Lost Some Hair on This One
Chris Terrence

What a game! Man, this game had more momentum changes than Tom Cruise's wedding history. I'm telling you, Buchanan and Edison put on one heck of a game on Friday night. You talk about back and forth. This match had it all. Edison drew first blood with an impressive first quarter drive featuring mostly the running of John Tate and the passing of Jerry Davis here and there and finishing up with a 11 yard pass from Davis to a diving Jermiah Carter in the corner of the end zone for a 7-0 lead. Well, Buchanan marched right back in four plays including the big one, Lampford Mark's 70 yard TD run where the Bears offensive line opened up a hole that you could drive a FAX bus through and then Mark did the rest with speed that made him look like he was shot out of a cannon. Then Edison mounts another fine drive, mixing up their plays in excellent fashion and finishing it off with a John Tate 1 yard plunge. OK then here comes Buchanan again finding the end zone with a 16 yard pass play to Marcus Russell from Trevor Smith and we are tied up again, now at 14 all. Understand too that there was a whole lot of outstanding defensive plays through this game in between all the fireworks, from both sides of the ball. The Tigers and the Bears have put together a fun rivalry complete with one point victories, upsets, awesome competition, and hair raising emotion. The two teams really get after it and have a lot of respect for each other. Tied up at the half, Buchanan came out screaming as Lampford Mark took off again on runway number 20 and electrified the crowd with an 80 yard touchdown run that gave the Bears their first lead of the game. And that was just the first play of the second half! Then there was something magic to come in that third quarter, and this is the type of stuff that makes football and sports in general, so great. After the Mark long TD, the Bears held the Tigers. With the momentum clearly swinging their way, the Bears, with Trevor Smith leading the way, begin to roll. and then a very big thing happened. Lampford Mark broke loose again and was ahead of the field after turning the corner on a sweep and was heading for certain paydirt that would give Buchanan a 14 point lead at 28-14. That would have happened, that is, if Courtney Viney, Edison's all-everything cornerback, had given up on the play. Viney did something that showed why he is on his way to UCLA next year to play for the Bruins. He fought off a block a chased Mark who was just getting ready to cross the goal line, when he, refusing to give up, dove and reaching out as far as he could, got a hand on Mark's shoe enough to trip him up and down him on the one yard line. What a great tackle. What a great statement. With momentum all going the Bears way at this point, I'm sure everyone thought, "Well, it's still a great run by Mark(47 yards), and it's a first down at the one, and it's still going to be 28-14." Well, the great play by Viney looked even greater on the very next play as the Bears fumbled on the exchange in the backfield, and all of a sudden there's DeAndre Boughton streaking down the Buchanan side of the field for a 97 yard touchdown, tying the score at 21! You know, instead of 28-14, Bears. Just goes to show you, great things can happen when you don't give up.

After that, Edison took the lead again, going TWO touchdowns ahead and looking like they were clicking on offense and defense both. The Tigers were looking tough. It looked like the Tiger momentum was going to finish the Bears. But noooooooooo, because then it was the Bears turn again as they played great defense and then came back on some terrific plays by Marcus Russell, one on a pass run option in which he threw a perfect pass, after he had caught a swing pass from Smith in the backfield and he was being rushed (and just got the pass off) to Aaron Arroyo who pulled it in just as he was crossing the goal line, making it 35-28 Tigers with nine minutes and some change left. With six minutes left, Russell made a great catch in the endzone, from Trevor Smith, to tie it and then the Bears had to come up with a big, no,HUGE, stop on a 4th and inches to help send the game into overtime. Edison fumbled on their first possession in overtime and then, on third down, A.J. Forestiere kicked a perfect field goal from 25 yards out to end it 38-35, Bears. Ecstasy for the Bears, agony for the Tigers and all their fans. A great game to win, a really tough game to lose. This was an awesome football game. Lots of great plays, on offense and defense, lots of courage out there, tons of spirit by two well coached and hard working teams. All believers. I was moved by the respect the two teams showed for each other as they shook hands after the game. These kids played their hearts out and one gets the feeling that they will never forget this
game and they will talk about it plenty in the years to come. After the game, I was talking with Jermiah Carter, the fine Tiger wide receiver. Like so many of the players who had left it all out on the field, he was tired, sad, and reflective and hopeful. "Man, when that kick went up, I didn't even look, I just heard the Buchanan crowd, and I knew the kick was good. I just wanted to cry.....but Coach was saying that we are just going to have to work harder, and that's what we are going to do. We're gong to go back and work harder, because we know we are a good team and we are going to have a good year."

Got to love these great young athletes and well taught high school football teams we are fortunate to have so many of in our area.

Chris Terrence