ABERDEEN — “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat — the human drama of athletic competition.”
Written by Stanley Ralph Ross for ABC’s long-running television series Wide World of Sports and hosted by the recently deceased Jim McKay, that phrase is etched in the memory of anyone 30 years of age and older who used to watch Saturday afternoon television from 1961-98.
That phrase came into play here Friday evening in what had to be the most exciting A-Team game in its 24-year existence, as the Aberdeen’s Bulldogs scored on the game’s final play to hand Amory a a 27-22 loss in the 77th recorded meeting between the Monroe County rivals.
Backed up to his 11-yard line with 1 minute, 26 seconds left to play, sophomore quarterback Josh Williams directed an almost flawless 89-yard drive. A 20-yard scoring strike to senior Aaron “Cap” McMilllian gave the Bulldogs the victory as the clock ran out.
“It was all Josh,” Aberdeen offensive coordinator Alex Williams said. “He made things happen there on that last drive, and on the final play Aaron (McMillian) found a way to get open and Josh got things done. There was no coaching involved.”
The Bulldogs, winners of four straight in the A-Team series that officially became known as the “A-Team” game in 1989, literally snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Facing a fourth-and-inches at the Amory 49-yard with 1:36 left to play, the Panthers turned things over to a defense that had blanked the Bulldogs in the second half.
Seconds later, Tanner Poole’s punt rolled dead at the 11, leaving the Bulldogs 89 yards from pay-dirt with 1:26 left. Williams picked up back-to-back first downs on runs of 11 and 12 yards to give Aberdeen a first down at their 34.
Then, under tremendous pressure, Williams turned in his version of a “Cool Hand Luke” performance as he completed 14-, 9-, and 23-yard passes to McMillian, Kenric McCoy, and Trey Mims to give Aberdeen a first down at the Panther 20 with 12 seconds left on the clock.
An incomplete pass play took six seconds off the clock, setting up the dramatic finish. McMillian worked his way free in the end zone for the game-winning catch as time expired.
“The play was supposed to go to the trip side, and I lined up on the backside,” said McMillian, who has never been on the losing end of an Aberdeen-Amory game. “I noticed the Amory corner was playing over to the trip side, and I just ran behind him and was wide open.”
Williams, in his second year as a starter, downplayed his role in the heroics.
“Everybody just did their job at the end,” said Williams, who accounted for 289 yards total offense (193 passing, 96 rushing) and all four touchdowns (three passing and one running) “The line blocked and gave me time to throw and room to run. On the last play, I kept my eyes up the field and spotted Cap in the end zone, and he made a big catch to win the game.”
Coach Alex Williams liked what he saw in the first half when the Bulldogs racked up 213 yards total offense and scored three touchdowns on their first three possessions, but wasn’t pleased with the majority of the second half.
“We thought we could block them and run on them and then throw it if we had to,” coach Williams said. “We kept pounding them with the run, but then they made their adjustments at halftime and it took us a while to adjust to their adjustments.”
Aberdeen coach Mark Bray survived his second A-Team game, but just barely.
“Josh bailed us out there at the end. He made a great throw and Aaron came up with a clutch catch to win it, but don’t forget the job the offensive line did,” Bray said.
Lost in the late-game heroics was a defensive effort by Aberdeen that held Amory to 182 total yards.
Amory quarterback Jon David Poss, who came into the game leading the state in passing with 606 yards, according to MaxPreps, threw two interceptions and had 105 passing yards and 40 rushing yards.
Aberdeen defensive coordinator Sammie Burroughs, who took over for Amory’s current defensive coordinator Patrick Schoolar this year, said the plan was to try and take away what Amory wanted to do offensively.
“The defensive unit as a whole and the linebackers and defensive backs in particular did a good job on a great offensive team,” said Burroughs, whose unit allowed only 95 passing yards and 6 yards rushing in the first two quarters. “We wanted to take away their jet motion and make them play inside ball and not give them the corner.”
Burroughs was impressed with his defense’s pass coverage.
“They (Amory) came out in a quad formation to throw us off and ours guys reacted really well,” Burroughs said.
Schoolar, took the loss hard.
“This one hurts,” said Schoolar, whose halftime adjustments helped shut out Aberdeen in the second half until McMillian’s game-winner. “Most of all, I hate it for the kids.”
Amory coach Trent Hammond, who said coaching high school football was a tough way to make a living before the game, agreed.
“This one was a tough one to lose,” Hammond said. “They just outplayed us on that final drive. We had a chance to intercept it, but we couldn’t get the job done there at the end. My hat’s off to Aberdeen. They’re a good football team.”
Bray said he has been on the losing end of a few games like that in his long coaching career.
“That’s a tough way to lose a game and my hat’s off to Amory for they really took it to us the entire game,” he said.
The Bulldogs jumped off to a 14-0 lead on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Justin Lucas and a 69-yard scoring strike to Jeremy Brandon, but Amory cut the lead in half on a 30-yard scoring pass from Poss to Robinson on the first play of the second quarter and a Fernando Sanchez point after kick.
Undaunted, Aberdeen responded with a seven-play march, all on the ground capped by a 5-yard keeper by Williams. Demarea Dobbins hit all three extra points.
Trailing 21-7, Cody Pate recovered a Williams’ fumble after a vicious hit by Austin Roberts and Poss wasted no time in finding Devin McIntosh from 46 yards out to make it 21-13 at halftime.
Jaylon Fair scored from 5 yards out for the Panthers on their first possession of the second half following a partially blocked punt, but Poss’ two-point run attempt came up short.
Trailing 21-19), Amory took its first lead at 22-21 when Sanchez drilled a 33-yard field goal with 3:54 left in the third quarter.
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