One mistake was all that was needed to determine the outcome of Friday's thrilling B.C. AAA senior high school football league game at Percy Perry Stadium.
Fortunately for the Terry Fox Ravens, it went in their favour -- on what proved the game's final play, no less.
A botched extra point foiled the Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers' bid to knot the score in overtime and gave the Ravens a wild 21-20 victory in a crucial Eastern Conference contest.
Meanwhile, the host W.J. Mouat Hawks posted a 20-6 triumph over the Centennial Centaurs in Abbotsford also Friday.
The high-snap gaffe came after Fox quarterback Trevor Casey connected with Jake Nylund on a nine-yard scoring toss on the Ravens' first OT possession from the Cloverdale crew's 10-yard line. The Panthers replied by also hitting paydirt on their ensuing initial extra-time series, only to fall just short in the end.
"It was a good game to build on with playoffs coming up," said Ravens co-head coach Tom Kudaba, whose squad moved to 2-2 in league play, the same mark as the Panthers. "It was very good for the boys to come back in the second quarter from 14 points down to win in overtime. A team effort was required to overcome a Lord Tweedsmuir team that had a good game and was very well coached."
The Ravens trailed 14-0 early before Jake Nylund rallied the Fox offence with a pair of rushing majors from five and yards out to tie the score 14-14 going into halftime.
Some sloppy offensive execution by both squads allowed the score to remain tied through regulation time.
Nylund was the main man for the Ravens, rushing for 192 yards on 24 carries and finishing with three touchdowns.
He also sparked the Fox defence with four solo tackles, one sack and a fumble recovery.
Tyrel Ratich and Jack Brady also notched four solo tackles apiece for the winners, while Brad Lyons, Marko Bevanda and Adrial Sellers had three apiece, with Sellers also adding an interception.
In Abby, Mouat scored two touchdowns in the game's first three minutes which proved the difference in the end against Centennial.
Still minus injured star running back Jason Buren, the Cents relied on a gritty defence to keep the high-powered Hawks' offence in check most of the game. Mouat was in the Cents' red zone three times and came away with a mere six points as a result, while Centennial failed to scored on two chances within the Hawks' 10- and 20-yard lines.
"Defensively, our goal is always to hold a team to 20 points or less," said Centaurs head coach Ryk Piche, whose team takes on its fierce Tri-City rivals, the Terry Fox Ravens, on Friday at Percy Perry Stadium, 7 p.m. "If you do, I think you can win 90 per cent of the time.
"We need to put up more than six points [against Fox] and stop them from running, which is their main attack."
END ZONE: Brycen Mayoh rushed for a touchdown and scored another on an interception return to spark the Terry Fox Ravens junior varsity squad to a lopsided 60-0 win Thursday over the Earl Marriott Mariners in South Surrey.
