Grayhounds advance after big win
(pictured above: The Grayhounds Junior Midgets celebrate after their big win.)
The Grayhounds Junior Midgets have a flair for the dramatic.
With four seconds left to play, quarterback Mysta Goodloe delivered the game-winning score to give his team a thrilling 15-13 win over the Panthers in a PYFCL playoff championship game last Sunday.
Down 13-8 with 2:24 to go, the Grayhounds faced a must-score situation. At stake was their No. 9 national ranking, a spot in the state/regional playoffs, plus the chance to finish the PYFCL portion of their season undefeated.
Starting from their own 42-yard line, the Grayhounds methodically moved the ball down field, but stalled on three straight plays inside the Panthers’ 10. On fourth-and-goal from the five, Goodloe rolled out and looked for an open receiver. Everyone was covered, so he sprinted past all defenders to the left corner of the end zone to put the icing on a stunning comeback. For good measure, he also ran for the conversion. The game-winning play was set up by Goodloe’s 17-yard pass to Christen Wilson.
“It’s hard to beat an opponent twice in the same season,” said Coach Stephan McMillian of the Grayhounds, whose team is now 9-0. “The first time we played them, it was the first game of the year for both teams. This time, they came out and were more aggressive. They’re a great team.”
The Panthers (8-3) gave the Grayhounds all they could handle. After trailing for most the day, the defense came up with a crucial stop on fourth down and the Panthers took full advantage. Trevor Willard bulled-rushed his way through several tacklers on a two-yard touchdown run to give his team a five-point cushion. As things turned out, the lead was short-lived.
“We’ve got a great group of players who have come a long way,” said McMillian. “I give a lot of the credit to my coordinators Torrette Goodloe (offense) and Ernest Williams (defense) for the job they’ve done.”
The Grayhounds’ defense opened the scoring early in the second quarter with a safety. Three minutes later, Goodloe connected with Wilson for a 27-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 8-0.
The Panthers finally got on the board late in the third quarter. Jonathan Hudgins ran for 11 yards to put the ball inside the Grayhounds’ 10. On the next play, Traquan Cheeseboro slithered past defenders on a seven-yard touchdown run. The conversion pass failed, but the Panthers were now in striking distance, down by two points at 8-6.
On three different occasions in the first half, the Panthers offense came up empty when they got in scoring position. The Grayhounds kept their shut-out in tact with an impressive defensive stop in the waning seconds of the second quarter. On fourth-and-goal from the three, the Panthers fumbled and Corian Robinson recovered the loose ball near the goal line to end that threat.
“There were several chances we had in the red zone, but we didn’t punch it in,” said assistant coach Vernon Brown of the Panthers. “All season long, our defense played solid and provided the offense with opportunities to score. Today was no exception. When we look back on this season, we can honestly say that we were successful.”
