In a game that featured one momentum shift after another, the L.C. Bird Skyhawks remained undefeated on the season and bested the top-ranked team in the state, the Hermitage Panthers, by a count of 24-20 in a classic Central Region semifinal battle.
Scoring
First quarter
BIRD...Ayala 30-yard field goal...BIRD 3-0
HERM...Green 5 yards, PAT Steibel...HERM 7-3
Second quarter
HERM...Green 10 yards, PAT blocked...HERM 13-3
BIRD...Ervin to Hawkins 5 yards, PAT Ayala...HERM 13-10
Third quarter
HERM...Johnson to Roscoe 16 yards, PAT Steibel...HERM 20-10
Fourth quarter
BIRD...Robertson 5 yards, PAT Ayala...HERM 20-17
BIRD...Ervin to Levine 24 yards, PAT Ayala...BIRD 24-20
Momentum...With just over nine minutes to play in the contest, Hermitage took over possession of the ball in their own end of the field with a 20-10 lead looking as though they were set to advance to the regional title game with a couple of first downs and the time on the clock dwindling down on the Skyhawks.
However, an interception by junior safety Shawn Payne gave the ball back to Bird in Hermitage territory with over seven minutes left on the clock and the Skyhawks offense went to work. Quarterback Terrance Ervin found wideout Rasheed Worsham on a pass to the Hermitage 5-yard line which led to a touchdown run by Paul Robertson to cut the lead to 20-17 with 6:40 left to play.
Riding that momentum, the Bird defense forced the Panthers to punt from deep in the own territory which led to the next Skyhawks possession opening in the Hermitage end of the field near midfield with a shade over five minutes left in the game.
Aprroximately two-and-a-half minutes later, Ervin found tight end Zack Levine on an out pattern and the Skyhawks big man waltzed into the end zone for the go-ahead and, ultimately, winning score as the defense thwarted a fourth-down pass from the Panthers ending the ensuing possession thus securing the victory.
"The kids find a way to make a play," said the euphoric Coach Bedwell after the game. "Shawn Payne with a big pick and a nice return, Rasheed Worsham with a big play. We had been waiting to throw the tight end out all game to our sideline where we wanted. We had the perfect opportunity and Zack Levine's eyes were bigger than mine when he caught it. Great play by him and awesome, awesome effort."
Balanced Attack...Long known for their power-rushing attack, the Skyhawks added a solid passing dimension to their offense this season but the question remained how much would they do to it during a time of need under stressful conditions.
Coach Bedwell answered that question pretty early and often tonight as Bird threw the ball 30 times in the contest, often on first down and varying the attack from short to long all evening.
On their first possession, the 'hawks used their grond and pound attack to pushe the ball inside the Hermitage 5-yard line but a holding penalty pushed them back. Unable to recover, Bird settled for a 30-yard field goal from kicker Jose Ayala and a 3-0 lead.
Though the ground game had earned them their first points, Bedwell went deep on their first play of their second possession throwing a bomb into the end zone testing the Hermitage defense who responded when Tai Gates made a spectacular play for an interception.
Still, Bird was not deterred and stuck with their plan that saw Ervin throw the ball 30 times and Robertson tote it just as many in the ground game.
"We used short stuff just to keep them off balance. We haven't been able to do that in the past and it was nice to take the pressure off."
Grit...Both teams showed it, Bird showed a bit more of it.
Trailing 3-0, Hermitage used the momentum gained from the Gates interception to march down the field and collect their first score of the game on the last play of the first quarter when Green capped the drive with a 5-yard scoring run.
The Panthers followed with a defensive stop and a second scoring run from Green just over two minutes into the second quarter for a 13-3 advantage.
Bird responded with a late second quarter scoring drive that featured a host of confusion. After being stopped on a third down play, the Skyhawks lined up for a field goal that saw two timeouts before the ball was kicked. When the play was finally run, the field goal was missed to the right but Hermitage was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for calling out "hut-hut" in order to throw off the snap.
That gave Bird a first down and new life with just under 30 seconds to play in the half and they took advantage when Ervin hit Hawkins for a 5-yard score sending the teams into the locker room with Hermitage leading 13-10.
A third Hermitage touchdown came when Niko Johnson found wide out Nate Roscoe on a screen pass off a fake read option play and the junior receiver took the ball into the end zone from 16 yards out marking the most points that Bird had surrendered this season setting up their improbable fourth quarter comeback.
Top Performers
Terrance Ervin, QB, L.C. Bird...Bringing balance to the Bird offense, the junior connected on 14 of 30 pass attempts for 155 yards and threw two touchdowns for the Skyhawks.
Paul Robertson, RB, L.C. Bird...The Skyhawks senior put in a lot of hard work on the night carrying the ball 30 times for 210 yards and one touchdown in the win.
The L.C. Bird Defense...Down by ten points in the fourth quarter, the Skyhawks defense got an interception by Shawn Payne which led to one score, forced a punt on the following Hermitage possession leading to the go-ahead score, then shut down the Panthers on their final go-round to preserve the victory. "To only give up 20 to that group [Hermitage] and to make plays like that at the end; awesome job."
Yahoo! Sports
Momentum...With just over nine minutes to play in the contest, Hermitage took over possession of the ball in their own end of the field with a 20-10 lead looking as though they were set to advance to the regional title game with a couple of first downs and the time on the clock dwindling down on the Skyhawks.
Balanced Attack...Long known for their power-rushing attack, the Skyhawks added a solid passing dimension to their offense this season but the question remained how much would they do to it during a time of need under stressful conditions.
Grit...Both teams showed it, Bird showed a bit more of it.