The Winder-Barrow High School football team was so close to victory Friday night it could almost taste it.
Suddenly, the game and a win, were torn away by the Heritage Patriots who left a home crowd going chaotic and the visiting Bulldoggs as stunned as they have been all season.
Heritage took a 14-13 overtime win after trailing through the contest. Going into the game, on paper at least, the Patriots were the heavy favorite as they are in the middle of the playoff chase. However, it was WBHS who played inspired football all night and just missed its first victory of 2010.
“You go through a run of emotions after something like that,” Bulldogg head coach David Wagner said. “If any number of things had gone differently, we could have won the game.”
Once the game reached overtime, Heritage needed just one play to take a 14-7 lead. WBHS then had its time to answer and fought for every yard before freshman quarterback Christian Hodge broke the goal line. The officials waited several seconds before signaling Hodge in fact did get in.
The Bulldoggs then elected to go for the extra point but it sailed wide left leaving the final at 14-13.
“There were 10 other plays that had equal significance on the outcome of the game,” Wagner said. “Everyone will remember the last play, but that is not what decided the outcome.”
The head coach also explained his decision to go for one instead of two at that point.
“(Offensive coordinator) Ken (Sanders) asked me if I wanted to go for two,” Wagner said. “I thought we could stop them on the next possession so I decided to go for one. Whenever Shane (Davis) asked me about situations like this, I always based my decision on whether I thought we could stop the opposing team or not.”
C.J. Hall gave WBHS an early lead on a 1-yard run in the second quarter. The score remained 7-0 until the fourth quarter when Heritage finally found the endzone on a 17-yard run with 5:51 left.
Heritage would later miss a 51-yard field goal attempt with 1:50 left as the two teams moved into overtime.
The game featured a bizzare sequence of events right before halftime that likely had an effect on the outcome.
Heritage quarterback Isaiah Spencer was intercepted by Hogan Anderson giving the Bulldoggs possession at the Heritage 5-yard line.
A pass from Hodge was tipped and intercepted by the Patriots’ Casey Thomas in the back of the end zone.
Thomas then returned the pick 107 yards for an apparent touchdown, but two 15-yard Patriots’ penalties (a block in the back and a personal foul) negated the score and allowed Winder-Barrow to escape with its halftime lead in tact.
“We could have gone up 14-0 at halftime,” Wagner said. “Our defense was able to battle all night. We have put it on the line week in and week out.
The Bulldogg coach does not second guess himself at all for going for the extra-point kick attempt. Cesar Saucedo had successfully kicked his first attempt of the night and the coaches have tried 45-yard plus field goals this season.
“I wouldn’t have sent him out there if I didn’t have confidence in him,” Wagner said. “I know he can do it because I’ve seen him do it time and time again.”
Wagner and the WBHS coaching staff will look ahead now to Loganville, this Friday’s opponent. The Red Devils are in the middle of the playoff chase.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” Wagner said. “Our defense is giving up half the amount of points from a year ago and our offense is starting to come around.”
