Trailing by a touchdown to Academy on their final drive, the Rockdale Tiger football team was in a sink-or-swim situation with a five-yard penalty and a little more than two minutes left in the game at their own 33-yard line.
On the next play, Tiger senior Davioun Scott got momentum going with a 12-yard run before quarterback Blayden Barcak connected with classmate Wyatt Windham for a 29-yard pass, getting the ball to Academy’s 23-yard line.
Moving the ball forward another eight yards with runs from Scott and Barcak, the Blue-and-Gold had a third-and-two situation with 1:20 left to play. On the next snap, senior Kobe Mitchell ended up with the ball in the backfield, hurling it to Barcak in the front left corner of the end zone. Tiger fans went wild as it appeared he caught the pass inbounds, but the officials ultimately ruled it incomplete.
With a fourth-and-two, Barcak was stopped on the final play of the game by Academy’s Darion Franklin, a 2020 firstteam all district linebacker. The Bumblebees got the ball back and let the clock tick until it was all zeros, taking the game, 21-14.
Following the loss, head coach Jacob Campsey said he was impressed with how well his team ran the ball, but also noted that his team’s two fumbles and two interceptions were the main factor in the evening’s outcome.
“We couldn’t overcome ourselves,” Campsey said. “I thought we moved the ball all night long, but it was just fumbles and I thought we scored right there late but turnovers were the story of the game.”
“Defensively we played lights out, but turnovers got us.”
Top performers for Rockdale were Windham, who caught a TD pass and had 60 yards on three receptions, while Barcak was 10-13 with 150 yards passing and another 50 yards on the ground.
TROY—Moving forward and tied for fourth with Troy, the 2-2 Tigers will host the team that they currently share the final playoff spot with on Friday.
The Trojans began the season 0-4 before going into district play and ever since, have gone 2-2 with wins over McGregor, 48-28, and Caldwell, 21-20, this past Friday.
THS has a roster full of newcomers adjusting to new head coach Stephen Hermesmeyer’s Wing-T offense but have experience with quarterback Jace Carr, who threw for 511 yards in 2020 and also have senior linebacker Kadin Workman, who had 79 tackles and six sacks last season.
Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m. at Tiger Stadium.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.