The Stockbridge Tigers again waited until half-past-too-late to pull out a victory.
After trailing from the opening offensive play, the Tigers scored late in the fourth quarter to knock off Class 4A No. 10 Ola 14-10 on Friday and ruin the Mustangs homecoming bash.
It was the third time this season that Stockbridge has rallied in the fourth quarter to win. They beat Locust Grove with a late comeback and last week stunned Jones County by scoring in the final minute to come away with a win. This week the victim was Ola.
“We were saying that on the sideline that we’re the new Cardiac Kids,” Stockbridge coach Kendrick Callier said. “Maybe it’s because we’re so young. We just keep doing it.”
The win gives the Tigers (6-1, 6-0) sole possession of first place in Class 4A Region 2. Ola drops to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in league play.
The balanced Stockbridge offense was led by running backs Eddie Minor (11 carries for 106 yards) and Zion McGruder (15 catches for 88 yards, two touchdowns). Quarterback Joshua Scott completed 11 of 22 passes for 138 yards, five of them to Devin Harris (62 yards), three to Gavin Kitchen and two to Zyon Robinson (52 yards).
Ola’s ground attack was led by sophomore Nigel Newkirk, who returned from a leg injury that had kept him sidelined since the middle of the second game. Newkirk rushed 20 times for 204 yards and one touchdown.
“It’s tough to go 5-1 and take the first loss at the end of the game,” Ola coach Justin Adkins said. “We can learn from it. This doesn’t define our season. We’ve still got the inside track to host a playoff game.”
Ola wasted no time getting the ball into the hands of Newkirk. He scored on the first play, an 80-yard run, when he broke through the line and cut through the Stockbridge defense and went untouched after he reached the second level. The extra point by Carter Smith gave the Mustangs a 7-0 lead at 11:40.
Stockbridge followed with an effective drive, but it was short-circuited when a snap sailed far over the head of the quarterback for an 18-yard loss and forced a punt.
Ola again leaned on its running game – which featured a 19-yard pickup by Newkirk – and added a 38-yard field goal by Smith with 2:00 left in the quarter.
Stockbridge then embarked on a 20-play drive that came up empty when 28 missed a 45-yard field goal. The Tigers missed another chance on its next possession when McGruder fumbled and Macklin Sanders recovered for Ola, which led 10-0 at the half.
“When we played Locust Grove, it was pandemonium on the sidelines,” Callier said. “And then we were calm against Jones County. And tonight in the second half we just came out and played ball.”
The Tigers continued to move the ball in the second half but there was always one critical mistake that stopped them short. That changed early in the fourth quarter when the Tigers finally got on the board thanks to the tough running by Eddie Miner – runs of 23 and 47 yards – and completing a 92-yard drive on a 3-yard run by Zion McGruder.
Stockbridge scored the go-ahead touchdown on its final possession. The big play was a 4-yard pass from Scott to Zyon Robinson on third-and 8 and McGruder scored on the next play on 7-yard run.
Ola tried to put together some last-minute heroics and advanced the ball to the Stockbridge 16 with 33 seconds left. But on fourth down the pass to from Caden Worley to Timothy Clark was knocked away in the end zone on a nice defensive play by Jared Anthony to preserve the win.
“We try to practice those scenarios every week,” Callier said. “Whether it’s two minutes, whether it’s a four-minute situation, whether it’s red zone, we try to get a scenario every day and give the kids as much competition as we can. So when we get in these situations there’s no pressure.”
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
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