Rarely has a broken play turned out so well.
Draughn High senior quarterback Keith Loomis could only get one hand on the ball as the snap sailed deep into the backfield midway through the fourth quarter, with defenders closing in on him in the same fashion that visiting Newton-Conover was narrowing the scoring gap.
But Loomis improvised, made a couple defenders miss and dashed 51 yards up the sideline for what proved the game-winning touchdown on Friday night as the Wildcats nipped the Red Devils 34-27.
Loomis also had a 61-yard TD run on the game’s first possession, a 4-yard rushing score in the second quarter and a 44-yard TD pass to Christian Carswell as part of his 309 yards of total offense (season-high 207 rushing, 102 passing), lifting Draughn to a 27-6 halftime lead.
Loomis’ improbable final-quarter score was Draughn’s only one of the second half compared to three TDs the Red Devils (4-5, 1-4). But it was enough to lift the Wildcats (7-2, 4-1) to a victory that kept the tied with Maiden for second place in the Catawba Valley Athletic 2A.
Facing stiff odds after leading rusher Jervasse Moss (11 carries, team-high 137 yards) was injured on the first half’s final series, Newton-Conover rallied behind junior quarterback Kevin Cline.
Cline engineered an 11-play, 68-yard drive to open the third quarter and whittle the gap to 27-13. He then found Jayme Arnold (76 receiving yards) for a 55-yard completion two drives later to the Draughn 1, setting up a Matt Coulter plunge and a 27-20 score.
Cline (131 rushing yards, 112 passing) carried himself on Newton-Conover’s final score, but an ensuing onside kick attempt failed and the Red Devils’ comeback ran out of time.
“I didn’t know what to expect when we got down 27-6,” Newton-Conover head coach Nick Bazzle said. “They could’ve thrown in the towel against the second-best team in the CVAC at this point, and instead we played them down to the wire.
“Our kids fought back in the second half, and we can build off that. We didn’t quit. That makes all the difference.”
Earlier, Draughn’s Jaron Johnson had 99 yards on six carries, including an 80-yard score to make it 14-0.
Loomis also recovered a fumble on defense, and Adam Manns registered two tackles for loss.
The Wildcats played without Jordan Moore (shoulder), and his availability for next week and beyond is not yet known.
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