Down to the Wire

Maclay Varsity Football Become 3-1 After Their Final Minute Win Against the Valwood Valiants

Photo by Kayleigh Mitchell/Maclay Andalusian

After their loss to the Marianna Bulldogs on Sept. 6, the Marauders added to their winning record against the Valwood Valiants on Friday, Sept. 13, their first season home game with the theme of red, white and blue.

With three minutes left in the first quarter, senior quarterback George Grant made a play action and ran into the endzone to score the first touchdown of the game as Maclay took an early lead.

“I can't do it without my whole team,” Grant said. “That was more of a team effort than just me.”

With the last Marauder touchdown toward the end of the second quarter, Grant scored a 98 yard touchdown.

“That was probably the most tiring play of my whole career, " Grant said. “I thought it was never going to end.”

Close to the beginning of the second quarter, BB Potter got into the endzone for the second Marauder touchdown, giving the Marauders a 13-0 lead against Valwood, and Drew Lamendola made the kick to make it 14-0.

Soon after the Marauders made their second touchdown of the game, Valwood got into the endzone to make their first touchdown, later making the game 14-7. Then, in the third and fourth quarters, Valwood tried to make a comeback with two touchdowns, adding to the scoreboard of a score of 20-19.

With the last few seconds of the game on the clock, Valwood went for the field goal to pull ahead of Maclay, but the ball slipped out of the holder’s hands, and the Marauders went for the tackle, giving Valwood no chance to win the game.

“There was a lot of situations that we didn't do what we wanted to do or did not succeed,” Head Coach Jason Cauley said. “But overall we succeeded of course; we came out with a tough 20-19 victory and that was a team win.”

A last second win against Valwood for the Marauders makes their record 3-1. After the bye week, the Marauders will come back on Sept. 27 for their home game against FAMU, the baby rattlers.