Gutsy call sends Olive Branch to win over Petal in 6A championship thriller, 35-34

Posted 12:54 a.m.

By JOSH MLOT
Sports Editor

JACKSON — If this season was a wild ride for the Petal football team, it saved the wildest roller coaster ride for last.

Petal quarterback Anthony Alford goes skyward to score a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter of Friday's MHSAA Class 6A State Championship in Jackson. The Conquistadors won a dramatic finale, 35-34. (Photo by Matt Bush)

In his final game in a Panther uniform senior quarterback Anthony Alford put on a classic performance, but a 38-yard field goal attempt by Austin Franklin sailed wide left as time expired in the MHSAA Class 6A State Championship and Olive Branch prevailed 35-34 Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson.

It was a soul-wrenching up-and-down for Petal, as Franklin first sent a 43-yarder right through the uprights as the Panthers began to celebrate. But a neutral zone infraction by the Conquistadors — a dead ball foul that by high school rules is an automatic replay of the down — forced a second, albeit shorter, try.

“I hate it,” said Petal senior wide receiver Blake Roberts, who caught five balls for 59 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown late in the first half that gave his team a 19-7 advantage as well as a first-down grab that sustained his team’s final drive of the game. “We worked for it all year. We knew what we were up against in a good, quality team. It’s just hard. We worked so hard all year to just come up short one point.”

But it was a night of close calls — and gutsy ones. A missed point after attempt, a near interception that would have stopped Olive Branch’s final drive or a pass interference call that helped keep that drive alive for the Conquistadors all could have changed the outcome greatly.

And ultimately Olive Branch went for a two-point conversion with less than two minutes to go in the game, when an extra point would have tied things up. Olive Branch QB Todd Mays, a TD machine for the Conquistadors, kept it himself and gave his side a 35-34 lead.

“I have to give it to Olive Branch, they’re a heck of a football team,” Petal head coach Steve Buckley said. “Their coach made a gutsy call and won the football game. I probably would have done the same thing.”

Mays finished with 18 carries for 84 yards and four TDs, while he was 13-of-21 through the air for 241 yards in leading the comeback.

“The first half, everything was executed,” Buckley said. “The second half, I thought I did a poor job on those first few series. They were stopping the run and I should have put the ball in the air quicker But I wanted to stay in front of the chains, control the clock and not face second-and-10. It worked well in the first half.

“I had all the confidence in Austin to kick the field goal. He’s a senior kicker, can hit from 60. He kicked good yesterday in practice.

“I knew it was a dead ball foul. The guy almost blocked it and I wish he would have blocked it.”

Alford ran the ball in from five yards out with 2:47 left to play to break a 27-all tie and go up 34-27. But a minute and a half later Mays capped an 80-yard drive with a 1-yard push into the end zone.

A pass interference call on first-and-10 bailed out the Conquistadors after an out-of-reach pass early in the drive, and Petal linebacker Hunter Linton nearly came up with a diving interception before a fourth-and-1 offside call kept things alive. On the next play Mays hit Miller for a diving catch along the left sideline that went for 34 yards down to the 1 and set up the quarterback’s TD.

Rather than kick the extra point and play for overtime, the Conquistadors went for the two-point conversion, with Mays keeping the ball himself and putting his team up by a point, 35-34.

Alford’s effort was legendary stuff as well, rushing 37 times for 201 yards and three touchdowns, and completing 8 of 8 passes for 169 yards and another two scores. All while he played through a rib injury suffered on the first play of the second quarter — a 3-yard touchdown run in which he vaulted himself over a defender and into the end zone.

“When I dove into the end zone I landed on my back,” Alford said. “I wasn’t going to let that stop me. For this group of guys and this coaching staff, I was going to give it all I had.

“I did (give it my all). I wouldn’t trade anything for this group of guys. I’d fight any time for them, and I know they left it out on the field also.”

“He was Anthony,” Buckley said. “He does the same things he always does. He did a great job trying to take over the game and he made plays. He gave us a chance to win the game.”

Olive Branch drew first blood when Jaylen Miller ran the ball in from three yards out just over three and a half minutes into the game.

