Robbinsville – The Maroon Devils won their 4th straight last Friday night, this one in dramatic fashion. For the second straight week the Maroon Devils took a clutch conference win on the strength of a field goal. Friday the Devils and Knights looked as though they were headed for overtime, as Robbinsville tied the game at 21 on an Ian Wiggins 8-yard run with one minute exactly remaining in the game.
But the Maroon Devils had other thoughts. Swain promptly snapped off a 6 play drive to get themselves in a position to win in regulation. Swain’s offense stumbled out of the gate with 2 incomplete passes. A Hunter Burrell carry left Swain with a crucial 4th and 1 from their own 44 yard line. Following a Robbinsville timeout, Swain quarterback Brodie Bowman pulled his best Aaron Rogers impersonation and drew the Knights offsides, giving the Maroon Devils a critical 1st down on the Robbinsville 42-yard line.
Next came, perhaps, the strangest play of the night. Bowman hit Zeke Bradley across the middle for a gain of 21. The Knights stripped Bradley of the ball, which popped straight up in the air. With the game on the line, the ball seemed to hang in the air for ever, falling in slow motion. But just when it looked like disaster for the Devils, Swain’s Ice Littlejohn plucked the ball from mid-air and fell forward to the 21 yard line.
On the Devils next play Bowman moved the ball to the middle of the field and fell. With just 2 seconds left in the game the Maroon Devils used their final timeout to set up a 37-yard field goal attempt.
Swain’s kicker, Holden Petty, had missed the last 4 games with an injury and had just been cleared to play this week. Earlier in the game Petty had attempted a 43-yard field goal, only to have it blocked by the Knights.
As Swain lined up for the game winner the Knights jumped offsides, moving the Petty attempt up 5-yards. Following a Robbinsville timeout the senior calmly knocked home the game winner with no time left on the clock, giving the Devils a hard fought 24-21 win.
The two teams went back and forth all night.
Swain took the lead in the first quarter scoring on a 62-yard Brodie Bowman run at the 10:04 mark of the first quarter. Petty’s extra point was good.
Robbinsville tied the game at the 5 minute mark of the quarter on a Alex Bridges to Ian Wiggins 18-yard touchdown pass.
The Maroon Devils re-took the lead just 44 seconds into the 2nd quarter. Bowman hit Zeke Bradley for a 7-yard touchdown pass.
Robbinsville opened the 2nd half with a 15 play 64 yard drive that ended with a 1-yard plunge from Elijah Wachacha to tie the game at 14.
Bowman struck again to give the Devils the lead back. This time with a 33-yard touchdown run.
The Black Knights took the kickoff following Bowman’s touchdown and drove 76-yards on 11 plays. Ian Wiggins scored on an 8-yard run. Erik Barnett made the extra point, tying the game at 21 with one minute exactly remaining.
Bowman finished with a game high 157 yards on 17 carries. Hunter Burrell stepped in for an injured Bryce Sain. Burrell ran for 48 yards on 13 carries, while Ian Brooks had 18 yards on 7 carries.
For the Maroon Devils the specialty teams were just that on the night. Punter Tanner Wiggins had only two kicks, averaging 41 yards. But one of the two went for 49 yards pinning the Knights on their own 1 yard line. Meanwhile Holden Petty in his first action back since his injury, made all 3 extra points, as well as the game winner. Petty also kicked all 4 of his kickoffs into the endzone.
Ice Littlejohn paced the Swain defense with 11 tackles, while Nolan Brown added 10. Dylan McLeod and Holden Petty each had an intereception and 7 tackles. Thomas Allen, Ian Brooks and Logan Loftis also had 7 tackles.