Football: Mt. Enterprise wins area championship over Wortham with Hail Mary touchdown

Published 7:06 pm Friday, November 22, 2024

PALESTINE — The Mt. Enterprise Wildcats had nine seconds to score a winning touchdown, but that was all they needed as they prevailed 32-28 over the Wortham Bulldogs in their Class 2A Division 2 Region III Area Championship game on Friday night.

Down 26-28 after the Bulldogs had eaten up the last five minutes off the clock, marched down the field and scored on a 1-yard carry by their quarterback Jon Ross Black, the Wildcats were left with literally seconds to keep their season alive. Three plays and two timeout huddles later, junior Aadin Alsup, stepping in as quarterback for this final drive, connected with junior Kaegan Ash for a miraculous 67-yard touchdown pass. The last three seconds of the game ran out but Ash was out of the three Wortham defenders’ reach and into the end zone.

The Mt. Enterprise sidelines erupted into ecstatic cheers of near disbelief over how they pulled that off.

“Unbelievable. Unbelieve finish,” said Mt. Enterprise Head Coach Scott Ponder.

Ponder called it an unscripted moment in those final huddles with the team.

“We were just trying to make up a play in the huddle,” he said. “We knew if we could get the ball down the field we’d have a chance with [Ash.] And Aadin actually out threw the coverage. We were lucky because he extended the play.”

“Don’t get tackled and just throw it deep enough to where Kaegan could get it,” said Alsup about all that was going through his mind in those final plays.

Their first attempt was an incomplete pass with just 15 seconds left, putting even more pressure on the Wildcats with only three seconds to do it.

“I was in the zone. I was out of breath. I started jogging at one point and I had to catch back up,” laughed Ash about those moments when he caught the pass over his shoulder and had to stay on his feet and outrun the Wortham defenders right behind him.

“In the end we came through. We fought our butts off today,” said QB Bryce Durrett. “It was probably our best effort all season. [Wortham] is a good team, but in the end we prevailed. It was a good game.”

The finale wasn’t even the only moment the Wildcats came through under time pressure. They were trailing by 22-14 with 31 seconds left before halftime but made the most of those seconds, first with a key 48-yard pass by Durrett to Alsup. Near the endzone, Alsup tossed the ball to Ash on the same play right as he was tackled, and Ash got the ball all the way to the 3-yard line. Ash barreled through the line of scrimmage for a 2-yard touchdown, ensuring the Wildcats would enter the third quarter only trailing by two points.

Ash scored all five of Mt. Enterprise’s touchdowns and one two-point conversion. He made another huge 59-yard touchdown carry halfway through the fourth quarter, jumping right over the head of a Wortham defender to put the Wildcats briefly up by 26-22.

“I’m super proud of our kids’ effort. They played hard. They never gave up. You’ve got to love kids like that. They believe in what is happening,” said Ponder. “A lot of credit to [Wortham.] Their quarterback is a tough kid. We found a way to win.”

About Ash, Ponder said, “He made the plays he needed to make. And it was such a team effort. Not to take away from his efforts — he was unbelievable.”

Alsup added he’s proud over how they’ve brought winning back to Mt. Enterprise football.

“Mt. Enterprise has been known as a losing team for I don’t know how many years. I’m proud that we’ve come this far and won in the last second,” he said. “We did good. We could’ve tightened up our defense a little bit. I feel like we all played hard and we all didn’t want to go home tonight.”

“Just teamwork and staying in the game, really,” said Ash about how they got this win together. “It means a lot to our seniors. We play for our seniors.”

We’re playing really good football right now. The kids are believing,” noted Ponder. “This is my 24th year as a head coach and this is a pretty sweet season the kids are playing.”

Mt. Enterprise (9-3) will face Bremond (10-2) in the third round. The Bremond Tigers defeated Lovelady 33-14 in their area championship on Friday.