Lamar Raiders win key district game in OT

By By Austin Bishop/Special to the Star
Sept. 22, 2001
Drew Moffett's dramatic run for a two-point conversion on a fake extra point attempt in overtime gave Lamar School a 33-32 Division 3-AAA win over Central Hinds Academy on Friday night, but it was even bigger than it looked.
Sure the win gave Lamar a 2-2 overall mark and a critical 1-0 record in division play, but it was also a history maker.
It was the first time the Raiders had won a close football game since the next-to-last game of the 1997 football season. Lamar had won 12 times over that 37-game span, but none of them were any closer than 20 points.
After trailing for most of the first half, Lamar had taken a 18-14 lead at halftime and had build that up to 25-14 going into the fourth quarter. But the 1-3 Cougars fought back to tie the game with a field goal, a touchdown and a two-point conversion to force the overtime.
CHA scored first in overtime on a 4-yard run by senior running back Justin Holley and then went up 31-24 on the extra point by Joe Spears.
Lamar struck right back to cut it to 31-30 on its first overtime play when Moffett hit Zack Moore on a slant pattern for the 10-yard score. The Raiders lined up as if to kick the extra point, but Moffett who was the holder on the play pulled down the snap and rolled to his right looking to pass to Moore in the end zone. There was only one CHA defender in the area and he couldn't leave Moore open, so Moffett just kept the ball himself for the winning two points.
First-year Lamar head coach Mac Barnes said there was no doubt that his Raiders were going to go with the fake and for the win right away.
Moffett, a sophomore, rushed for 127 yards on 15 carries and hit on 8-of-13 passes for 145 yards.
Mayfield caught four passes for a whopping 113 yards, with all of them coming in key situations. And he was an absolute killer on defense, along with Vaughn Waters and the rest of the Raiders.
Central Hinds scored first in the game when Colby Powell caught an 8-yard scoring pass from Daniel Stubbs. Joe Spears booted the point after to put the visitors up 7-0 with 4:10 to play in the first quarter.
Lamar came right back on its next possession and moved the ball 65 yards on five plays with Dylan Anderson scoring on a 1-yard run. The big play in the drive was a 48-yard run by Moffett. The extra point was blocked.
Central Hinds scored on a 1-yard run by Stubbs with 7:29 left in the half, and Spears' kick made it 14-6.
Again the Raiders responded, this time marching 80 yards on seven plays with Anderson getting into the end zone from three yards out. The try for two failed and Lamar trailed 14-12 with 4:04 to go in the half.
Moffett hit Lane Rush with an 8-yard scoring pass in the closing seconds of the first half to give the Raiders an 18-14 lead at the break. Again the try for two failed.
Lamar stretched its lead to 11 points when Moffett scored on a 7-yard run with 5:57 left in the third quarter and Heath Rush booted the point after to make it 25-14.
But the Cougars wouldn't go away. Spears booted a 27-yard field goal with five minutes to play to cut it to 25-17.
Then, after intercepting a pass, Central Hinds moved the ball 49 yards on five plays to score on an 18-yard run by Holley with 1:30 to play in the game. He finished the night with 224 yards rushing on 32 carries. The kick by Spears tied the game at 25-25.
The two teams were evenly matched statistically as well, with CHA piling up 351 yards of total offense to 349 for the Raiders. Lamar had 12 first downs to 11 for the Cougars.
Next up for Lamar is a non-division home game against Oak Hill Academy on Friday night.