BELMONT — In the end, South Point coach John Devine’s “Redbone” offense left the Wonders red-eyed.
Top-seeded South Point bea eighth-seeded A.L. Brown 38-31 in double overtime Friday night in a truly phenomenal high school football game played in front of an SRO crowd at Lineberger Stadium.
The experts who said it would be a game for the ages may have underestimated it. There were 69 points, no late hits, and ebb-and-flow momentum swings that left fans gasping for breath.
At times, defense dominated. At times, offense dominated. At all times, the level of football was remarkable for a 3A second-round contest.
It was a game of utter unpredictability with Devine going against the book at least three times. Twice he was burned. The third time was the charm as his unorthodox methods were rewarded with an incredible victory.
“We had the hearts of lions, of champions,” whooped a victorious Devine when it was over.
Across the way, Wonder coach Ron Massey was despondent, but proud. His team had given what it had — all it had — until there was simply nothing left.
Some of the Wonders (11-2) crumpled on the muddy grass, heads bowed. Others sought consolation in the arms of parents and assistant coaches. All cried.
“I’ve never been prouder of a group,” said Massey, who was teary-eyed himself. “The effort the kids gave — my gosh, what can you say. We sure can’t play any harder.”
The decisive second overtime will be talked about for years any time two Wonder fans gather to discuss football. It was 31-31 after the teams had traded field goals in the first overtime. South Point had the ball first for the second.
The first two plays went nowhere. The third shouldn’t have either, but South Point’s dynamic fullback, Rasharde Reid, wouldn’t go down. He dragged an entourage of Wonders all the way to the 3.
Now, it was fourth down. You kick the field goal, right?
Not if you’re John Devine. Quarterback Devon Lowery trotted back onto the field. The Wonder defense was too eager to stop him and was drawn offsides when he gave a hard count.
The ball was moved inside the 2 and from there Reid banged into the end zone.
B.J. Richmond’s PAT made it 38-31.
The Wonders tried to respond with trickery of their own, lining up in their “Blast” formation for their first-down play — a formation they run out of 99 percent of the time. But this time they threw.
“The play was supposed to go to our tight end, Dustin Abercrombie,” said Massey. “But he got held up at the line.”
Quarterback Josh Lee, who had thrown two earlier TD passes, spotted Gerrell McCrae in the corner of the end zone. But Lee was rushed and his throw was short. Lowery swooped in and made the interception to bring the game to an abrupt halt and set off a wild celebration among the Raiders.
He made a bunch of them early. On South’s first possession, the “Red Bone,” which produces 400 rushing yards on an average night, went through the Wonders’ usually stingy defense like a hot knife through butter. Finally, the Wonders stiffened at their own 5. Devine scoffed at the automatic field goal and went for the first down on fourth-and-4. The gamble failed when McCrae crushed Lowery at the 2.
The Wonders took over and Chris Carter immediately bolted 98 yards past the Raiders for an apparent TD. But at least 40 yards behind the mercurial Carter a flag was thrown for a clip.
Then Wonder Michael Anthony shanked an 11-yard punt and the Raiders took advantage with a Richmond field goal.
The Wonders responded, though, moving 73 yards to score for a 7-3 lead. They got a break on the scoring play, a 17-yard wounded duck from Lee that Carter appeared to catch in the end zone on a short-hop. The officials signalled touchdown.
But the “Red Bone” ripped 62 yards to go ahead 10-7 with just 1:58 to go in the first half.
The Wonders had their chance to strike back, charging to the Raider 35 late in the half. But Lee overthrew a wide-open Jason Brown on third down and his jump-ball throw into the end zone on fourth down narrowly eluded both Brown and Carter.
That Wonder possession used only a handful of seconds and enabled South Point to tack on another field goal nine seconds before halftime for a 13-7 edge.
“Getting that score before half — that had to be big for them,” said Massey.
But the Wonders made big defensive adjustments at half and did a much better job slowing Lowery and Reid in the third quarter.
A crushing hit by Duran Lipscomb jarred the ball free on the Raiders’ first possession of the second half.
Lipscomb somehow fought through the pile to make the recovery at the 3.
Eric Caldwell ran in on the next play and the Wonders led 14-13.
On South Point’s next try, Brown nearly intercepted a Lowery pitch at the Wonder 7. He couldn’t field it cleanly — if he had, he’d have gone all the way — but did bat it forward nearly 20 yards. Lipscomb — who else? — fell on it.
Now the Wonders had the lead and the momentum. Massey went for the jugular with a long Lee pass was intercepted.
The Wonders forced a punt — South Point’s first of the night — but Brown fumbled after the Wonders had begun to drive.
This time, South Point took advantage, punching in a score on a run by Reid and adding a two-point conversion for a 21-14 lead.
Now South Point had control, but then another Devine gamble failed. He went for it on fourth-and-inches at his own 42 and Lowery fumbled the snap and was stopped short. The short field helped the Wonders score easily. Lee’s pass to Caldwell and David Henry’s PAT made it 21-21.
Then the Wonder defense came up huge again, smothering Richmond’s boot after he got a bad snap on a punting attempt. The Wonders recovered at the 6, and Caldwell punched in a score on the next play to make it 28-21 with 4:36 left in the game.
Now it was crunch time. If the Wonders’ defense could stop the Raiders, they had the game.
They couldn’t. The Raiders powered 72 yards in a hurry, with Reid getting the score from 18 yards out with 1:17 left in regulation. The PAT tied it.
“We let the big diesel chug,” said Devine. “Kannapolis hit him and hit him, ‘til they just didn’t want to hit him anymore.”
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