EHS tops Bassfield in thriller
By By Robby Atkinson / special to The Star
Oct. 23, 2004
The Enterprise Bulldogs stood on the sideline Friday night trailing 26-21 with 26 seconds left in the fourth quarter and all signs pointing toward a loss, but the Bulldogs found the impossible light at the end of the tunnel.
The Enterprise (5-4, 2-2) special teams unit was able to block a punt in the final moments which was returned by Marquez Goodloe 38 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs an exciting 28-26 victory over Bassfield on Friday night at L.J. Davis Field.
The Bulldogs are assured a playoff spot with the two-point win, but Enterprise will close out the regular season against top-ranked Seminary next Friday.
Enterprise scored the first points of the night with 10:47 left in the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead over the Yellowjackets. The Bulldogs executed a fake reverse and tight end Scott Mosley found Dakota Owens for a 12-yard pass to give Enterprise the one-touchdown edge after a successful extra point from Wade Weathers.
Goodloe came up big on defense moments later for the Bulldogs with a fumble recovery which setup the next score for Enterprise. Ike McKelvain rumbled into the endzone from three yards out to extend the lead to 13-0
with 7:35 left in the first half. Bassfield (1-8, 0-4) scored a touchdown right before the end of the first half to cut the score to 13-6 heading into the locker room. Raphael Schexnayder found Jeremy Hathorn for a 23-yard pass to account for the touchdown before the conclusion of the half.
Bassfield opened the second half by scoring a quick touchdown to cut the score to 13-12 with 8:58 left in the third quarter. Schexnayder took the ball 20 yards on a quarterback option to the cut the lead to one point after a failed two-point conversion attempt. Enterprise gave the ball right back to the Yellowjackets on the kickoff as D.D. Graves recovered a fumble which lead to the next score for Bassfield.
Schexnayder scored on a one-yard run moments later to give Bassfield
an 18-13 lead with 6:05 left in the third. Enterprise came right back on the next possession to regain the lead 21-18 thanks to a great pass by freshman quarterback Blake Hennington. Hennington connected with Baron Blackwell for a 47-yard strike to give the Bulldogs the slim three-point lead after a successful two-point conversion by Curtis Latney.
Bassfield wouldn't go quietly into the night, as the Yellowjackets scored another touchdown to make the score 24-21 after a blocked extra point by EHS with 2:45 left in the third. The final points of the night came in the form of a very unusual safety to extend the Bassfield lead to 26-21. The Bulldogs were punting the ball from their own endzone and a low snap from center caused punter Kyle Hicks to fall to his knees with the ball in his possession to give the Yellowjackets the easy two points.
Enterprise had one final shot with 3:12 left in the fourth quarter, but
Rod Fairley came up with an interception to apparently end all hope for
the Bulldogs. The Enterprise defense was able to hold the Bassfield offense once more to force a punt with 26 seconds left in the game. The Bulldogs were able to penetrate the line a come up with the block which led to the Goodloe touchdown which secured the win.
ball after the punt," Speed said. "We never dreamed it would end that way, but sometimes those plays happen."
Enterprise tallied 226 yards of total offense and Hennington led the
way with 104 yards passing and a touchdown. Ike McKelvain led the way on
defense with 19 tackles and a sack, while Justin Mars collected 16 tackles to pace the defense for the Bulldogs.
