STRONGSVILLE, Ohio — Talk about refusing to lose. Solon shook off an outstanding effort by Strongsville, which was fighting for its playoff life, to stage one of the more improbable rallies of the season in a 31-28 overtime victory Friday night at Pat Catan Stadium.
STRONGSVILLE, Ohio — Talk about refusing to lose.
Solon shook off an outstanding effort by Strongsville, which was fighting for its playoff life, to stage one of the more improbable rallies of the season in a 31-28 overtime victory Friday night at Pat Catan Stadium.
Trailing, 28-20, the Comets faced a third-down play at Strongsville's 34 with about 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Chris Humphrey completed a short pass to Drew Barksdale to the 26, but Barksdale was tackled in bounds, and the Comets were out of timeouts.
Solon hustled to the line, and just about everyone assumed Humphrey would spike the ball to set up one last-gasp play. Humphrey took the snap and lunged forward, as if to attempt a quarterback sneak, before stepping back and darting around right end, fighting his way in for a touchdown after time had expired.
Humphrey then passed to Barksdale for the two-point conversion to force overtime.
"That's part of our no-huddle attack," Solon football coach Jim McQuaide said. "He's been a good runner for us all year. We took a shot, and he made an unbelievable play."
Humphrey made another play to stop Strongsville on its overtime possession, intercepting Austin Pritchard's pass in the end zone.
Solon ran two plays in its overtime possession, then turned to Alex Knight, who drilled a 32-yard field goal -- his third of the game -- to set off a celebration.
"It was unbelievable," McQuaide said. "Strongsville did a phenomenal job. You could tell they were fighting for the playoffs, but our guys wanted this and it showed."
Solon, which already had clinched a first-round home game next week, takes a perfect 10-0 record into the Division I playoffs.
The Comets won the Valley Division of the Northeast Ohio Conference, going 5-0.
Strongsville finished 6-4 and 3-2.
"I still can't believe it happened," said Strongsville coach Russ Jacques, several of his players still standing at midfield in stunned silence long after the game ended. "Their kid made an unbelievable play. I've never seen anything like it. I hope I never see anything like it again."
Solon took advantage of a partially blocked punt to score first. On a third-down play, Humphrey beat an all-out blitz with a quarterback draw up the middle for a 30-yard touchdown.
Solon's defense held Strongsville without a first down until a quick-strike score drew the Mustangs even. Pritchard hit Ryan Aske on a quick slant, and Aske went 49 yards for a touchdown with 27 seconds left in the first quarter.
Solon needed just one play to regain the lead. Backup tailback Nick Davidson squirted through a hole up the middle. Two defenders had a clean shot at him about 20 yards downfield, but Davidson bounced off the hits and was in the clear for an 85-yard touchdown run.
Solon increased the lead to 17-7 on Knight's 23-yard field goal, but Mustangs came right back with another big play.
Pritchard hit Chris Barth for a 33-yard reception, then found Ray Hamilton wide open down the middle for a 39-yard touchdown pass, cutting the deficit to 17-14 with 1:38 left in the first half.
The Mustangs got a 22-yard touchdown run from Matt Bianco in the third quarter and a 1-yard run by Pritchard in the fourth quarter to take a 28-20 lead. But it was not enough.
Bob Migra is a freelance writer in Westlake.