third quarter, which enabled Aberdeen to take over and deliver its final big play of the game. Jones made magic out of potential disaster as he collected a fumbled snap that seemed to stay on the ground for the longest time and weaved his way 51 yards before being stopped on the Winona 1.
“The first thing I was thinking is coach (Justin) Moss is going to kill me if I don”t fall on the ball,” Jones said. “It was my fault I fumbled, so I had to pick it and make a play out of it.”
Jones, who didn”t attempt a pass in the second half, said he knew when he picked the ball up where he was going and it just happened to work out, all except for scoring.
But Jones punched the ball home on the next play and then hit Michael Hodges on the two-point conversion to account for the final score.
The shutout was the fourth on the season for the Bulldogs, who overcame doubters to win the region and North State title. The next step — a state championship — is the one everyone is focused on.
“It is a great feeling,” Hodges said. “We are more determined now. We are going to have to finish (the title game) like we started (referring to last season”s 34-20 loss to Tylertown). We have to play every snap like it is our last because it really is.”
Said Jones, “We played great. We played better than I expected. Everybody came together and played as a team. It feels good to get to go to Jackson. Last year, I didn”t get to play in Jackson, so it is going to be a real honor.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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