Braylen Townsend is usually on the receiving end of a handoff.
But this time, he was the one turning the ball over to a freshman with the game on the line. Townsend and every other Bloomington South football player had done everything they could to pull victory from the jaws of defeat, a place the No. 3 Panthers never envisioned being for the second week in a row.
On the penultimate snap, Bloomington North made one last heroic stop of Townsend, the senior bulldozer, at the 1-yard line with the score tied. The clock ticked down to :02 and South called timeout.
Chip shot or no, Sam Stolberg had missed a 28-yarder back in the first quarter. And he actually had to kick the game winner twice, teeing it up again after North jumped offside on the first attempt.
But he nailed the second to cap a 17-0 run and unleash cheers of relief on the South sideline after a 31-28 win in their Class 5A Sectional 15 championship game at South on Friday, Nov. 7.
“Before I went out there, I’m making sure no one is talking to me,” Stolberg said. “Just getting in my (kicks).
“Then said a quick prayer and went out there and kept myself cool with the two timeouts and North jumping. I just had to stay calm.”
It was a game already fraught with emotion, and those feelings spilled over into the post-game handshake lines for players and coaches alike, save for North nose guard Isa Muhammad, who was hurt badly on the last play and had to be carted off as head coach Brett Cooper talked to his team.
Both sides were drained. It’s the fourth time in five years they’ve butted heads with a sectional title at stake, but none of them like this.
“The big thing is to get your kids not to panic,” South head coach Gabe Johnson said.
Last week, South had to fight tooth and nail to get by Terre Haute South, trailing 34-33 with 7:15 left before coming up with the winning score in the final two minutes. It’s a sectional title it has earned the hard way and last week’s thriller may have helped win another.
“It’s got to be stay the course,” Johnson said. “You can’t panic. You’ve got to execute. I think we got it going. We figured out some things defensively at halftime and got some things going that were good offensively.
“We can’t afford to have slow starts like we’ve been having and expect good things to happen, especially at this point in the tournament. We get another week to try and fix that and that’s a good thing.”
Up next for No. 3 South (10-1) is a regional home game vs. No. 9 Floyd Central (10-1), which rallied past Evansville North in the fog, 15-10.
But North’s journey that put the Cougars (7-4) in position to pull one of the biggest upsets in school history can’t be discounted.
“I’m proud of them,” Cooper said. “What a whirlwind for them in the summertime and to be able to fight through the adversity that they did and be able to compete in a game like this, it just didn’t go our way.”
Townsend stays the course
Once again, the Panthers had too many offensive weapons to keep tamped down for all 48 minutes. It’s not the ideal scenario, but it’s enabled them to overcome two slow starts and win two playoff shootouts.
One reason South had for not panicking was the play of Townsend and the offensive line that maintained a steady drum beat all night long.
Townsend has shared the load with senior transfer Shaun Cooper this year, but he was a beast, a workhorse this night: a career high 42 carries for 198 yards and the game-tying touchdown with 3:07 left.
“I was just coming into this game with the intention to play hard-nosed football,” said Townsend, who went over the 1,000-yard mark this season. “I feel like people have underestimated me this year. So I just had to show them, how we run the football at Bloomington South.
“Gotta roll on low pads. The O-line played perfect tonight. I wouldn’t have done anything without them.”
His carries were mostly bite-sized, but the calories began to add up, especially in the second half.
“We wore them down for sure,” Johnson said. “Two and three yards became five and six and that really helped our passing game and opened up some things up and some guys made some plays.”
Townsend helped move the ball into the red zone, where quarterback Duncan Combs tossed three TD passes while going 18-of-27 for 183 yards. He hit on his last eight passes to lead South back from a 28-14 deficit in the final 11 and a half minutes with its season on the line.
Just one mistake…
Just one is all it took to light the comeback fire for South.
North drove to the 1 to end the third quarter and got a John Bargen touchdown pass, one of three on the night, to a diving Nate Walker to start the fourth for a stunning 28-14 lead.
“Honestly, it’s scary seeing that,” Townsend said. “Being a senior as well, but I know how my teammates, how we practice, so I knew we were ready for anything. So I wasn’t really worried.
“I knew we could do it.”
The Cougars had answered every bell to that point. But Combs’ second TD pass to Jalen Williams with 7:21 left started the rally.
The defense finally got the three-and-out it needed and more when North punter Blake Davis had to swallow the ball as a bobbled snap took him right into the rush.
Given the short field, South made short work of a 30-yard drive as Townsend scored with 3:07 left to knot it at 28.
North had to punt again a minute later after hoping for a pass interference flag on third down that never came.
South took over at the Cougars’ 47 and mixed run and pass as Combs hit on his last eight passes in clutch time for 68 yards. It was first and goal at the 8 before two runs by Townsend moved the ball to the 1.
“It just shows how we can come through situations like that,” Townsend said.
North goes down hard
The Cougars ran just 43 plays to 77 for South, running the ball for only 61 yards on 18 carries. Unable to eat clock or gain a first down in the fourth quarter doomed them as Townsend took over.
“We had a pretty good game plan to stop that with our interior five,” Cooper said. “And when they snap the ball that many times you kinda wear out.”
QB John Bargan finished 16-of-25 for 188 yards and three TDs, one each to Blake Davis, Luke Freel and Nate Walker. Freel had a pick-6 for the first score and caught four passes for 38 yards, Davis had four for 102. Carter Matthew had 32 yards rushing and 32 receiving.
“We didn’t slow down the whole time,” Cooper said. “We made plays in the first couple quarters and just didn’t when we needed them the most. Had a chance to win the game and just didn’t do it.”
BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 31, BLOOMINGTON NORTH 28
Bloomington North (7-4) 7 | 14 | 0 | 7 — 28
Bloomington South (10-1) 0 | 7 | 7 | 17 — 31
FIRST QUARTER
BN: Luke Freel 46 interception return (Andres Firacative kick), 9:42. N, 7-0.
SECOND QUARTER
BN: Freel 13 pass from John Bargen (Firacative kick), 10:19. N, 14-0.
BS: Jalen Williams 9 pass from Duncan Combs (Cohen Fischer kick), 6:23. N, 14-7.
BN: Blake Davis 47 pass from Bargen (Firacative kick), 5:03. N, 21-7.
THIRD QUARTER
BS: Jonathan Winstead 7 pass from Combs (Fischer kick), 5:05. N, 21-14.
FOURTH QUARTER
BN: Nate Walker 1 pass from Bargen (Firacative kick), 11:52. N, 28-14.
BS: Williams 9 pass from Combs (Fischer kick), 7:21. N, 28-21.
BS: Braylen Townsend 1 run (Fischer kick), 3:07. Tied, 28-28.
BS: Sam Stolberg 18 FG, :00. S, 31-28.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Bloomington North (18-61): Brayden Johnson 6-35, Carter Matthew 9-32, John Bargen 2-(-1), Blake Davis 1-(-5).
Bloomington South (50-219): Braylen Townsend 42-198, Duncan Combs 6-14, Shaun Cooper 2-8.
PASSING
Bloomington North (16-25-0-188): Bargen 16-25-0-188.
Bloomington South (18-27-1-183): Combs 18-27-1-183.
RECEIVING
Bloomington North: Davis 4-102, Luke Freel 4-38, Nate Walker 3-19, Matthew 2-32, Rashon English 2-(-3), Alan Hays 1-1.
Bloomington South: Jalen Williams 7-59, Jonathan Winstead 5-23, Connor Parker 3-79, Sam Giles 3-26.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: South’s ‘No panic’ Panthers strike again to stun North in sectional football final
Reporting by Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
