In a game packed full of momentum swings and key offensive and defensive performances by both teams, it all came down to one huge play.
Trailing 39-36 in overtime, the Houston High School football team pulled off a perfectly-executed halfback pass and won the season-opener Friday night at Pierce City, 42-39.
After Houston won the coin toss and head coach Eric Sloan deferred, the host Eagles had the first possession in overtime. But the Tigers’ Big Red Defense held the fort and Pierce City could only move the ball a couple of yards from the starting point at the 25-yard line and settled for a 23-yard field goal by senior kicker Layton Mack.
Then on the Tigers’ first play from the 25, junior quarterback DJ Riley handed the ball to senior receiver Jordan Arthur – who had lined up in the left slot – and Arthur threw a perfect pass to junior receiver Caden Guerra for a game-winning touchdown. To say Guerra was wide open is a huge understatement; there was no other player within about 10 yards of him when Arthur lofted a perfect strike his way and he caught it near the goal line and entered the right side of the end zone.
“At the end of regulation, I told the coaches that was my play,” Sloan said. “My hope was that everyone was going to attack Jordan and he was just going to play catch, and that’s exactly what happened.”
Prior to the tie at the end of regulation, the contest featured six lead changes.
Houston led 12-0 after a short TD run by Arthur in the first quarter and another short scoring run by senior Layne Seago early in the second period.
But the Eagles stormed back before halftime, scoring 22 unanswered points to lead 22-12 at the break.
Houston regained the advantage in the third quarter and went ahead 26-22 when senior tight end Maleki Morgan made a one-handed catch of a pass from Riley and then shook off multiple defenders on the way to a 55-yard scoring play. After Riley threw to Morgan again for a 2-point conversion, Houston was up 28-22 with 1:03 left in the period.
Pierce City responded in a hurry and went back on top moments later when senior running back Evan Salazar ran up the middle and didn’t stop until he had covered 70 yards and scored. After Mack booted an extra point, the Eagles were ahead again at 29-28.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Riley ran about 40 yards to the Pierce City 5-yard line. Three plays later, Arthur scored from a yard out, and after Seago busted through traffic for a 2-point conversion, the Tigers held a 36-29 lead.
But with 5:42 to go in regulation, the Eagles evened things up on a 39-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Eli Genzler to senior running back Mekhi Kleiboeker, followed by another point-after by Mack.
Houston had another opportunity before the end of the fourth quarter, driving the ball deep into Eagles territory and earning a first-and-goal play at the 5-yard line with 55 seconds showing. But Pierce City recovered a fumble with about 20 seconds remaining, and head coach Jim Genzler elected to have his son take a knee and run out the clock, setting up the dramatic ending to the game.
Five different players scored touchdowns for Houston in the contest.
“I think that’s just the tale of this year’s team,” Sloan said. “We’re looking for different guys to step up, and we had that. It was good to see us spread the wealth a little bit.”
Prior to the game, Sloan hoped his defensive line could make a difference. It did, as Seago at noseguard led Tiger tacklers with 12 (including 10 solo).
“We’re deep there,” Sloan said. “We have a lot of guys who give us quality minutes and allow us to give guys breathers as well.”
Seago is a four-year starter for the Tigers.
“Layne is just a dude,” Sloan said. “He’s a seasoned veteran and has a motor that never stops. He’s big and fast and strong, and he’s capable of making plays anywhere along the defensive line. I was glad to see him have a good night for us statistically.”
Junior linebacker Mason Dodson notched 10 tackles for Houston (including 8 solo), while senior linebacker Brayden Richardson had 9 (including 8 solo) and three players had 8 apiece.
Seago also led Houston’s offense, rushing for a career-high 127 yards on 19 carries. The Tigers had 386 total yards in the contest, including 293 on the ground.
In his first outing as the Tigers’ quarterback, Riley ran for 74 yards and passed for 68.
Salazar had run wild all night (rushing for well over 200 yards and returning a kickoff for a 95-yard score), but then was stuffed twice near the line of scrimmage in overtime – first by the duo of Dodson and sophomore linebacker Aaron “Tank” McCarthy and again by a tandem effort from McCarthy and Richardson.
“During that break before overtime, we told the kids they knew who was going to get the ball and it was up to them to stop it,” Sloan said. “I thought our kids responded well in that situation; we were getting 11 guys to the ball and they were doing what you coach them to do.”
Many of the Tigers’ difference-makes in the game were more or less new to a pressure-packed matchup like this one.
“It was cool to see some guys who hadn’t played much in the past step up and do some really good things,” Sloan said. “And we faced some adversity – getting down by 10 at the half – and then we dig right out of the hole and then kind of stand in the middle of the ring trading punches. And then we found a way to win in overtime; that was really cool, because we had lost the last couple of times we went to overtime.”
Next up for the Tigers is a home game this Friday (Sept. 6) against Springfield Catholic. The Fightin’ Irish lost their season and home opener against East Newton, 21-13.
“They’re scary,” Sloan said. “They were ahead of East Newton and managed to let it get away, but they’re crazy fast and really athletic. They’ll present a lot of problems, and I think we’re going to have to play really well to try to equalize things a little bit.”
The game will kick off at 7 p.m. and be streamed live online at houstonherald.com.
