Mitchell defeats Andrews 35-34
Brian Hobson
sports@mitchellnews.com
The Andrews High School Wildcats may have been a non-conference opponent, but they played like a championship was on the line Thursday night.
However, Mitchell High School played well on both sides of the ball and held off a last second flurry by Andrews to win 35-34.
Andrews started the game with the ball, and after an unproductive first drive, they punted. Mitchell couldn’t handle the punt, and Andrews recovered the ball on the Mitchell 31.
Luckily the Mountaineer defense held tight, and Andrews came away from the drive empty handed. Mitchell then went on a 14 play, 78-yard drive that took over seven minutes off the clock and scored their first touchdown with 11:57 to go in the second quarter. The Mountaineers missed the extra point but led 6-0.
This started a flurry of scoring, with each team putting up two more touchdowns in the quarter. Caleb Cook threw the last touchdown of the half for Mitchell on a beautiful touchdown pass to Deshawn Orr on a fourth down and four play from the Andrews 41.
Orr weaved through defenders and shed tackles as he reached the end zone with seven seconds to go in the half.
After a quiet third quarter where both defenses tightened up, the fourth quarter became chaotic.
With 6:20 to go in the fourth quarter, Mitchell leading by seven, Caleb Cook looked for Deshawn Orr once again, only to have the pass intercepted by Andrews and returned for a 70-yard touchdown. Mitchell immediately retaliated and scored on a 23-yard touchdown run by Orr skirting the right sideline and breaking into the end zone with 3:18 remaining.
The Wildcats, seeing that they had enough time to score again, went on the offensive. Quick runs followed by short passes kept the ball moving towards the Mountaineer end zone.
An untimely face mask penalty moved the ball even closer. Then, with 21 seconds left on the clock, on a fourth down and five play, the Andrews quarterback found a receiver open for a touchdown.
Andrews lined up for a 2-point conversion, but an illegal procedure penalty moved them back 5 yards. The Wildcats lined up, the quarterback rolled to his left, and was greeted with a brutal hit right as he let the ball go.
The ball fluttered, and was caught, but outside the back of the end zone. Mitchell won, 35-34, and one of the most exciting Mountaineer football games came to a close.