Should have been there (El Reno/Miami)...
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Seriously, you should have been there. Oh wait, I WAS there. Not the best game by any means. But with enough momentum swings in the final two minutes to make me mentally delete a story four times in 10 minutes.
For those that don’t know, El Reno won 14-7 when Austin Feddersen recovered a fumble in the end zone with six seconds left to beat Miami.
So for fun, here is the final 1:38.
1:38-ish: El Reno’s Jakeil Everheart is running on a 3rd-and-long, hoping to have the Wardogs use a timeout. He fumbles, Miami recovers at midfield with 1:32 left.
Next play, Miami’s Trent Turner is picked off by El Reno’s Nathan Dewberry. Dewberry had two fumble recoveries and a pick in this one.
He’s running down the sideline and gets to about the 25 and Miami has a personal foul face mask call.
El Reno has the ball at the 12, little over a minute left. Everheart runs for five yards. Cory Dauphin runs for four (we’re at the 3 if you’re counting at home).
Clock is still ticking, under 30 seconds. Everheart goes for one last play for either a) TD or b) set up Eric Vinegas for the chip-shot FG.
Whoops, Everheart fumbles once again at about the 2-2 1/2 yard line. Now El Reno is devastated again. Miami has nine seconds to kill before OT.
Talking with Feddersen after the game, he said the coaches said nothing about a safety or forcing a turnover.
“Don’t do anything to get a penalty. We’ll just go to overtime.”
However, Miami botches the snap. Feddersen jumps on it, bedlam in El Reno. Magical season continues. Whatever snazzy headline you want to use, El Reno 14, Miami 7.
El Reno kicks, Miami can’t do anything special, game over.
Wow.
Again, wow.
El Reno is not flashy, but it gets the job done. Somehow, someway, the Indians are 10-2 and in the semis. They forced five turnovers.
Turner throws a TD pass on the very first Miami offensive play to James Pickens, and then it’s the ol’ adage of bend but don’t break.
Miami missed a FG, had another blocked, had an INT in the end zone. Not to say El Reno played the perfect game. The normally sure-handed Everheart fumbled three times, twice at the goalline. The first time, he was reaching for a TD and it resulted in a touchback.
