By Tom Waddill
The Hornets ought to be together this Thanksgiving Day. They should be practicing this morning, making final preparations for their big game with Friendswood.
With a little luck, they would be working out, but unfortunately the practice fields at Huntsville High School will be quiet today. That’s because the Hornets could not hold a 10-point lead late in the fourth quarter against Beaumont Central.
In the final three minutes of Saturday’s game, everything went right for the Jaguars and nothing seemed to go the Hornets’ way. Beaumont Central made plays and got a beneficial bounce or three.
It all started after the Hornets lost their second fumble of the game. Holding a 14-point lead and knocking on the door for another score, Huntsville lost a fumble on the Jaguars’ 20-yard line.
Central brought starting quarterback Donte Wilkerson back in the game, and Wilkerson went to work. Picking on the Hornets’ shaky secondary, Wilkerson completed three consecutive third-down passes — on third-and-12, third-and-19 and third-and-20.
Wilkerson hooked up with speedy receiver Brennan Jackson on two of the long passes, including a 42-yard touchdown throw that got Central within 7.
The Hornets were still in good shape. They put together back-to-back drives that ended deep in Central territory, but the Jaguars first stopped quarterback Justin Gilbert short on a fourth-down run, then the Hornets settled for a 34-yard field goal from Martin Juarez.
That put Huntsville on top by 10 with 3:12 left in the game.
Game over, right? Not this time.
Central made four critical plays down the stretch that together spelled doom for the Hornets. Take one of those plays away and Huntsville hangs on.
The Jaguars got a 32-yard kickoff return following Juarez’s field goal. The Hornets failed to get down the field and tackle senior Keith O’Neal. As O’Neal got close to midfield, it was Juarez who had to make a play, but when the kicker reached out to stop the streaking Jaguar, he grabbed O’Neal’s facemask, which gave Central another 15 yards.
With 2:59 left, the Jaguars started a drive at the Huntsville 44. It took Central only five plays to find the end zone. Jackson did that when he got behind two defenders and caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Wilkerson with 1:46 remaining.
Big play No. 3 came on the kickoff following Jackson’s second TD catch. Juan Cardenas drilled the ball into the turf and got it to hop perfectly for his team. The ball took a crazy bounce over the Hornets’ front line and into the hands of Central receiver Keenan Holman.
A screen pass on third-and-10 set the Jaguars up for the biggest play of the game. Huntsville’s defense, which earlier had denied Central on four straight plays from inside the 10-yard line, stopped the Jags again.
Facing a fourth-and-7 from the Huntsville 20, Central coach Andrew Washington rolled the dice. The Jaguars lined up for a game-tying field goal following two timeouts, but Washington gave Jackson, his holder, the green light to take off and try for the win.
“Coach said that if I saw anything on the hold, to go for it,” Jackson told the Beaumont Enterprise after the game. “I saw that they had all their guys to one side and I went for it.”
The Jaguars’ gigantic gamble paid off. With Gilbert firing around the end to block the game-tying kick, Jackson stood up and started running. He found a lot of room and raced to the end zone with three Hornets on his tail.
“I knew that I was at least going to get a first down and when I saw nobody around me, I just scored,” Jackson said. “To be down by 10 points and score like that was amazing.”
It was amazing. And amazingly, the game was still not over.
There was more than a minute still on the clock. The Hornets had a shot to answer Central’s two-touchdown rally.
Gilbert got Huntsville in position with a 42-yard kickoff return. Then after hitting Trevion Byrd with a 16-yard pass, Huntsville’s gifted senior quarterback was one big play away from winning the game.
Unfortunately, Huntsville had no timeouts. After completing a third-down pass for a short 2-yard gain in the middle of the field, Gilbert had to rush just to get the snap off in time for the game’s final play. Defensive back Byron Samuels intercepted Gilbert’s desperation throw and returned it to the Huntsville 10.
What a wild and wacky finish, one that goes to show a game is never over until the clock reads 0:00.
The Hornets had it, but they couldn’t hold on. Still, it was a terrific season filled with memories that will last a lifetime for those involved.
Here are a handful of highlights from the 2009 campaign:
Remember Gilbert’s acrobatic run for a touchdown on a fake punt against College Park? What about Byrd’s two-touchdown night in an overtime loss at St. Pius on the second week of the season?
Sophomore linebacker Bridge Blount snagged a pass and returned it for a touchdown in a road win over Houston Waltrip. Senior running back Joe Maxey scored three touchdowns in the Hornets’ 52-15 win over Caney Creek in the district opener. In that game, defensive tackle Marquel Kizzee intercepted a pass and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. By the time Kizzee reached the goal line, there were four Panthers hanging on him, but he was determined to score.
In a loss to Brenham, the Hornets got off to a good start when defensive end Kervin Simmons snared a fumble in midair. The Cubs got the ball right back and went on to beat Huntsville 30-14.
The Hornets rebounded from their only district loss in a big way, winning the next five regular-season games, plus one more in the postseason. An exciting 45-14 victory over Buda Hays gave Huntsville its first playoff victory since 1991.
Before that, Gilbert scored three touchdowns in a 21-0 win at Waller. The Huntsville defense turned away Montgomery and all-everything tailback Leroy Dobbins on a thrilling goal-line stand in a nail-biting 18-15 win for the Hornets. In that game, junior Mark Wheeler scored on a nifty 36-yard run and senior Shaquille Ross joined his partners, Blount and Kizzee, with an interception return for a touchdown.
Gilbert put on a show in Magnolia, rushing for 248 yards and throwing for 165 more in a 41-28 triumph over the Bulldogs. Sophomore Henry Ford got in on the fun the next week. He rushed for 157 yards and scored a touchdown in a 45-20 win over Magnolia West.
After closing out the regular season with a 23-7 victory over Willis, the Hornets confidently headed into the playoffs. On a sunny Saturday afternoon in Georgetown, Huntsville scored four fourth-quarter touchdowns and turned a tight game into a blowout.
Senior free safety Gabe Franklin picked off a pass and changed the momentum of the game early in the fourth quarter. Two plays after Franklin’s interception, Ross blew through the Rebels defense on an 8-yard touchdown run and Huntsville was on its way to the second round of the Division I playoffs.
Last week, the Huntsville defense gave another fine performance. Forbes Baggett, Brodrick Hadnot, Quenntin Tucker, Blount and Kizzee made the Jaguars change their game plan. Central wanted to run the ball, but after netting only 46 yards on the ground in the first half, Washington decided to put the ball in the air.
That turned out to be a problem for Huntsville.
Hornets coach Mitchell Coey summed up the 2009 season after Beaumont Central pulled off the improbable at Thorne Stadium in Houston.
“It was another great season,” said Coey, who was just as crushed as his players and assistant coaches. “These guys won another district championship and they tasted a playoff victory. We almost got another one, but it wasn’t meant to be, I guess.”
