Marlow’s gallant rally falls just short

NEWCASTLE—Marlow made so many great plays Friday but when the Outlaws needed one more defensive stop they were unable to seal the deal in a wild 31-29 loss to No. 1-ranked Heritage Hall at a jam-packed Newcastle Racers Stadium.

The Class 3A semifinal contest had everything that was expected and more featuring two teams from the same district which played just three weeks ago before the Chargers pulled out a 35-28 victory on an Andy Bass touchdown run.

Friday Bass and the Chargers kept on track to claim a second-straight Class 3A title but not before being pushed to the end by Coach Matt Weber’s Outlaws and with half of Stephens County surrounding the field.

For a time, it seemed like the Chargers were about to pull away, building a 28-14 lead at the 9:39 mark of the fourth quarter when Bass exploded 83 yards to score on an outside zone run.

Marlow, with time becoming an issue, was forced to go upstairs and when Cade Gilbert’s pass was intercepted, it appeared the Chargers were on the verge of putting the game away.

But the Outlaws’ defense wasn’t ready to give up just yet, something that was evident in the early going when Marlow stopped Bass and the Chargers on a 4th-and-goal from the Marlow 1-yard-line.

This time the Outlaws stood up HH runner Barrett Travis and that allowed Marlow’s Lawson Knox to grab the ball and race 65 yards to paydirt with 6:50 remaining in the game. Gilbert kicked the PAT and it was 28-21.

“Things didn’t look good right there but Austin Knox made a play that we needed,” Head Coach Matt Weber said. “When we lost three in a row to end the season these kids could have quit but that’s not what these kids are all about. These kids will never, ever quit. That gave us a chance.”

Then came another big play as the Chargers got a good kickoff return but after a big hit, the ball was fumbled and the Outlaws recovered near the HH 35. A 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty moved the Outlaws back to their own 49 but they had the ball and had revved up the huge crowd on the home side of the stadium.

It took 10 plays but the Outlaws were able to move the ball steadily toward the goal-line and on a 4th-and-goal at the 1-yard-line Gilbert scored to make it 28-27 with the PAT to come with 1:57 remaining. While many expected a Gilbert PAT kick to tie the game, Coach Weber and his staff called time and when they broke out the offense was on the field.

Gilbert made a great fake and turned to his left and found two receivers in the end zone. He made the pass and while the “wrong” receiver Jacob Crosson made the grab it didn’t matter as the Outlaws owned a 29-28 lead with 1:57 remaining and brought out a deafening roar from the huge throng of Marlow fans.

“We always have a couple of two-point plays going into every game,” Weber said. “We ran it wrong and it wasn’t intended for him but he went down and made a great catch.”

Then all the Outlaws needed was to stop Bass and the Chargers one more time. The Chargers got three quick first downs but then faced a 4th-and-10 from the HH 43. Bass, the highly-touted OU commit, got enough time to find Rashaud Smith who took the ball to the Marlow 27 with 50 seconds remaining.

Marlow stopped three more plays before the Chargers faced a 3rd-and-12 from the Marlow 29 but this time Bass hit Carter Knowles for a first down at the 16 with nine seconds remaining.

Heritage Hall almost got greedy at that point, trying throw into the end zone where Marlow had a chance at an interception but just was unable to make the grab.

At that point with four seconds remaining the Chargers sent Calvin Welker out to try a 33-yard field goal and while it battled a stiff northeast crosswind, it just made it over the crossbar and Heritage Hall had once again turned away the Outlaws at the end.

“Hey, those guys are defending state champions and they’ve won what, 26 straight games, so it’s going to be tough to beat them, Weber said. “Bass is a toy that nobody else has and while we got after him pretty good, a guy like that is going to make some plays and that’s what he does.”

Marlow got off to a great start, scoring on its first two possessions to build a 14-0 lead with 6:54 left in the first half.

The Outlaws marched 65 yards on seven plays with Gilbert scoring the TD from one yard out with 5:37 left in the first quarter.

Then came the big goal-line stand for the Outlaws and they followed that up with a 10-play, 99-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 51-yard run by Jonathon Bright. The long TD run came one play after freshman Jaxon Murray caught a short pass and did a spin move that netted a first down at the Marlow 49.

Bass led the Chargers to a long TD march on the ensuing possession that he capped by a 4-yard TD run that arranged a 14-7 halftime lead for the Outlaws.

After halftime the Chargers opened things up, throwing more often and they were able to score on three straight possession to surge into the lead and set the stage for the wild finish. Bass wound up carrying the ball 23 times for 240 yards and four touchdowns.

Despite the tough loss, Weber offered thanks to the Marlow fans.

“That’s a large part of the reason I came back to Marlow,” Weber said. “This community is great and they always show up for our games. And we have a great administration that gives us the things we need to be successful.”