The Lamar Vikings were sitting pretty late in the fourth quarter on Thursday night and in prime position for a win and potential playoff spot with only the last game in the regular season left in Week 11.
Instead, the Bowie Volunteers scored nine points in the final 2:16 to steal the victory 31-29 at Choctaw Stadium in District 8-6A play. Bowie clinched a playoff berth.
Lamar (3-6, 2-3) broke a 22-22 tie with 2:16 left in the game against Bowie following a 1-yard TD pass and catch from Gannon Carey to Trenton Yancey. After the PAT, Lamar took a 29-22 lead.
But Bowie still had sights set on an undefeated district title.
The Volunteers (7-2, 5-0) drove down the field before getting a 39-yard TD run off the scramble by QB Larry Nichols with 1:15 left on the clock. However, the extra point was wide right and Bowie missed out on the tie and trailed 29-28.
With under 90 seconds left, Bowie had to go for the onside kick and recovered as Johnnie Macon fell on the ball with 1:12 left. The Vols were flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and began the go-ahead drive on their own 34.
Bowie converted several keys play and ended up being on the Lamar 18.
Nate Achaempong then hit the game-winning 35-yard field goal to put Bowie on top 31-29 with 14 seconds left. The Vikings got a great return on the kickoff across the 50 before the last second Hail Mary attempt dropped short to send Bowie to the win.
Carey took the third snap of the first quarter and scored on a 68-yard TD run to put Lamar 7-0. Lamar held onto that lead after the first quarter and then Bowie tied it on a 74-yard TD by Darrion Bowers with 6:38 left in the second quarter.
The Vikings scored two plays later for a 14-7 lead when Carey hit Yancey for 56 yards.
Bowie tied it less than a minute into the third quarter when Nichols threw a short toss to Zion Shelley for a 14-14 tie. Lamar got the lead back on Carey’s 2-yard TD run. The conversion was good and Lamar led 22-14.
The Vols tied it nine seconds into the fourth quarter on a 50-yard pass and catch to Nichols to Rafeald Campbell. Dillon Jackson caught the conversion as the game was tied at 22.
Bowie will enter the regular season finale in Week 11 for the district championship against Arlington Martin (5-0), which beat Arlington High 58-21 on Thursday.
As for Lamar, the Vikings’ playoff chances aren’t quite demolished.
There could still be a 3-way tie for two playoff spots in 8-6A between Arlington, Lamar and SGP. Lamar and SGP play each other in Week 11 while Arlington faces Sam Houston. A win by AHS and Lamar next week will create a 3-way tie for third place and send it to points.
The most likely scenario will be an Arlington win over Sam and a Lamar loss vs SGP would send AHS and SGP into the playoffs. But an AHS win and Lamar win will force the 3-way tie with points as the tiebreaker.
If that’s the scenario, Arlington would be in the driver’s seat for one of the two remaining spots. The Colts beat Lamar by max points (21) and lost to SGP by 7 giving them (+14). SGP is at +7 and Lamar is at -21.
A Lamar win by 14 next week would put Lamar and SGP at -7 and give Lamar the head to head tiebreaker putting the Vikings and Colts into the playoffs.
Anything more for Lamar would send the Vikings to the postseason.
Even a win by 13 by Lamar would be short and give the Vikings a playoff miss.
