Phoenix fight back for clutch OT win
With about eight minutes to play and down two touchdowns in their Region 6-AAA Play-in game against Ringgold, things looked pretty grim for Sonoraville as it appeared they were headed for a season-ending loss on their home field.
But the Phoenix never felt like the game was over, continued to fight and put together a string of clutch plays that will be remembered for a long, long time in Sonoraville Football lore. The result was a thrilling 38-35 win in double overtime over the Tigers to clinch their fourth straight State playoff berth.
“We had guys make plays when we needed them, and our guys never quit,” said Sonoraville coach Jim Kremer. “This was a total team effort, and it took big plays in all three phases. I’m so proud of the way our kids didn’t give up.”
Following the Phoenix (7-3) being stopped on a fourth-andgoal early in the fourth quarter for Ringgold to preserve their 28-14 lead at the time, the Sonoraville defense, specifically Sherrod Agee, came up with a play that turned the momentum of the game around and quite possibly saved his team’s season. Agee read a Ringgold screen pass, jumped the route and came up with a huge interception before returning it all the way inside the Tigers’ fiveyard line.
“I was reading the play and was going to blitz, but I saw the offensive linemen come forward, knew it was a screen and the ball just came into my hands,” said the senior Agee of the game-changing play. “We just kept fighting tonight. The fans, the guys on the sidelines and our coaches kept us going, and us seniors knew we weren’t going to let it end. It’s a great feeling to win a game like that and know you get to keep going.”
A few plays later, Sonoraville quarterback Patrick Moore ran one in from one yard out to make it 28-21. After another defensive stop, the Phoenix took over at their own 20 with just over three minutes to play and went on a tremendously clutch game- tying drive. The drive included a big 36-yard catch by Tristan Key, a long third-down scramble by Moore to convert and keep the drive going, an athletic catch by Bryce Waters as he was fall- ing to the ground to put the ball at the Ringgold 4 and then eventually a four-yard TD run by Key with just over a minute left to tie the game.
Both teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime session with Moore scoring on a 15-yard run for Sonoraville and Ringgold (5-5) following with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Cole Kibler to Drake Starks.
The Sonoraville defense came up huge once again though in the second overtime session getting a stop that culminated in an incomplete pass on an attempted fake field goal. After the Phoenix offense moved the ball up to the six, kicker Kevin Villatoro sent his team to a win and a State berth with a 22-yard game-winning field goal.
“That’s probably the biggest kick I’ve ever taken at Sonoraville,” said Villatoro, another senior. “I got a little nervous there, but I told myself I’ve done it a million times in practice, just go out there, calm down, go through my routine and kick it through. It felt great to watch it go through.”
“I was as close to 100 percent confident as you can get that Kevin was going to make that kick,” added Kremer. “I just told him to go out there and do his best, and either way we were going to get to line up with them for another play, but I knew he was going to make it.”
The game was tied 14-14 at the half, but Ringgold took control with two third-quarter scores on touchdown passes by Kibler. The first came early in the third on a 21-yard connection to Mac Brower and the other was in the final minute of the third on a 22-yard pass to Starks. The Tigers took a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Kibler to Brower. But Sonoraville came right back on the ensuing drive and got an explosive 58-yard touchdown run from Tristan Key to tie things up. Key also had an interception on defense in the first half.
Once again midway through the second quarter, Ringgold found the end zone as Tyler Nichols burst up the middle and went untouched for a 25-yard touchdown run to give his team another lead. That was short-lived, however, as Sonoraville’s Matthew Vincent took a handoff and went 66 yards down the sideline for a touchdown to tie it.
The Phoenix visit Franklin County in the first round next Friday.