In sports, timing is everything.
Saturday afternoon at Thomas Field on the North Cross campus, Raider quarterback Max Revercomb had his timing down perfectly, despite there being some major timing issues on the North Cross scoreboard.
After all was said and done, the Raiders broke away from a tight first half battle with Covenant School to dispatch the Eagles 48-28 in a must-win situation for North Cross in the Old Dominion Conference showdown.
The win sends the Raiders to their regular season finale against Hargrave Military this Saturday at home knowing a win will secure a playoff spot.
Things in the timing department got off to a shaky start on the picture-perfect afternoon Saturday.
The North Cross scoreboard clock kept stopping, with actual playing time not coming close to the time still showing. By the time the clock was finally shut off in the first quarter, it had been quite an adventure for both teams.
There were a combined nine offensive possessions in the first quarter alone.
“We weren’t sure what was going on,” Covenant head coach Dave Hart laughed after the game. “It was a long first quarter. Our coaches and players heard the announcer say there was a little over a minute left and we though he meant in the first half. It ended up being in the first quarter.”
Hart wasn’t complaining, especially after seeing his Eagles storm back from an early 20-6 deficit with 4:48 still left in the opening frame to score two straight touchdowns, an extra-point kick and two-point conversion to take a 21-20 lead with two minutes left in the half.
North Cross then executed the key drive of the game to score on a Revercomb-to-Isaiah Harris 5-yard touchdown pass with 18 seconds left in the half that saw Harris cross the goal line after second and third efforts. The late score sent the teams to the break with North Cross holding the narrow 27-21 advantage.
North Cross then executed the key drive of the game to score on a Revercomb-to-Isaiah Harris 5-yard touchdown pass with 18 seconds left in the half that saw Harris cross the goal line after second and third efforts. The late score sent the teams to the break with North Cross holding the narrow 27-21 advantage.
“it was the crucial drive of the game,” North Cross head coach Stephen Alexander noted after the game. “We were in our two minute drill and Max was great executing it. It really became big when we got the ball back to start the second half.”
“The North Cross score at the end of the half took the wind out of our sail,” Hart noted.
With the Raider scoreboard clock back to normal to start the third quarter, Revercomb and the Raiders likewise had the timing down to a T.
North Cross took the second half kickoff and drove to score on a 3-yard Ryan Dent touchdown catch with 9:39 left in the third. Dent followed on a 6-yard TD run with 2:18 left and junior Jordan Lowery scored on a 37-yard swing pass on the last play of the third. It was Lowery’s third touchdown catch of the game, adding to 24 and 50-yard aerial highlights that accounted for the Raider’s first two touchdowns of the game.
Perfect timing and 21 unanswered third quarter points had the Raiders in control to start the final 12 minutes of play.
Covenant kept digging, scoring on a 59-yard John Huemme-to-Bobby Findley bomb with 2:56 left that secured the final margin. Huemme, the offensive highlight for Covenant from both the running back and quarterback position, finished with 125 rushing yards in addition to the passing touchdown.
Revercomb blitzed the Eagles with 362 passing yards, while Harris led the Raider rushing attack with 52 yards on 9 carries.
“”They are tough to follow on offense,” Hart added. “They execute everything they do well. They have great athletes and a great offense. We played tough and I’m proud of our guys because they never gave up and kept fighting.”
“Two teams fighting for the last playoff spot,” Alexander pointed out. “Hargrave is next. We gotta win that one, too.”
Bill Turner
