九色视频 鈥 Jordan Horsey had a question for his teammates at halftime.
鈥淚 just told the guys, 鈥楬ow bad do you not want to lose this game,鈥欌 Easton High鈥檚 junior football standout inquired.
A little over an hour later, Horsey had his answer.
Horsey scored all three Easton touchdowns, including a game-tying 1-yard dive into the end zone with 1 minute, 28 seconds remaining, then watched Luke Stanco drill the point-after kick Friday night, lifting the Warriors鈥 to a 21-20 come-from-behind victory over Kent Island.
鈥淭he boys played hard,鈥 Easton head coach Matt Griffith said after his team improved to 3-0. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 quit. That鈥檚 the biggest thing I鈥檓 proud of. They鈥檙e dogs.鈥
After a scoreless first quarter, Kent Island (1-2) took a 3-0 lead on Spencer Chappell鈥檚 44-yard field goal with 7:06 left in the first half. The Buccaneers stretched that lead to 10-0, when running back Jaxson Hess caught a short pass from quarterback Trace Klapaska and broke a handful of tackles en route to a 52-yard touchdown 32 seconds before intermission. Chappell added the extra point.
鈥淭he speed of the game was really fast, especially for our quarterback and our offensive line,鈥 said Griffith, who watched quarterback Brady Walls battle pressure for most of the first half. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e got a great defense. They play fast, they play hard.
鈥淭im had a great game plan,鈥 Griffith added of Kent Island head coach Tim Goodrich. 鈥淲e鈥檝e played each other so many times. He鈥檚 got a lot of defenses you practice for. So even what they were doing we practice. But you can鈥檛 simulate how hard and how fast they play. They gave us a helluva time in the first half.鈥
Kent Island put the Warriors in a deeper hole with just under 8 minutes left in the third quarter, when fullback Alex Brestensky busted loose for an 87-yard touchdown jaunt that 鈥 together with another Chappell PAT 鈥 made it 17-0.
Easton answered.
Three Jamier Copper carries netted 26 yards. Horsey ran for 8 and 5 yards. Walls then connected with Kyree Acree for a 37-yard gain, setting up the first of Horsey鈥檚 three TD runs, a 3-yard run up the middle. Stanco鈥檚 first PAT made it 17-7 with 5:33 left in the third quarter.
The Bucs widened their lead to 20-7 with 1:26 to go in the third on Chappell鈥檚 42-yard field goal.
Kent Island maintained that 13-point cushion, when Easton took over from its own 20 with 7:13 left in the game. Walls hit Zach Barnhart for a 42-yard pickup, completed a 12-yard gain to Carter Mooney, then found Barnhart for a 21-yard to the 1. Horsey capped the drive, slamming in from the 1. Stanco鈥檚 second PAT made it 20-14 with 6:03 to go.
Easton forced a three-and-out and took possession at its 30 with 4:23 remaining. A 9-yard completion from Walls to Barnhart coupled with a roughing-the-passer penalty on Kent Island, moved the Warriors to Kent Island鈥檚 40.
On third-and-10, Walls dumped a short pass to Horsey for a 22-yard pickup. A Walls-to-Mooney connection pushed Easton to the Bucs鈥 6. Horsey carried for gains of 2 and 3 yards, before launching himself over the goal line from 1 to tie the game at 20-20 with 1:28 left.
鈥淚 felt like (NFL Hall of Fame running back) Emmitt Smith jumping over the pile,鈥 Horsey said of his tying touchdown.
On came Stanco to convert his third PAT of the game for a 21-20 lead.
鈥淎fter I made the first (point-after) kick, got the nervousness out,鈥 Stanco said. 鈥淭hen I made the second and we got close. And then the game was on me; game was on the line. I had to put it through the uprights and I did.鈥
鈥淚 was nervous for him,鈥 Griffith said of Stanco. 鈥淲e鈥檝e struggled on our special teams this year. It was an emphasis this week that specials had to be perfect and we were pretty good tonight. That was big. He (Stanco) has a great leg. He鈥檚 very talented. And so does Kai Ferraris. Both of them, very talented. They just need more reps and it鈥檚 hard when they鈥檙e soccer players.鈥
Kent Island鈥檚 Andy Bennett returned the ensuing kickoff 10 yards before slipping at the 25. Four incompletions later, Easton took over, with Walls taking a knee twice to complete one of the bigger come-from-behind wins over Griffith鈥檚 career as head coach.
鈥淪econd half I think we wore them down a little bit and we hit some big plays,鈥 Griffith said. 鈥淎nd that was the difference.鈥
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