WS Chronicle

With the odds stacked against them, the Glenn Bobcats shocked many by defeating Myers Park in a thriller by the score of 54-53 last Friday night.  

“I am going to be bald before my time, I am already trying to hold on with the little bit I have left on my head,” said Antwon Stevenson, Glenn head coach, about how stressful the game was. “I told the guys at halftime, we were down 35-14 against a good team and they were expecting me to jump on their case.

“Two things I told them. I told them the score was where it was because a lot of what we were doing as far as mishaps and miscues. The second thing I told them is, if you just believe a little bit, we can get this job done, but it’s going to take everybody believing. You saw the confidence start building and we came out the second half, defense got a stop, offense scored, defense got a stop, and then we returned a punt for a touchdown. Then at that point it was on.”

Early on, the teams were going back and forth taking the lead. Stevenson says he feels that gave his team some confidence that they could play with the Mustangs.

“It started off bad with a pick six, but even with that, I think the guys felt like they were just another team,” he said. “Even in that first quarter, I felt like the kids felt they could play with them. I still take that mindset and belief with us going down to Chambers early in the year and the score being 0-0 at halftime.”

Down three scores at halftime can be demoralizing to a team. For the Bobcats, Coach Stevenson says he saw how deflated his team was, but knew they had a lot left in them to mount a comeback.

“Heads were hanging and body language was terrible,” said Stevenson. “As a coach, you look at that and a lot of times for me, I can’t speak for anyone else, when the kids have a bad half, you just want to jump their case. That wasn’t the time for it.  

“The kids already knew the first half was a bad half, so it was no need for me to just go and reiterate that. So, I felt like I needed to interject some positivity and to just believe. I said, ‘iIf you don’t believe, don’t come back out the second half.’ I didn’t want anybody out on the field that don’t believe. We didn’t talk Xs and Os or any of that. I asked my seniors if they wanted this last 24 minutes to be the last 24 minutes you play high school ball and I left them with that.”

Coming out of the half, it seems the Mustangs took their foot off the gas and that allowed the Bobcats to get back into the game. Instead of continuing what built the three-score lead at intermission, Myers Park leaned more on the running game, which is exactly what Glenn wanted them to do.

“When I saw the two tights, we hung our hat on our run defense and I think that just played right into our hand,” he said. “They played right into the message that I told the kids at halftime. They played right into it for whatever reason.

“We weren’t moving the ball very well in the first half from an offensive standpoint, and they had two pick sixes on the defensive side, so I can understand why they felt like we didn’t have a shot.”

Glenn put up a remarkable 26 points in the fourth quarter and they needed every point. To never give up, even when the game seemed out of reach, is a testament to the players and the coaching staff.

“We have playmakers on the offensive side and the offensive line did a pretty good job the entire game,” he stated. “We just took what the defense gave us and not tried to play hero ball and everything else would take care of itself. To watch it, you thought we were playing a basketball game; we were going up and down the field.”

Glenn took the lead for good with just over a minute left in the game. Myers Park made it interesting by quickly driving down the field and getting into position for a game winning field goal. The Bobcats blocked the kick to secure the victory.

“I felt this was what it was going to come down to,” Stevenson said about the last play of the game. “In the game against East, I was upset when it came down to the last play, but my whole feeling this game was totally different.  

“I knew we had blocked one extra point and we came really close on another. What I did know was that those 11 guys on the field were going to give everything they had on that play. Whether it was going to be their last play of the ’21 season or it was going to propel us forward, and as a coach that’s all you can ask for.”

According to Stevenson and others at the game, Myers Park was doing a lot of trash talking and extracurricular activities after the whistle.  

“After the game, my mindset was to just get my guys off the field,” Stevenson said. “I had read an article about a couple of weeks prior, they lost to a team in Charlotte and they were trying to fight. I wasn’t going to allow them to get into it with my guys.

“I know my guys weren’t going to back down, so my thing was to get my guys off the field and get them away from them. The coach was a solid guy and shook my hand and said congrats and good luck moving forward. Trash talking is a part of the game; I just feel like some of those things the officials need to regulate and they can get out of hand when they don’t.”

Next week the Bobcats will play their cross-town rival in East Forsyth in a rematch of a triple overtime game from earlier in the year. Stevenson feels if they can eliminate the self-inflicted mistakes, they should have a good chance to win the game.

“They can turn on the film and they can see for themselves the miscues, turnovers, the selfish penalties,” Stevenson said about the matchup with East Forsyth next week. “We had like six or seven personal fouls that game, so they can turn on the film and watch it for themselves.

“This is one of those weeks where I don’t really have to say much. Friday can’t get here fast enough.”