Sports
Eagles Soar on Final Play of the Game
South Cobb overcome an early 21-point deficit with a winning field goal on the game's final play. The final was 29-28.
Who knew?! Beneath the breast of an Eagle beat the heart of a lion!
The South Cobb Eagles overcame an early drubbing, which left them with a 21-point half time deficit to win in the closing seconds of the game.
The Eagles were the first to score with a short pass to senior Carlos Anderson in the corner of the end zone. Just like that, the Eagles were on top.
The Wildcats returned the subsequent kickoff over half the distance of the field to tie the game. While they had the Eagles on their heels, they proceeded to put up two more scores to take a commanding 21-7 lead at the end of the 1st quarter.
The second quarter was more of the same and by half time the Wildcats had built a 21-point half time lead of 28-7.
"We told them at half time", said Head Coach Ed Koester, "that we're gonna see what you're made of."
The Eagles defense came out firing on all cylinders for the rest of the game, starting with an interception by senior Cornerback Josh Kimble. That turnover led to a short yardage score, cutting the deficit to 14. After a Wildcat fumble, and subsequent Eagle recovery, senior Chris Beck scored with some elusive footwork that helped him find the end zone.
A missed Point After Attempt (PAT) and a missed field goal had the Eagles faithful hoping that those misses wouldn't come back to haunt them.
The Eagles defense continued to roll. With another interception, they gave the offense another opportunity to close the gap. Beck found the end zone again and the deficit was a mere two points.
With the Wildcats driving down the field, an errant pass found the hands of senior Linebacker Isaiah Hughes. Eagles QB Stephon Masha tossed an interception late in the game, but the Eagle defense showed up again to give the offense one final go at winning.
Two consecutive passes to Anderson put the Eagles within field goal range.
With 2.6 seconds remaining, the true freshman (and soccer player) Carlos Saldana shook off his earlier misses and found the center of the goal post for the game winner.
Coach Koester told Patch, "When he (Saldana) joined the team 3 weeks ago, we nicknamed him Peanut. By God, I think he's a cashew."
Next week, the 2-0 Eagles face the Titans of North View.
