A yard short –
Tigers fall to DeSoto on failed two-point conversion with no time left

By STEVE SNYDER
Lancaster News Editor

The Lancaster Tigers put last-second excitement into a battle against local rival DeSoto, but a failed two-point conversion left them on the short end of a 24-22 score. The Tigers scored a touchdown on the last play of the game but were unable to tie with the conversion.

In what may go down in local annals as one of weirder high school games in the area, DeSoto had negative yardage from scrimmage for the game but still managed to pull off the win. The reason? Special teams play.

The Eagles, struggling on offense, found the keys to their win on special teams. DeSoto used two second half punt return touchdowns to come from behind for a 24-16 win at Eagle Stadium Sept. 7. Combine that with a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown and a field goal, and the Eagles got all of their points for the game on special teams.

Other than that, on paper, the game looked like a blowout for the Tigers. They had more than 400 yards of total offense in a balanced attack, both rushing and passing for more than 200 yards. But the special teams miscues cost them.

Early in the game, it looked like the Tigers would run away with the game, putting together two quick strike drives to score on their first two possessions. Meanwhile, the Eagle offense was on its way to recording negative yardage in the first half.

Calvin Carroll scored the first Tiger touchdown on a one-yard run. The Tigers had started at their own 8-yard line, but didn’t let the poor field position daunt them. They drove the length of the field in 12 plays for the score.

Deandre Chism had a 61-yard run on a option-right play that was the key to the drive. Chism finished with 144 yards on 20 carries to lead the Tiger rushing attack.

DeSoto then got great position on the next kickoff, foreshadowing what would happen on special teams for the rest of the game. B.J. Ray returned the kickoff 45 yards to put DeSoto at the Tiger 43. However, the Eagles had a three-and-out possession and had to punt the ball back to Lancaster.

This time the Tigers scored in bam-bam fashion. Chism had a 30-yard run on the first play of the drive. Then, on a play-fake, Tiger quarterback A.D. Matthews got the Eagle defense to bite on a faked handoff to Chism. He then hit a wide-open Demarcus Williams on a post pass and Williams took it in for the second touchdown of the game.

The Eagles then put together a 10-play drive, aided by a Lancaster fourth-down penalty. However, the Tiger defense stiffened and they took the ball over on downs. After that, both teams exchanged several three-and-out series.

But the Eagles came clawing back in the second quarter. The Tigers were pinned deep in their own end and had to punt again. A bad snap opened the door for the Eagles. And they cashed in for a touchdown.

Chris Kelly blocked Joseph Thomas’ punt inside the 10-yard line, grabbed the blocked kick just short of the goal line, and walked in for the touchdown.

However, just before halftime, the Tiger defense extended the Lancaster lead. The Tigers sacked Eagle quarterback Matt Harris in the end zone, putting the Tiger margin at 16-7 as they went into the locker room.

The Tigers took the first kickoff of the second half, but marching into a wind growing in intensity, had a three-and-out drive.

DeSoto’s Michael Thomas took the ball at his own 29-yard line. He started running right, as if he were looking to hand off for a reverse, a common special-teams play for the Eagles. Instead, he kept the ball, danced the sideline at about midfield while getting a couple of blocks in front of him, and took the ball to paydirt. With the conversion, it was now a two-point game.

Before the quarter was over, even that narrow lead for the Tigers had vanished. The two teams swapped three-and-out possessions, then DeSoto punted again.

Sloan Hicks lost the handle on the punt and the Eagles recovered at the Tiger 18-yard line. The Eagles were held to just two yards by the Tiger defense, though, and settled for a Sean McCrossen 33-yard field goal with just over a minute left in the third quarter.

The Tigers got one first down on their next possession, but then had to punt. The same was true of DeSoto when they had the ball. The Tigers then had the ball for five plays but had to punt again. With less than four minutes left in the game, it didn’t look like they had many chances left.

And then their chances just got worse.

Patrick Williams fielded this punt at his own 28-yard line. In what was a near repeat of Thomas’ run, Williams ran the ball back 72 yards for a touchdown. With the extra point, the Eagles had an eight-point lead.

The Tigers had the ball on their own 23-yard line after the Eagle kickoff. But they weren’t going to give up.

In that do-or-die spirit, including converting one fourth down, the Tigers marched down the field, mainly on the arm of Matthews’ passing. But the Tigers ran out of time outs and the clock kept ticking.

With just seconds left, the Tigers were down to the Eagle 25-yard line. Then, Matthews hit Kenric Gilbert, in double coverage, just across the goal line. It was Gilbert’s one catch for the day and cut the Eagle lead to 24-22.

The Tigers lined up for the tying two-point conversion and then got a break. The Eagles were offside, and the penalty meant the Tigers had less than two yards to go to send the game into overtime.

Coach Andrew Jackson had the Tigers in the shotgun, with the play to be a quarterback draw by Matthews. But a low snap slowed Matthews just a bit, and the Eagle defensive line rallied to stop him about a yard short of the end zone.

One yard short.