The Aberdeen High School football team flipped the script here Friday against New Hope.
After taking a 35-8 pounding at home a year ago, Aberdeen gained a measure of revenge with a last-second 32-27 victory against New Hope.
In a repeat of a 21-20 home loss to Corinth last week in its season opener, Aberdeen’s come-from-behind win turned out to be one of those “they made one more play than we did” type contests.
That one play was a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tramonte Prather to B.J. Williams with six seconds remaining that erased a 27-26 Trojan lead via a Thomas Stevens to Andre Erby scoring toss less than two minutes earlier.
Facing a second-and-8 from the 19-yard line with 16 seconds left, Prather dropped back to pass but was forced out of the pocket after two Trojans all but had him wrapped up in the backfield. Scrambling for his life, Prather found Williams wide open in the back of the end zone for the winning touchdown.
“That last play was all on No. 8 (Prather),” Aberdeen head coach Eric Spann said. “That’s what he brings to our offense, the ability to make a play under pressure.”
Spann said practicing the two-minute drill paid dividends.
“Most teams have walk-through practices on Thursday, but we go full gear, and that’s when we work on our two-minute drill,” Spann said, “so we’re comfortable in that setting, and tonight it worked out for us.”
Prather’s original target was senior wide receiver Dorian Fears, according to Aberdeen quarterback coach Thomas Clay.
“The play was designed to go to the right, and we were looking for Dorian down the middle or maybe Jerrick Orr, but Tramonte got pressured, scrambled back to his left, saw B.J. deep in the end zone, and made the winning play,” Clay said.
Said Williams, “The play was supposed to go to the other side of the field, but when Tramonte started to scramble I got open behind the cornerback.
Williams said his winning catch was one of those deja vu moments.
“Tonight reminded me of the end of the Amory game when I was in the ninth grade,” said Williams, a game that ended in a similar fashion for the Bulldogs.
New Hope coach Kris Pickle, a former assistant coach at Aberdeen, said there wasn’t a whole lot to say after losing a game like that.
“It was a heartbreaker and it kills me inside,” Pickle said. “They made one more play there at the end of the game, and that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Prather’s clutch toss to Williams capped a frenzied final quarter in which the lead traded hands three times in the final 5 minutes, 10 seconds.
Trailing 21-18 to start the fourth quarter, Aberdeen utilized a 12-play, 93-yard march to take a 26-21 lead with a little more than five minutes left. On the drive, which was aided by a 15-yard penalty, Prather was 6 of 8 for 47 yards. Battering-ram tailback Donte Carter rushed for 34 yards, including the go-ahead score, a 2-yard run in which he carried no less than four defenders into the end zone. Prather added the two-point conversion run to give the Bulldogs a short-lived 26-21 cushion.
New Hope took advantage of a short kickoff on its ensuing possession and mounted a 10-play, 57-yard march to retake the lead 27-26 on a perfectly thrown ball from Stevens to Erby, who made a great catch in the corner of the end zone on a fourth-and-14 play with 1:56 remaining.
On the two-point conversion attempt, Orr stepped in front of a Stevens’ pass and sprinted to the opposite end zone for what appeared to be a 28-27 Aberdeen lead, but the two-point swing was nullified because, unlike college and the NFL, conversion attempts can’t be advanced in high school play.
Undaunted, Aberdeen started its game-winning drive from its 26 with just 1:52 to go. After an incomplete pass on first down, two running plays netted 9 yards and left the Bulldogs with a fourth-and-1 at the 35.
Carter picked up the first down on a 17-yard ramble. Prather then hit three straight passes for 27 yards to give Aberdeen a first down at the New Hope 21. Prather stopped the clock when he scrambled out of bounds at the 19 with 16 seconds left to set up his game-winning toss to Williams.
A short kickoff gave New Hope (0-2) one last shot at a miracle from its 40. But Prather came up with his second interception when he picked off a Stevens’ pass at the Aberdeen 33 as the buzzer sounded.
Neither team scored in the first quarter, but New Hope broke the ice on Stevens’ 8-yard quarterback draw and Nathan Wilson’s kick with just under nine minutes left in the half.
Aberdeen (1-1) made it a one-point game four minutes later when quarterback Byron Butler and Orr connected on a 54-yard pass-run play, but the point after kick was no good.
The Trojans countered with a Stevens to T.J. Stephens 19-yard scoring strike. Wilson’s kick made it a 14-6 with 2:33 left in the half. But, aided by a 15-yard face mask penalty, Prather pulled the Bulldogs within 14-12 at halftime with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Isiah McMillian with 1:15 left in the period.
Aberdeen grabbed its first lead, 18-14, in the third quarter on a 3-yard plunge by Carter, but New Hope answered on an electrifying 73-yard pass completion to Carlos Brooks. Wilson’s kick made it 21-18.
“In the first half we hurt ourselves with penalties (nine for 89 yards and two loss of down plays), but we got that cleaned up and played smart football the rest of the game,” Spann said. “We took what they gave us and it paid off in the second half.”
Aberdeen’s two-quarterback system racked up 361 yards passing on 29 completions, as Prather was 21 of 31 for 242 yards and two touchdowns. Butler came off the bench and was 8 of 13 for 119 yards and one score.
Despite being double- and triple-teamed, Orr led all receivers with 10 catches for 143 yards and a touchdown, while Fears caught a career-high 11 passes for 136 yards and McMillian had five catches for 52 yards. Williams, who scored the game-winner and also had two bone-rattling hits, had three receptions for 30 yards.
Stevens, who added a rushing touchdown in only his second start, accounted for 360 yards passing thanks to a 29-for-48 effort good for three touchdowns. Erby was his favorite receiver with eight grabs for 118 yards.
“You’ve got to give their quarterback credit because that dude’s pretty good,” Spann said.
Pickle said penalties (14 for 145 yards), turnovers, and missed opportunities doomed New Hope’s chances.
“We got inside their 10 on our first drive, inside the 1 on our second drive, and then had an interception in the red zone and couldn’t score,” Pickle said. “We’ve got to get that fixed.”
The passing stats for both teams turned out closer than the final score, as Aberdeen completed 29 of 44 passes for 361 yards and New Hope was 29 of 48 attempts for 360 yards. Both teams threw two interceptions.
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