There weren’t many folks from Choctaw County or Eupora that didn’t find themselves somewhere around the perimeter of Wofford Field the night of Oct. 14.
It was the biggest game at that stadium in a long, long time and the stakes couldn’t have been much higher for both Eupora and Choctaw County. The history between these particular two schools is not a long one, but the earlier Ackerman and Eupora rivalry has seen some classics over the years. Not many of them played out quite like this one.
With under 20 seconds left in a tie game, CCHS running back Antonio Kennedy took a toss, looked down field for a pass play and tossed it. Waiting there to make the grab was the wrong jersey as Eupora’s Mark Pittman intercepted it and ran it down the sidelines 45 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
Pandemonium set in on the home sidelines as Eupora would take home a 32-26 win and with it a Class 2A, Region 2 district title.
“Since we got here, we’ve talked about how it has to be a team effort,” coach Brad Gray said. “We knew that Ty (Murphy) had a target on his back so I said Wednesday that there would have to be a guy step up and win the game. I think it was more than one on offense and defense.”
With Murphy rushing for 94 yards or more in every game this season with six of seven games over the century mark, the goal for Jeff Roberts’ defense was to stop the run. It was mission accomplished there as the Chargers held the Eagles to just 66 yards on 23 carries. Murphy had 14 rushes for 30 yards.
The Eagles had to get a little more creative in the offense, and Murphy made some plays with his arm going 10-of-17 passing for 151 yards and three scores. The biggest of those scores came when Eupora had to have in the fourth quarter.
Trailing 26-20 with under three minutes left and not having success offensively for a few possessions, Murphy rolled out and found a wide-open Tabb Powell for a 72-yard score to tie the game at 26-26. A couple of minutes left, Pittman made the play of the year on the interception to win the game.
That play was no surprise to coach Gray.
“He stayed at home. That’s something that I think a lot of players a year ago when the flow goes away, we think we don’t have to do our job. They were trying to pick on us to not do our job and our kid makes a play,” Gray said. “He’s a kid that has been really unselfish, and we’re not right here if we don’t have that.”
On the other side, it was frustration abounding for the Chargers. The team was running the football at will for most of the second half and finished with 47 carries for 215 yards.
While many on both sides felt the Chargers could use that running game in overtime, Roberts had an option for his running back Kennedy on the final play.
“If (the pass is) not there, he’s got to run,” Roberts said of the play call. “I was yelling run. At times we played really well. We’ve got to be controlled, and that’s something that we’ve got to adjust to be ready for Bruce and then Calhoun City to end the season.”
The Eagles needed to come out early and set the tone, and they did just that on the opening possession. Eupora methodically moved the ball 70 yards down the field on 11 plays and on third down from the 11-yard line, Murphy found an open man in the end zone in BJ Cork for the early 6-0 lead.
After the two teams’ defenses would start to command the rest of the first quarter and into the second, the Chargers would break their ice. The team had missed a fourth-down touchdown on a pass overthrown in the end zone on the possession prior, but quarterback KJ Cork would redeem himself on another fourth down. Rolling out of the pocket and buying time, Cork threw the ball 31 yards into the end zone and found Jaheim Woodard to give the Chargers a 7-6 lead with 3:10 remaining in the half.
That set off some fireworks on what had otherwise been a quiet first half. Murphy and the Eagles weren’t content to keep the game where it was. He would come back and hit Charles Potts for a 43-yard touchdown to retake the lead at 14-7 with 2 minutes left.
A personal foul on a play in the final minute gave the Chargers life and KJ Cork would hit two big pass plays, the second of which was a shot into the end zone that was pulled down by Caleb Cunningham. Suddenly, it was a 14-13 game at the half following a missed extra point by Cunningham.
CCHS did some good things on the ground in the second half. Freshman Jeramiah Miller was a pill to try to stop in the game and was relatively fresh. He would run it 11 times for 79 yards in the final two quarters, and Kennedy rushed it 25 times in the game for 114.
CCHS (2-5, 1-1 Region 2) took its first lead since 7-6 on a KJ Cork touchdown pass to Alex Telano, but the Eagles answered with their backs against the wall.
With the victory, Eupora had won five-straight games and sat atop Region 2 with a championship clinched because of tiebreakers over Calhoun City and Choctaw County.
“We’ve still made mistakes, but they’ve learned that mistakes aren’t the end all be all. That’s why we had a chance (Oct. 14),” Gray said. “You give yourself a chance when you play hard.”
Editor’s Note: An incorrect article ran in place of this one in the Oct. 19 issue. We apologize for the error.
