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Bobcats top OP, 33-27, for first regional title
“You've got to kiss the circle!” exclaimed senior JoiQuan James to his teammates Saturday afternoon as they pecked the Northwestern Region championship trophy one by one.James capped what may go down in Battlefield folklore as the craziest ending to a football game. He scooped up a fumbled last-ditch lateral by Cardinal District champion Osbourn Park (10-3 overall) and ran it into the end zone with one second left for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.
That play was set up after Battlefield (12-0) had scored a touchdown, missed a two-point conversation, botched an on-sides kick only to have an extreme rare flag thrown against the receiving team, recovered their second attempt, and scored a touchdown with 15 seconds remaining.
All of that stemmed from the three-time Cedar Run District champion Bobcats coming back from a 21-13 deficit in the fourth quarter to win its first-ever regional crown 33-27 at home in Haymarket.
“That’s the craziest ending I’ve ever been a part of,” said senior quarterback Bo Revell (13-21, 232, 2 TD)
Battlefield took a 13-7 lead into halftime on the strength of touchdowns by Nagee Jackson and Blaine Mason, though a botched extra point served as a catalyst for the fourth quarter hysterics.
To that point, BHS manhandled OP offensively, out-gaining the Manassas-based team 235-78 in total yards.
The Yellow Jackets struck first in the third quarter when Dominique Terrell had what seemed like an eternity to throw, eventually lobbing a touchdown pass to the left corner of the end zone for the go-ahead score.
Consecutive red zone turnovers by Battlefield came at the end of 16- and 7-play drives, essentially eating up the clock but producing no points for the home team.
Osbourn Park capitalized on the second turnover when Terrell beat the Battlefield front line and scampered 79 yards to pay dirt on a third-and-nine rush, putting OP up by eight points with 7:31 remaining.
That’s when the BHS playmakers arrived.
Senior wide receiver Jamie Robinson roped in a 16-yard completion after a deflection by Zachary Roy, bringing the Bobcats near midfield early on the ensuing drive.
Running backs Jackson and Cedric Agyeman picked up the next 16 yards on the ground before Revell found junior Bobo Beathard on a dump pass, good for another 13 yards.
Revell and Agyeman converted consecutive third downs, setting up a six-yard Agyeman rushing touchdown with 1:56 to go on the clock.
Down by two points, coach Mark Cox opted to keep the ball in the hands of his trusted back, Jackson. Osbourn Park, however, prepared for the rush by stacking the box and stopped the junior back well short of the goal line.
That left Battlefield with one choice: go for the onside kick.
An unsportsmanlike conduct call hit OP for excessive celebration after the two-pointer. The penalty brought kicker Jason Hoepker into OP territory but he seemed to botch his first attempt by cracking the ball well beyond the 10-yard mark. However, the officials ruled OP had been offside, a call usually reserved for an overly-aggressive kicking team.
Hoepker had new life at that point and did not disappoint by rocking a two-bouncer past the OP front line but before the secondary.
Battlefield’s special teams burst through the line and senior Chris Wendle leaped up and grabbed the ball in the air near the BHS sideline. In a mass of hysteria, he darted down to the OP 28, setting up first down for the Bobcats with about 100 seconds remaining.
“We kind of got lucky that we got to do it again,” said Cox, crediting Hoepker for doing “a great job.”
Agyeman handled two rushes, leading to a third-and-11 situation for quarterback Revell. He dropped back, passed, and was picked off for what should have been the game killer at the five yard line with 30 seconds left on the clock.
Yet BHS struck gold again when offsetting penalties, including one for pass interference, forced a redo of the down.
Revell did not let the throwing folly deter him, instead taking another shot at the center of the field. With laser-like precision, he gunned the ball into chest of a leaping Mason, setting up first down at the OP 15 and a time out called by BHS.
When the players emerged from the timeout huddle, Agyeman and Jackson were noticeably absent from the backfield. Instead, Beathard crouched to Revell’s left and senior Danny Drzal sat to the right.
Revell rolled to his right after the snap and Drzal darted to the left. With three receivers open, Revell opted for the sure thing with a fader to Drzal as no one was even close to the senior back. Drzal caught the loft and made a beeline to the goal line, scoring untouched.
“I don’t know,” Drzal said about how he managed to score. “We needed it and we got the play.”
A successful PAT put Battlefield ahead 26-21 with 15 second to go in regulation. Osbourn Park attempted to run a Cal-Stanford type of play with lateral after lateral on their ensuing possession, but a Bobcat defender lunged forward, batted down a pass, and there was James for the recovery and score.
While it may have seemed to be a moot point, OP actually responded with a 70-yard touchdown run on the next kickoff. With the clock expired, however, the Yellow Jackets couldn’t even kick an extra point and were officially eliminated from the playoffs.
“That was the best character and determination I’ve seen those kids play in a football game,” said Cox. “Just period.”
The Bobcats are set to make their first-ever appearance in the Group AAA Division 6 state tournament next Saturday as they host Lake Braddock in the first round.
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