Reeders’ sack of Suddeth preserved an exhilarating - and stunning - 41-40 victory for the Bumblebees in a wild District 25-2A game Friday night at John Glover Stadium.
“I’ve been at this a long time and this has to be one of the most exciting games I’ve ever been involved in,” said Academy coach Royce McAdams, whose team moves to 3-2, 1-1 in district. “It may not be the most important, but it was the most exciting.”
It was a heavy blow to Rosebud-Lott coach Kyle Maxfield and the rest of the Cougar fandom. Up 27-19 in the fourth quarter, the Cougars were on the verge of a knock-out punch in the closing minutes. The Cougars were at the Academy 5 needing a score of any kind to essentially ice the game.
But on second-and-goal, Bee cornerback Andrew Sodek picked off a pass and went 90 yards before being chased down by Suddeth. A Cougar sideline violation moved the ball to the 3, where Kyle Preston took a pitch and cut up the right side for a touchdown. Bee quarterback Chase Gommert kept off right tackle and got in the end zone for the two-point conversion to the tie the game, 27-27, with 2:31 left in regulation.
The call to throw a perimeter pass on the goal line with a victory in sight is one Maxfield would like to erase.
“We’ve scored a lot off of that play,” he said. “If I could take it back I would. It’s been a good play for us.”
McAdams defended his counterpart.
“That’s their game,” he said. “They are a multi-talented team. We’re a blue-collar team.”
The dejection didn’t show in the first overtime as Suddeth flung a pass to Ben Guthrie for a 24-yard touchdown. Robert Maddigan’s extra point made it a 34-27 game. Academy equaled that when Kyle Kuban slipped through tackles and ran 17 yards for a touchdown.
Academy went up first in the second overtime, taking six plays before Gommert scored on a 2-yard keeper and a 41-34 advantage.
Guthrie put the Cougars in scoring position with a 23-yard reverse to the 2. It was fourth down before Suddeth got in from the 1. The Cougars elected to go for the victory on a two-point conversion, but Reeders got to Suddeth, who was rolling to his left, before he could get off a pass.
Initially, the Bees took charge of the game with a 12-point first quarter and scored on their first three possessions. Kuban scored on a 19-yard touchdown romp and Gommert went in from the 5 later in the quarter.
The Cougars closed the gap to 12-7 when Suddeth hit Collin Rabroker on a 53-yard TD pass.
Gommert, who led all rushers with 111 yards on 27 carries, scored again in the second from the 3 to complete a 63-yard march.
Rosebud-Lott stormed back with two more Suddeth touchdown passes - a 10-yarder to Collin Wolf and a spectacular 25-yarder to Guthrie - to propel the Cougars to a 21-19 halftime lead. The Cougars added six more in the third when Brandon Butler squirted through Bee defenders on a 16-yard jaunt.
“There were no losers on that field,” McAdams said. “There were none from Rosebud and none from Academy."
twaits@temple-telegram.com
ACADEMY 41,
ROSEBUD-LOTT 40 (2 OT)
Rosebud-Lott 7 14 6 0 7 6 - 40
Academy 12 7 0 8 7 7 - 41
Aca - Kyle Kuban 19 run (run failed)
Aca - Chase Gommert 5 run (run failed)
R-L - Collin Rabroker 53 pass from Cap Suddeth (Robert Maddigan kick)
Aca - Gommert 3 run (Cody Sultenfuss kick)
R-L - Collin Wolf 10 pass from Suddeth (Maddigan kick)
R-L - Ben Guthrie 25 pass from Suddeth (Maddigan kick)
R-L - Brandon Butler 16 run (kick failed)
Aca - Kyle Preston 3 run (Gommert run)
R-L - Guthrie 24 pass from Suddeth (Maddigan kick)
Aca - Kuban 17 run (Sultenfuss kick)
Aca - Gommert 2 run (Sultenfuss kick)
R-L - Suddeth 1 run (pass failed)
TEAM STATISTICS
R-L Aca
First downs 25 21
Rushes-yards 41-168 56-261
Passing yards 320 46
Comp.-Att.-Int. 17-25-1 4-12-0
Punts-average 2-32 2-39.5
Fumbles-lost 4-1 8-1
Penalties-yards 5-30 3-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Rosebud-Lott: DeAndre Thompson 8-64, Butler 15-50, Suddeth 16-50, Guthrie 1-23; Academy: Gommert 27-111, Preston 16-52, Kuban 4-46, Sultenfuss 8-37, William Bunker 1-2, Andrew Sodek 1-4.
PASSING - Rosebud-Lott: Suddeth 16-24-1-272, Wolf 1-1-0-48; Academy: Gommert 4-12-0-46.
RECEIVING - Rosebud-Lott: Rabroker 2-101, Guthrie 5-72, Wolf 3-69, Darrell Whitfield 5-68, Thompson 2-25; Academy: Sodek 2-29, Sultenfuss 1-10, Noah Hamill 1-7.
