The Julius Sprauve School remained undefeated on the flag football season after a thrilling come-from-behind win Thursday afternoon over Addelita Cancryn Junior High School.
Sprauve scored first, taking a 6-0 lead into the half. Sprauve started with the ball at the two yard line to begin the third, but a penalty for a false start moved the ball to the one and then a sack in the end zone gave Cancryn their first points of the day.
Two possessions later, Cancryn returned a punt for about 50 yards for the score, and just like that were in the lead, 8-6.
But Sprauve wasn’t done. On their very next possession, the team marched the ball down the field, capping the drive with an eight yard run by the running back, and with a successful extra point try, regained the lead, 14-10.
On their next drive, Cancryn’s quarterback dropped back for a pass, but was pressured by the Sprauve defense. He stepped up in the pocket and found his receiver wide-open downfield for a 45-yard bomb. Cancryn retook the lead, 16-14. The extra point was no good.
Sprauve was once again faced with having to march down the field to take the lead, and that they did. Sprauve’s quarterback Shakeem Meade first hooked up with a receiver for a 20-yard pass, and then a few plays later in the drive, capped it off by finding wide-receiver Adeson Rogers Jr. in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
The two-point conversion was also good, allowing Sprauve to regain the lead, 22-16.
Now late in the fourth, Cancryn had to move the ball about 60 yards in order to win the game, but a late interception by Rogers cut Cancryn’s drive short and then in the last seconds of the game, a late score gave Sprauve the 28-16 win over a very determined Cancryn team.
"The team kept their composure and they played great," Sprauve coach Richard Clendinen said after the game. "Even though they were down, they kept their heads, and they fought — that’s all we can ask them to do is fight."
Clendinen also spoke about some adjustments his team made during the game to slow down the Cancryn offense, which exploded in the second half.
"We saw a play they were doing all day long, and we had to make some adjustments," he said. "We brought the safety in to play the lineman and we just dominated afterwards."
Sprauve now improves to 4-0 this season and faces off Tuesday against All Saints in what could be a preview of the championship game.
