A week after Clear Springs pulled off the feat against Dickinson, Shadow Creek duplicated the dramatic magic at home Friday night.
The Sharks rallied from a 27-point deficit and edged Richmond Foster in a 35-34 thriller at AISD Freedom Field. Brad Butler’s squad not only staged one of the most impressive comebacks in AISD football history, state-ranked Shadow Creek (8-0 overall, 5-0) also clinched a playoff berth in its inaugural varsity season with Friendswood and Rosenberg Terry both suffering their third losses in 10-5A Division I play over the weekend.
Foster appeared to have the game well in hand when they scored with two minutes left in the third quarter to increase their lead to 34-7.
“We just seemed to keep shooting ourselves in the foot during the first half and couldn’t get rolling,” Butler said. “We were maybe a little flat, but it seemed more like that we were just making inopportune mistakes.
"Things that we definitely got to clean up. I was proud of the way the kids hung in there and still found a way to win even though we were struggling. You try to sell to them to never give up and when you can do something like this, it’s a life lesson to never quit.”
The Sharks started pecking away at the margin on quarterback Jermaine George’s two-yard keeper to make it 34-14 into the fourth, while George hit Marquez Huland with a 75-yard touchdown bomb with 9:05 remaining to cut the gap to 34-21.
Climbing the mountain still appeared to be an improbable task, though, when SC was forced to give the ball up on downs deep inside Falcons’ territory on consecutive possessions. The latter drive stalled with only 4:04 left on the clock.
Despite not having any time outs left, the Sharks’ defense allowed the offense to get the ball back with under two minutes remaining and George (13 of 26 for 212 yards, three TD’s) promptly found Axel Cruz, who made a spectacular 38-yard leaping grab in the end zone with 1:24 left. Greg Ezechukwu added the PAT and then perfectly executed an onsides kick attempt with teammate Isaiah Harper falling on the loose ball at the Foster 40-yard line.
After George scrambled for eight yards, the senior signal caller nailed Jared Jackson with a 32-yard fling in the end zone’s left side to tie things at 34 apiece. Jackson managed to make the perfect adjustment on the play to keep at least one foot in bounds before being knocked out by a Falcons’ defender.
“I just said to myself, if I got the chance, to just focus on the ball and I did,” Jackson said. “The ball came to me, I kept my toes in, made the grab and won the game for us.”
The touchdown set off a wild celebration by Shark players at the goal line, resulting in an unsportsmanlike penalty, which moved the ball back to the 25-yard line for an NFL-type 35-yard extra point attempt. Ezechukwu calmly hammered the ball through the uprights, though, to give Shadow Creek the lead for the first time at 35- 34 with 1:02 remaining.
For Ezechukwu, both the successful onsides kick and converting the eventual game-winning PAT provided redemption for the senior placekicker, who had missed a 31-yard field goal try in the first half.
“I did feel some pressure, because I had missed the earlier field goal and knew I had to get this one,” Ezechukwu said. “I just tried to stay focused, believe in myself and prayed to God help me make the PAT. My coaches also helped me to get back into the game when I missed the field goal and it got my focus back.”
Foster moved to midfield on the game’s final series, but Ryan Stubblefield’s pass on fourth-and-five fell incomplete with 23 seconds left to cap the final wild 12 minutes for the Sharks.
“I never felt anything like that in my life,” said Jackson about the furious rally. “We were down 34-7 in the third and I thought, man we need a miracle to pull this off. We did it though, and I just love my teammates. We did this together.”
The Falcons built a surprising 21-7 advantage at intermission with Stubblefield teaming with receiver Shadeed Ahmed to do most of the damage. The pair also combined for a 38- yard touchdown hook-up on the third quarter’s opening series to increase Foster’s lead to 27-7. However, Bryson Harrell missed the extra point attempt, which later proved huge in the outcome.
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