Reeds Spring and Mt Vernon are becoming regular dance partners. They met on Friday Night for the third time in just over a year. The two teams have met in the regular season and district playoffs each of the past two years.
Last year it was Mt Vernon that got a 2-point victory at Carl Langley Field in the District Championship game, ending the Wolves season and propelling the Mountaineers to what eventually would be a spot in the State Championship game.
This night would be another classic, perhaps even more so than any of the previous meetings.
In the early going it looked as if Reeds Spring was going to be able to handle Mt Vernon. The Wolves defense limited the Mountaineers to 3 and outs on their first three possessions. Meanwhile a 22 yard Colton Cramblett field goal and a 30 yard touchdown pass from Blake Gronvold to Cole Watson gave the Wolves a 10-0 lead.
Mt Vernon would own the rest of the first half. Two touchdown passes from Zach Jones to Rafe Darter erased the early Reeds Spring dominance and sent the home town Mountaineers to the locker room with a 14-10 halftime lead.
Seth Stamps would get the Reeds Spring faithful back in the game immediately, to start the second half. He took the kickoff and took it to the house to put the Wolves back on top. But, Mt Vernon would respond. Jones went to the air again, this time finding Carson Bowman for the score and regaining the lead 20-17.
That set up a dramatic fourth quarter. Reeds Spring drove deep into Mt Vernon territory before having to settle for a 25 yard Cramblett field goal with 7:59 left. That, tied the score at 20.
It looked like we might be headed to overtime. But neither team was done. Reeds Spring went into their bag of tricks with 2:25 left to go in the game and pulled out the hook and ladder. It worked to perfection, as Seth Stamps got the pitch and raced down the sidelines and into the endzone to give Reeds Spring the lead and possible victory.
But, Mt Vernon did not go away. After three incomplete passes, they faced a fourth and ten with under two minutes to play and deep in their own territory. Two completions later and targeting penalty put them on the Wolves doorstep with time running out.
Eventually they faced fourth and goal from the four yard line, with :26 seconds to play. And, once again the home team delivered as a touchdown strike to the front, right corner of the endzone brought them to within one. As they had all night they went for two.
After a time out on each side, one play from the three yard line, to basically determine a winner. A muddle huddle and a quick snap was followed with an attempted jump pass that was well defensed and intercepted by Reeds Spring.
An onside kick and one kneel down sealed the victory. 27-26 was the final in a classic high school football game.
Unofficially, Cody Hughes had 24 carries for 95 yards to lead the Reeds Spring rushing attack. Colton Cramblett was perfect on three PATs and two FG attempts.
The win moves Reeds Spring to 4-0 on the season. They will play host to Springfield Catholic next week for Homecoming.
