Less than 20 seconds to play, the Copperas Cove Bulldawgs and the Houston Cy-Ridge Wildcats deadlocked at 48 in what had been one of the best playoff games both teams’ fans had ever seen.

Cove quarterback Nick Greene had moved to his left, found nothing and rolled to his right. He saw open field ahead of him and Josh Boyce near the end zone but covered. Greene fired the pass.

“Nick didn’t have time to run. He did what he had to do,” Copperas Cove coach Jack Welch said. “Josh must have felt the ball was in the air for two hours and 30 minutes.”

Once it was released, Boyce knew he’d have to make a good play over Cy-Ridge defender Greg Jones, secure the ball and either score right away or go down and hope there was enough time left to let Cove win the game with a field goal.

Boyce got an inside step on Jones leaped up and caught the pass. Jones slipped as the duo came down and Boyce had the score.

“What a tremendous amount of concentration,” Welch said.

In most people’s mind, the catch that put Cove up 55-48 with the extra point virtually ended last week’s Class 5A Division II Region II semifinal game. But Boyce knew his work wasn’t done yet. He still had to get back on defense and defend against Cy-Ridge’s Russell Shepard, who rushed for more than 300 yards in the game.

That’s a typical game for Boyce, who rarely leaves the field, starting at wide receiver, defensive back and kick/punt returner.

His ability to play every down of every game - a rarity in 5A - makes the senior Texas Christian commitment very valuable to the Bulldawgs (12-1), who will take on Klein Oak (10-1) in the Region II final at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Corsicana.

Of course, it also makes Boyce very tired.

“After the last game, I was really tired,” he said. “But I was excited that we won. I was just happy I caught the ball.”

Boyce has been a starter since he was a sophomore, and has played almost every down the last two years after Welch and the coaches decided how valuable he was on both sides of the ball.

He leads the team in receiving (37 catches, 789 yards, nine touchdowns) and return yards (more than 600 total), plus has 45 tackles and an interception on defense.

“He could have also been a quarterback,” Welch said. “He’s just that good of an athlete. And he could play all those positions in college, too. He brings stability and confidence. A guy like Josh you know can be counted on. Not only on the field but off.”

Like many of the Bulldawgs, Boyce comes from a military family and his dad (who retired from the Army but has a government contract job) is rarely ever home. But Boyce said his dad is coming in later this week and hopes to be at the game in Corsicana.

“It means a lot to me. My dad’s been gone a lot,” he said. “He missed most of my city league and junior high (seasons) and this year is the first couple of varsity games he’s got to see. He comes home for two, three weeks at a time.”

The military presence in Boyce’s life has undoubtedly helped give him confidence and leadership skills to go with the athleticism he possesses.

But perhaps Boyce’s greatest attribute is that he makes those around him better because of his unselfishness.

His presence on defense has helped make Chris Miller a star. Opposing quarterbacks have noticed Boyce starting both ways and have naturally tried to avoid throwing his way. The result has been 11 interceptions for Miller and three each for Rashad Hardy and Fernando Smith.

Boyce understands that the Bulldawgs have built such a good program that he, or any other one player, doesn’t make the team successful. And so when the coaching staff asks him to try a position, no matter what it is, he does so and gives it his all. That’s the attitude that Boyce said all the Bulldawgs have and it’s what’s kept them on the winning track.

“We just stayed together as a team,” he said. “We didn’t really think about (current Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin) or (current Idaho running back Troy Vital) and who left, you know. We just tried to stay together as a team.”

A prime example is when starting quarterback Cody Vaughn went down with a shoulder injury and Greene became the starter for the playoffs.

Boyce said he knew that they probably weren’t going to pass as much, but that Greene is a better runner. He also knew that if the team won, it didn’t matter and the Dawgs were going to be OK.

“We didn’t skip a beat because in practice we’d been working with both (quarterbacks),” Boyce said. “And they practice the same plays.”

That’s why on the game-winning touchdown against Cy-Ridge, when it looked like Greene could have run for the first down, Boyce had no doubt the ball was coming his way.

“I knew he was going to throw it because there wasn’t enough time on the clock to run,” he said. “I just tried to make a play on the ball.”

And like he’s done for three years as a varsity starter, he made the play and the Bulldawgs lived to play another day.