Saturday’s effort might just take the cake, with a rare safety providing the cherry on top.
In a stunning turn of events, the No. 9-ranked Bulldawgs scored 23 points in the final 5:18 to resurrect themselves from near-extinction and overtake No. 10 Waxahachie 37-35 in a wild Class 4A Division I bi-district playoff game Saturday afternoon at Waco ISD Stadium.
Cove (9-2) advanced to the area round to face Dallas Samuell (8-3) at 3 p.m. Friday at Waco ISD. Waxahachie, which had won nine straight games, finished at 9-2.
“We just kept fighting and playing,” Welch said. “You can teach and you can preach it, but you still have to do it. Who would have thought it would turn out like that?”
The Bulldawgs were down 28-14 midway through the fourth quarter with little momentum on their side. It was reminiscent of last year’s first-round game at the same juncture when the Bulldawgs came back from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Cove particularly seemed to be on a dead-end path once halfback Dominique Carson sliced his way into the end zone from the 7 to give Waxahachie a 28-14 lead. Subsequently, the Indians’ Duke Bohall picked off a Robert Griffin pass when the Bulldawgs were inside the Waxahachie 25 following a monster kickoff return by Josh Boyce.
But the Indian offense that had repeatedly gobbled up clock time began to be stifled by the Bulldawg defense, while the Cove offense began its miraculous recovery.
Griffin engineered a 76-yard scoring drive in eight plays that took less than two minutes. He connected on a pair of 15-yard passes and Troy Vital had rushes of 21 and 16 yards. Vital climbed over the top of the goal line from the 3 to close the gap to 28-21 with 5:18 to go.
A quick stop put the ball back in the Bulldawgs’ hands and they went 84 yards in seven plays to tie the game. Griffin hit Tommy McLeain twice for a combined 27 yards and Vital had a 22-yard rumble.
On third-and-10, Griffin rolled right and found Boyce in the end zone behind the secondary. Boyce kept his feet inbound along the right sideline for a 31-yard game-tying touchdown with 2:06 left.
“They weren’t covering him on the route,” Griffin said. “When I threw, I thought I had thrown it out of bounds. But he dragged that foot and stayed in.”
A botched kickoff return put the Indians at their 8. A loss and an illegal procedure penalty put them back at the 3.
From there, quarterback Boomer Collins pitched to Carson in the end zone. Anthony Gonzales and Josh Kasten made sure he didn’t get out, trapping him before he could get the ball back over the goal line for a safety and a 30-28 lead with 1:06 left.
“I’ve never had that happen,” said Welch, of having one of his teams get a safety to pull out a victory.
Cove scored again after the Indians’ failed onside kick. Griffin scrambled 27 yards to make it a 37-28 game with 48 seconds to go.
Waxahachie gamely answered with a late scoring drive as Collins hit Sam Gagliano on a 12-yard strike with four ticks remaining to cut it back to two.
It was another disappointing first-round loss for Indians coach David Ream.
“They didn’t get any of the holding penalties and we got the penalties,” he said. “We gave up the ball and gave them possessions. Penalties made a difference in the ballgame.
“We executed well and did the things we needed to do to win the game. (Cove) has got an outstanding football team and coaching staff.”
The Indians had contained Griffin much of the game, but Vital found plenty of room with 172 yards on 22 carries. Griffin was a steady 9-of-14 for 118 yards.
“Those two guys are amazing,” Welch said. “They showed their true character when it was 28-14. We wanted to get (Griffin) on the outside to run or throw soft passes. It was hard to get the ball through the line”
Waxahachie ate up the first half of the first quarter by going 74 yards in 10 plays with Carson racing in from the 15. The Indians added to that in the second quarter with a 52-yard scoring drive in seven plays. The seventh play was a fake field goal in which holder Ryan Wilson pitched to Gagliano coming around and he went from the 7 to make it a 14-0 game.
Vital cut the lead in half before the break by banging in from the 2 to finish a 55-yard march on the 11th play.
Cove tied the game briefly in the third quarter when Griffin dove in behind center Sean Robertson to cap an 80-yard drive in 11 plays.
The Indians answered when Collins hit Sidney Easley on a 73-yard bomb on the first play of the ensuing drive to go back ahead 21-14 at the 2:10 mark of the third quarter.
Carson, who wore three different jersey numbers during the course of the game, led the Indians with 94 yards on 17 rushes. Collins was 17-of-26 for 265 yards.
“It’s a shame that we had to play them in the first round,” Welch said. “These were just two great football teams.”
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