But Petal responded by controlling the clock and moving the ball down the field with an 11-play, 72-yard drive that ate up over five minutes of the clock. Alford hit Akeem Pollard for a 12-yard gain down to the Olive Branch 1 and the quarterback then finished the drive off by crossing the goal line.

The Panther took over with solid field position after forcing the Conquistadors to punt, and seven plays later Alford ran around the right edge, leapt from about three yards out and hurdled an Olive Branch defender into the end zone.

Later in the second quarter the Conquistadors missed a 35-yard field goal, allowing Petal another shot before the break, with Roberts going across the middle for a touchdown pass and momentum going into halftime.

Petal lost the field position game early in the second half, eventually giving the ball to Olive Branch on the Panther 41. Two plays later Mays ran 12 yards in for the touchdown, slicing the deficit to 19-14.

Two plays from scrimmage later, Alford hit Jamarcus Revies in stride deep down the middle, and the receiver outran the defense 84 yards for a 27-14 advantage with 3:34 left in the third. Revies had two catches for 98 yards.

But Mays took over from their, hitting John Johnson for 60 yards on the ensuing drive’s first play, and scoring three times the rest of the way to lead his team to victory.

Olive Branch wideout D’Arthur Cowan, an Arkansas recruit, had four catches for 45 yards, while Miller led the team with three catches for 77 yards.

It was the first state title in school history for Olive Branch.

Petal junior defensive end Haydn Lott suffered a dislocated shoulder in the first half, but returned to play after the break. Senior linebacker Brady Hoda picked up a knee injury that forced him to watch the rest of the contest from crutches on the sideline.

“I look back at this senior group and holy mackerel there’s a good bunch of them,” Buckley said. “They laid it on the line.

“It’s been a long season; about 20 weeks now. The kids have poured their hearts and souls into it, our coaches have poured their hearts and souls into it and we wanted to win this football game. But the sun will come up tomorrow. We’ll be OK.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Robert Burgess, a fixture around Petal athletics as a photographer, videographer, webmaster and do-it-all support system, suffered a heart attack in the press box prior to the game and passed away Friday night. A full memorial to Burgess’ work and his love for all things Panthers will run in Thursday’s edition of The Petal News.

Check out a full photo gallery of game action…

OLIVE BRANCH 35
PETAL 34

Score by Quarter
Olive Branch    7     0   14   14—35
Petal                   7   12     8     7—34

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
OB—Miller 3 run, (Pittman kick), 8:17.
P—Alford 1 run, (Reynolds kick), 3:05.
Second Quarter
P—Alford 3 run, (kick failed), 11:56.
P—Roberts 23 pass from Alford, (pass failed), 2:18.
Third Quarter
OB—Mays 12 run, (Pittman kick), 4:31.
P—Revies 84 pass from Alford, (Barkurn pass from Alford), 3:34.
OB—Mays 3 run, (Pittman kick), 1:37.
Fourth Quarter
OB—Mays 1 run, (kick failed), 9:45.
P—Alford 5 run, (Reynolds kick), 2:47.
OB—Mays 1 run, (Mays run), 1:12.

TEAM STATISTICS
OB                P
First Downs                24                     23
Rushes-Yards               29-143               52-250
Att-Comp-Int               13-21-0              8-10-0
Passing Yards              241                   169
Total Plays-Yards         50-384               62-419
Fumbles-Lost              1-0                    2-1
Punts-Avg.                  2-38.5               2-16.0
Penalties-Yards            5-37                  8-60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Olive Branch—Mays 18-84, Payne 3-29, Miller 6-24, J. Johnson 1-5.
Petal—Alford 37-201, Payne 10-32, Revies 3-16, Barkurn 1-2.
Passing
Olive Branch—Mays 13-of-21, 241 yds.
Petal—Alford 8-of-8, 169 yds., 2 TDs; Team 0-of-2.
ReceivingOlive Branch—Miller 3-77, J. Johnson 1-60, Cowan 4-45, Payne 4-43.
Petal—Revies 2-98, Roberts 5-59, Pollard 1-12.