Photo by Brian McLean
By Nolan Ruth
X – @RealNolanRuth
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SPRINGTOWN— One year ago, the Peaster Greyhounds were in their second week of the offseason after reaching the second round for the first time ever and falling to Shallowater. Having already avenged their second round loss to Shallowater, the Greyhounds faced another familiar foe for the regional final.
The Paradise Panthers rolled in as district champions and were looking for its second consecutive state semifinal appearance. The Panthers had already defeated Peaster in the regular season 21-15 after two late turnovers turned the tide of the game.
For the second time in as many months, the two met to determine who would move on, and who would go home. In a gutsy and gritty performance, the Greyhounds came out on top 17-14 after a very late surge in the final minutes.
“I can’t even comprehend it, to be honest,” third-year head coach Trevor Owens said after the game. “I told my offensive coordinator when we beat Vernon that I could not comprehend that we were playing for a regional final. From where we were at 4-7 in my first year to where we are now is just insane to me.”
The Greyhounds will now look to face the Grandview Zebras in the state semifinals, with a trip to Arlington’s AT&T Stadium on the line.
The game got off to an inauspicious start for Peaster with back-to-back false starts before the ball could even be snapped. The Greyhounds were then quickly forced to punt. Paradise looked to take advantage, but Layton Kennedy came up with a huge interception at the 15 yard line.
Peaster then drove the length of the field in 10 plays. In a moment of foreshadowing, quarterback Luke Gray connected with Cade McCollough on a big pass play to set up a four-yard touchdown run by Mark Tullous to put the Greyhounds in front first.
Gray finished his night completing 11 of 18 for 185 yards. McCollough accounted for just two of those completions, but arguably the biggest two of the night for a total of 82 yards, and also collected an interception on defense. Tullous finished the night with two touchdowns on 35 yards rushing.
The Peaster defense then forced the Panthers into a punting situation, giving the Greyhounds the ball back to open the second quarter with a 7-0 lead.
The teams traded punts to open the second frame before Paradise tied the game up on a one-yard quarterback keeper from Ayden Olalde.
Peaster responded with a 13-play drive that ultimately stalled in the redzone, but McCollough came on and drilled a 32-yard field goal to give the Greyhounds a 10-7 lead. The Panthers looked to take the lead before the half, but McCollough came up with a big defensive play, getting the interception inside the five yard line to send the teams to the locker room.
The game became a stalemate in the third quarter, with neither team being able to gain much more than on first down a piece. However, Paradise was driving early in the fourth quarter.
With just over eight minutes to go, the Panthers took their first lead of the night when Olalde connected with Layne Smith over the middle from 25 yards out to make the score 14-10.
With their backs against the wall, the Greyhounds struggled to get anything going offensively and quickly gave the ball back to Paradise. The Panthers proceeded to eat up a bunch of clock time before ultimately having to punt with just over two minutes remaining.
Gray was quickly sacked twice, giving Peaster a 3rd and 22 from its own eight yard line at the two-minute timeout. In desperation, Gray found Tullous over the middle. Tullous broke four tackles and found himself just one yard shy of the first down. He then picked it up himself on the following play.
Then, on the very next snap was a play that will live in Peaster lore for a long time. With just over a minute remaining, Gray was flushed out of the pocket and somehow found McCollough behind the defense for a 62-yard gain, keeping the Greyhounds alive at the five yard line.
“I saw number 11,” Gray mentioned about the play. “He’s been my guy all season. I just pointed my finger telling him to go deep, and I know that 11 has got my back. I’m so proud of this program and I’m proud that I get to do it with one of my best friends.”
“My route was dead in the water,” McCollough commented. “I saw him getting flushed out, we practice every week. Get to the sideline or get deep. I went deep and he placed it perfectly. There was no other place for that ball.”
Three plays later, Tullous finished it off with a one yard run to put Peaster back in front 17-14 with 17 seconds remaining.
“I just said ‘Thank you, Jesus!’” Tullous said in a short but poignant statement about his game winner.
The Panthers had one last chance and quickly got to the Peaster 45 with two seconds to go. Olalde heaved up a Hail Mary, but it was intercepted by Kaden Albert who, with the pick, sent the Greyhounds into the state semifinal.
