Gatesville pulled off a stunning string of tricks and recorded eight points in the final 51 seconds to record a wild 31-21 postseason-clinching victory over West at McKamie Stadium on Friday night.

"A 10-point win got us in," said jubilant Gatesville coach Kyle Cooper. "Now, no matter what happens next week, we're in the playoffs."

The guaranteed berth breaks a six-year skid of no playoff appearances for the Hornets (7-2 overall, 3-1 District 7-3A), who have been haunted by last year's late-season collapse and stories of the program's successful tradition.

"We know last year that we let it fall," said junior Dexter Knox, who had a touchdown catch and intercepted two passes. "We're not letting it fall this year."

After West (6-3, 2-2) scored to trim the gap to 23-21 in the final minute, Gatesville recovered the ensuing onside kick, then broke out its sideshow act.

Quarterback Jake Truss took a knee on first down at the Trojans' 48-yard line. He faked a kneel on second down and lobbed a 20-yard pass to Cody Navarro - who had made it look as if he was leaving the field before the snap, then stopped to tie his shoe near the sideline.

West lost its cool and two personal fouls on the Trojans moved the ball to the 10 with seven seconds left.

Truss rolled to his right and hit Navarro in the end zone for an eight-point edge with one second remaining, and Dominique Moore tossed to Garrett Johnson on a reverse pass for the two-point conversion that sealed it.

"We had talked about the trick play during meetings today, because West did the same thing to us last year," said Truss, who was 18-of-32 passing for 168 yards and two touchdowns to go with a pair of rushing TDs and a 32-yard field goal. "Even if we would have lost, we still could have made the playoffs by winning next week. But we wanted to end that playoff drought tonight."