Do you believe in miracles? Yes.
OK, Hereford’s thrilling 27-26 come-from-behind first-round postseason win against visiting C. Milton Wright is not on par with the USA hockey team’s 1980 Olympic upset victory against the invincible Russians, but it certainly defied the odds and even the internal musings of Bulls coach John Walter.
“I didn’t have a lot of hope myself, [down] 26-8,” Walter said. “That one spark on the long touchdown pass, they just looked around and said, `We can do it.’ I guess miracles happen. Once we got a little momentum, everyone needed to make big plays and couldn’t afford to give up any big plays. They just answered the call. It was freaking something spectacular.”
Trailing by 18 points late in the third quarter after surrendering 26 straight points to the Mustangs, Hereford (7-3) rallied for 19 unanswered points for the one-point lead before surviving a late 42-yard field goal attempt with under a minute to reach next weekend’s second round against top-seeded Milford Mill (8-1).
“I’m so proud of these kids,” added Walter, whose squad dropped a 31-0 decision to Milford Mill in Week 2 of the season. “All year, we tell them, ‘You know, we hope you guys can get to a place where you fight for one another. It’s about the other man next to you. It’s not about you.’ And I hope that they can leave this game and know that’s what it’s all about, having each other’s back. It’s a life lesson.”
The Bulls actually struck first, turning a fumble by the Mustangs into an 8-0 lead on the strength of a 12-play, 78-yard scoring drive that ended on a bruising 11-yard run on third down by Cole Haynes. Haynes then carried the ball into the end zone on another bruising rush to the left side of the line, this time for the two-point conversion with 11:20 left in the first half.
The Mustangs (5-5), however, scored the final 12 points of the half in roughly a three-minute span. Braxton Marchand started that rally with a 29-yard field goal that trimmed the deficit to 8-3, as some key passes from senior quarterback Kyle Ashman ( 17-for-28, 224 yards) to Jaxon Simms and Matt Sampson guided the Mustangs to set up the field goal from the 12-yard line.
That passing trend continued for the Mustangs as Ashman completed four passes to fuel a quick six-play, 62-yard drive he capped with a 28-yard scoring strike to Brandon Tolson (seven receptions for 114 yards). That score came with 29 seconds remaining in the half for a 10-8 lead that grew to 12-8 as the Bulls misplayed the ensuing kickoff into a safety.
“They were playing a defense that was a little soft (in the secondary) and so, we saw that up in the box and they radioed it down,” Mustangs coach Larry Ashman said. “We started moving the ball as far as offensively. We kept the run game in there a little bit just to keep them on their toes.”
Much of the third quarter played out in a defensive stalemate until Ashman hooked up with Tolson once again, this time for a 45-yard scoring strike down the visitor’s sideline for a 19-8 lead. Anthony Frank pushed that C. Milton Wright advantage to a commanding 26-8 lead on the last play of the quarter on a 52-yard rush up the middle to find the end zone largely untouched.
It was all Hereford, however, the rest of the way largely for two reasons: explosive plays on offense and a change at cornerback to Chase Sturgis, who had a huge hand in shutting down C. Milton Wright’s explosive passing game.
“He’s a guy we believe in, but he doesn’t believe in himself,” Walter said. “We were at the point where `There’s no pressure on you now. Just go out a play’ and he pretty much locked down and our other cornerback locked down, so we stopped their pass. It was awesome.”
Offensively, Hereford’s turnaround began with a highly efficient three-play, 80-yard drive that began with a 39-yard pass from Griffin Walter to Reed Shilling and ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by Joseph Jennings out of the Wildcat formation to trim the deficit to 26-14 with 11:14 left in the game.
“I just thought, man, I didn’t want my season to end,” Jennings said. “I’m a senior. I’ve got to make big plays. I thought even if they made [the field goal], we could still come back.”
The deficit closed to within 26-20 on a 79-yard scoring strike down the CMW sideline from Walter to Ian Smith roughly two minutes later. After another defensive stop and an 11-yard punt out of bounds, Hereford took the lead at 27-26 on a 2-yard Wildcat run from Jennings with 4:01 left.
“After halftime, we struggled to move it, and then something just clicked,” said Griffin Walter, who passed for 225 yards of which 127 yards went to Shilling. “The passing game started flowing, and we started to make big plays. It was awesome. Best feeling ever.”
The Mustangs moved the ball to the 25-yard line on their ensuing drive but the errant field goal with 45 seconds left came up well short and wide left of the mark. Hereford then ran out the clock for the win.
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