Trion breaks Gordon Lee hearts with last-second score

The Trion Bulldogs would drive 58 yards in the closing moments of the game on Friday night and would get a 18-yard touchdown run on the final play of the game by Hagen Willingham to score a dramatic 40-34 victory over rival Gordon Lee at Sam R. Mccain Stadium.

The winning touchdown came after the Trojans blocked a potential game-winning field goal. Willingham - the holder on the attempted kick - grabbed the loose ball in the air and bolted for the end zone, just getting the ball across the pylon as he hit the ground.

Trion led 14-0 after the first period of play on two long Willingham runs, but the Trojans would find the endzone three times in second quarter, twice by quarterback Hunter Hodson, who returned to the lineup after missing the last three games with an injury.

Hodson scored on runs of 44 and 15 yards, while Cordell Langford’s 1-yard run with 22 seconds left in the half pulled the Trojans to within 21-20 as the two teams went to the locker room.

Gordon Lee would pick off a Trion pass midway through the third quarter and convert it into six points on Tucker Miller’s 13-yard scamper. The Trojans would come up empty on the conversion try, but had their first lead of the game, 26-21, with less than five minutes to play in third.

The lead would be short-lived, however, as the Bulldogs answered with Willingham’s third TD run of the game with 1:26 to play in the period. Trion’s 2-point conversion attempt also came up empty, but the Bulldogs would take a 27-26 lead into the fourth quarter.

Willingham would temporarily give his team some breathing room with an 8-yard touchdown run with less than five minutes to play, but the Trojans would march quickly down the field and find the endzone after a 75-yard drive. Cade Peterson hauled in a 25-yard pass from Hodson and Hodson ran in the 2-point conversion to tie it up, 34-34, with 2:36 left to play.

However, the Bulldogs would begin their final possession at their own 42-yard line and would drive the field to set up Willingham’s late heroics.

Willingham ran 17 times for 288 yards and Chris Pace added a 23-yard second-quarter TD run for the Bulldogs (4-1, 1-1). Gordon Lee ran 33 times for 233 yards, while Hodson was 10-of18 through the air for 190 yards and one interception.

Gordon Lee (1-4, 0-2) will be back at Billy Neil Ellis Stadium this Friday to face the Bowdon Red Devils in another Region 6-A North contest.

/ Jan Wright Gordon Lee senior quarterback Hunter Hodson looks for room to run during Friday’s game at Trion. Hodson, seeing his first action since Aug. 17, had two TD runs and one TD pass, but the Trojans dropped a 40-34 decision on the game’s final play.