Joseph Parker got to play the savior Friday as Berea Community put together a comeback and topped Allen Central, 36-34, on the road.
Parker’s 70-yard touchdown reception as time expired lifted the Pirates over the Rebels, who were receiving votes in last week’s 1A state poll. Berea was coming off a tough 21-20 loss at Powell County last week, but with the last-second win will finish the season with an 8-2 record.
The Pirates did not compete in a district this year and therefore, are not eligible for postseason play.
“Last week at Powell County, we were down and we didn’t think we could win,” Berea coach Kenan McWhorter said. “We knew we had to take the next step in the program. And they believed in it. It was a big step for our program to come from behind to win. Normally, we’re on the other end of it.”
Despite incredibly poor playing conditions — it was raining so hard that McWhorter described the game as a “mud bowl” — the Pirates were up 24-20 at halftime. Regular kicker Ryan Smith was sidelined the final two games of the season with a back injury, and junior Max Leetz filled in for him this week. However, due to poor field conditions and cold weather, the Pirates only did kick-offs and chose to instead go with two-point conversions.
Junior running back Jordon Clontz had the first touchdown and senior running back Rashad Slaughter added to that with a two-point conversion. Slaughter got the second Berea touchdown and freshman running back Curtis Payne had the two-point conversion. The Pirates added another score before halftime and junior quarterback Bo Brewer added the two-point conversion.
However, the Rebels (7-3) came back, scoring 14 straight points to take a 34-24 lead late in the second half. Berea kept fighting though, closing the game to 34-30 on a fade-route by senior wide receiver Steve Sandefur. Then, just when it looked like Allen Central was going to score, Berea made a key defensive stop with 30 seconds left in the game on the Pirates’ 10-yard line.
After a short screen to Jordon Clontz, who got out of bounds to stop the clock, Brewer connected with Parker to give Berea the comeback victory with no time left on the clock.
“It was a tough matchup for us,” McWhorter said. “Because of the long bus ride, we didn’t get to do our normal pregame. It was a big win for us. We grew a lot and learned a lot.”
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Pirates rally to top Allen Central
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