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Reversal of Fortune: West loses in 4OT
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@acnpapers.com
FLOWER MOUND -- It took 12 years for Plano West to participate in its first quadruple overtime game.
It took one week to take part in the second.
But seven days after upending Plano East, 44-36 in four overtimes, the Wolves (4-2, 2-1 in district) felt the other side of such an outcome as they were defeated by Marcus (6-0, 3-0), 51-48, in the Marauders' Homecoming game.
And for the second straight week, Drew Hamrick was the star of Marcus' show.
A week after forcing overtime with a field goal and hitting the game-winning extra point in an overtime win over Flower Mound, the senior kicker did nearly the same thing. This time it was a 34-yard field goal by Hamrick that gave Marcus a 51-48 victory in the fourth overtime and sent Marauders fans rushing onto the field and after Hamrick.
"I'm exhausted," he said with a smile.
But not just for that one field goal as Hamrick also booted a 53-yarder with three seconds left to tie the game, 28-28, and send it into extra frames.
"Last week there was a lot of pressure, so I was ready this week and I was confident," Hamrick said. "I knew I would have the distance with the wind, I just wanted to keep it straight."
Hamrick's coach shared that confidence.
"We knew it was going to be 53 yards, but we believe in Drew," Erwin said. "He stepped up for us last week, we thought he could do it again tonight and he did."
The game didn't seem as though it would go down to the wire early as Marcus took a 10-0 lead following a 7-yard touchdown toss from sophomore Cole Erwin to senior Cody Apfel and a 31-yard field by Hamrick with 7:15 left in the second quarter. Erwin completed 12-of-25 passes for 88 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to Apfel. The other score was pulled in by senior Michael O'Connell while Erwin's most prolific target was senior Deion Sanders Jr, who caught five passes for 51 yards.
But the Marcus offense sputtered after building a 10-0 lead.
That drop off coincided with West's upswing as the Wolves scored on the ensuing possession via a 37-yard connection between junior quarterback Travis Korry and senior Luke Cashman. That made it 10-7, a margin that would remain at the break.
From there, the West defense took over.
The Wolves forced turnovers on four straight Marcus possessions with an interception by senior Amin Fooman, a fumble recovery by senior Bryce Cottrell, fumble recovery by Fooman and interception by senior Grant Cooper filling the slate. Cooper made his pick at midfield and ran it back to give West a 21-10 lead.
Cottrell's fumble recovery, which was forced by junior Mike Mitchell, set West up at the Marcus 4-yard line before that and gave the Wolves a 14-10 lead following a 4-yard run by senior Carlos Wiggins.
But just when West was on the verge of running away with the game, Marcus responded.
"It was back and forth all night," coach Erwin said. "The momentum in this game was so slippery."
Marcus pushed back with the dual rushing attack of seniors Harvey Giddens and Jeff Smiley. The former, who temporarily left the game with a left knee injury, ran for 113 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries while the latter ran the ball 28 times for 229 yards and two touchdowns. Smiley's pair of scores turned a 21-10 deficit into a 25-21 lead with 11:16 remaining in regulation.
"We didn't play that well in the second and third quarters," coach Erwin said, "but the boys were able to respond to the bad things that happened, respond to the adversity and we played well in the fourth quarter."
West responded with its own rushing attack as Wiggins ran the ball five times on a 9-play, 80-yard drive, a total that included a 4-yard touchdown burst on 4th-and-3 that gave the Wolves a 28-25 lead with 3:53 left. Wiggins ran the ball 36 times for 163 yards and three touchdowns.
West didn't convert on its next fourth down though, leaving the door open for Hamrick's game-tying field goal.
The Wolves wouldn't linger long on that disappointment as they scored in one play in both of their first two overtime possessions. The first was a 25-yard toss to Nathan Orbach, but the senior would have an even bigger play in the third overtime. Trailing, 48-42, Orbach caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Korry on 4th-and-8 to keep West alive. Korry completed 9-of-13 passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns while Orbach had four receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
West wouldn't add any more points though as a missed 37-yard field goal in the fourth overtime was followed by Hamrick's 34-yarder to give Marcus the 51-48 victory.
"I have to give it up to [West head coach Mike Hughes], his staff and his players," coach Erwin said. "They battled hard and didn't quit, we battled hard and didn't quit; that was just a great high school football game."
Marcus returns to the field at 7:30 p.m. Friday when it travels to Eagle Stadium to face Allen.
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Hats off to the defense on a job well done! They were put in some very tough positions and performed exceptionally well considering the number of plays.
This was clearly a game that West should have won.
Time to saddle up and regroup for Allen. "