NEW HOPE — Like most football-loving kids in the state of Mississippi, Cole Crawford was tuned into last Thanksgiving’s Egg Bowl, the annual rivalry contest between Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
Crawford watched as the dramatic events played out: the Rebels’ late touchdown that put them within a point. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that pushed Ole Miss back 15 crucial yards. The extra point that sailed outside the uprights to clinch a win for the Bulldogs and cap a historically ridiculous Egg Bowl.
The New Hope High School kicker never could have known that less than a year later he’d be playing a leading role in his own version of the game.
Crawford and the Trojans (2-4) played the Bulldogs’ part in Thursday’s home game against Saltillo, taking advantage of eerily familiar self-inflicted errors by the Tigers (0-5) to escape with a 16-15 overtime win.
“Glad we came out on the right side of it,” New Hope coach Wade Tackett said.
Tackett’s team entered overtime tied 9-9 with the winless Tigers before scoring on its overtime possession from the 10-yard line. Crawford knocked through his extra-point attempt — a make that ended up being worth much more than the single tally it gave his team.
As for the rest? It was quintessential 2019 Egg Bowl. No, Saltillo’s Jaden Warren didn’t quite pretend to pee like a dog after his 3-yard touchdown — Ole Miss’ Elijah Moore will never live that one down — but spiking the ball in the general direction of a Trojans defender was enough for an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on Warren.
It put the Tigers at the 18-yard line, and kicker Carson Langford’s extra-point attempt had the distance but not the accuracy. Whereas the Rebels’ Luke Logan missed right last November, Langford was wide left, and it was over. The Saltillo kicker lay supine in the wet grass as the Trojans roared onto the field.
Tackett credited the beaten Tigers, who matched the Trojans step for step all night — until they could no longer walk.
“That team over there played hard,” Tackett said.
So did New Hope in earning its second win of the season — both one-point home victories. That’s not always easy for a team as inexperienced as the Trojans are, either.
“We’re still so young that these guys are still trying to figure out how to win football games,” Tackett said. “To win two close ones is good.”
Credit junior quarterback Ty Crowell for his part in that achievement. Crowell battled through a shoulder injury late in the first half Thursday and returned by the fourth quarter. When New Hope and Saltillo went into overtime, Crowell — who’d practiced the scenario with his team every day — went to Tackett with determination.
“Coach, this is goal line,” he reminded Tackett. “I got this.”
His first-down carry from the 10 went for only a yard. The second got the Trojans down to the 2. The third ended in a gleeful celebration in the end zone.
“That’s what he can do,” Crawford said. “That’s what we’ve got him there for. He’s a unit when he runs it.”
Crowell was supplemented by strong performances from sophomore running backs Ladarius Tate and LJ Hackman and junior rusher Zion Reed, each of whom showed flashes Thursday. Tate turned the corner for a 12-yard score, Hackman changed direction effortlessly and Reed had multiple big runs when the Trojans needed it.
“Those three guys carried the load for us,” Tackett said.
So did senior quarterback Zac Butler, who took over when Crowell injured his left shoulder carrying several Tigers past the first-down marker. Butler kept the Trojans in the ballgame until Crowell returned in the fourth quarter.
“Zac stays ready. Zac’s a senior, he’s poised, he’s a good leader, and he can come in at any time,” Tackett said.
But even factoring in the help Butler and the trio of running backs provided, it was perhaps Crawford who was most integral to victory for New Hope.
On top of his clutch extra point in overtime, he drilled a 40-yard field goal midway through the third quarter to push the Trojans’ lead to 9-0.
“That’s another sophomore,” Tackett said. “That’s another young kid who has ice in his veins.”
Crawford admitted he didn’t know — well, how could he? — that his long-distance kick would end up being the deciding score Thursday.
“That kind of surprised me, but I knew we had it in the bag,” he said.
He said New Hope will take a win however it can get it, and Thursday’s game counts just as the same as any other victory, after all.
Crawford said the Trojans — with two wins in their past four games after an 0-2 start — are coming together as a team. Being able to hold on to beat Saltillo on Thursday was a good step, and the Trojans will enjoy it before they host Center Hill next Friday.
“It felt good to get a win in district, and I think we’re going to bounce back and be ready for next week,” Crawford said.
New Hope 16, Saltillo 15, OT
S 0 0 3 6 6 — 15
NH 0 6 3 0 7 — 16
Second quarter
NH — Ladarius Tate 12 run (kick failed), clock 5:13
Third quarter
NH — Cole Crawford 40 FG, clock 7:26
S — Carson Langford 31 FG, clock 4:23
Fourth quarter
S — Jaden Warren 7 run, clock 9:45
Overtime
NH — Ty Crowell 2 run (Crawford kick)
S — Warren 3 run (kick failed)
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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