The final quarter of the Alba-Golden vs Rivercrest game Friday was a mess. It began with the score tied 13-13, in what was a tough, even contest between two teams fighting for a chance to continue into the second season. On a perfect football night, the game devolved into a whirlwind of big plays. 

In that final quarter there were five turnovers, including a crazy ricochet and a backward pass recovery. There was also a return of an interception for a touchdown. Each team had plenty of opportunity to open a significant lead in the fourth and make it a comfortable victory. Neither team could.  

Rivercrest generated the only significant drive of the second half, 68 yards for the winning field goal with only a couple of minutes remaining. The Rebels went home with a 22-20 win.

Until that final quarter the night played out like any hard-fought Friday night. The opening quarter was scoreless as each team probed for defensive areas to exploit. Six first-quarter possessions yielded a combined four turnovers-on-downs and two punts. 

On the first drive of the second quarter, the Panthers began to move. After loosening the Rebels’ defense with three successive short passes, the Panthers gashed the Rebels with a 20-yard ramble up the middle by Glen Hartley. Hartley carried twice more to move the ball to the Rebel’s 6-yard line. 

On a carry over the right side, the ball popped out at the tackle and bounded into the end zone. Panther Kaden Trimble covered the ball for the initial score.

Rivercrest came right back with a 75-yard scoring drive of their own. The score was tied at 7. 

Leveraging an excellent kickoff return by Cameron Lennon, the Panthers moved 32 yards in five plays to take a 13-7 lead. The score came on a Hartley 20-yard slicing run through the right side.

The Rebels answered in two plays. They hit a go-route down the left side for a long gain and scored when their big fullback carried the ball around the weak side from 36 yards.  The extra point was wide and the score locked at 13. 

Alba-Golden had several shots to take the lead before halftime. A well-mixed drive carried the Panthers 73 yards to the Rivercrest 2-yard line. The Panthers had about 40 seconds to work with. Four cracks at the end zone and a false start penalty denied them. The game went to the half, 13-13.

The second half began just as the game had – lots of defense. Neither team could generate offense, but there was plenty of excitement near the Panther’s end zone. 

A 73-yard punt pinned the Panthers on their own goal line. Alba-Golden worked its way off the goal line, but ended up punting.

On the next Rivercrest possession, the Panther defense forced a punt. A towering high punt followed, which careened off of an Alba-Golden coverage team player and was recovered at the Panther 15-yard line by Rivercrest. 

Three plays later Rivercrest was at the Panther 2-yard line, first-and-10. Two running attempts up the middle were stonewalled by the Panther defense. Jerry Skinner, Jason Langston and Jaxton Carver combined for the two stops. On the next snap, Rivercrest fumbled and Alba-Golden recovered. 

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Rivercrest intercepted a fourth-down pass and took over at the Alba-Golden 8-yard line. They scored but missed the extra point to lead 19-13.

The teams traded turnovers and the Rebels came to have the ball deep in their own territory. What followed was the play of the night. Panther Cameron Lennon stepped in front of a Rebel pass at the 15-yard line. Breaking back toward the middle of the field, he stiff-armed one tackler, cut toward the goal line and ran through a second tackler, skidding off his body into the end zone. 

It was a remarkable play and tied the game at 19. The successful PAT put Alba-Golden in the lead 20-19.

Three plays later, the Panthers jumped on a backward pass and took over near midfield. It looked like Alba-Golden was going to get the win. All they needed to do was burn the remaining 5 minutes off the clock. 

The Panthers managed one first down, but turned the ball over on downs with 3:41 to play. 

Rivercrest put the only drive of the half together and kicked the field goal for the win.     

The Panthers travel to Como-Pickton Friday and finish the regular season Oct. 28 as they host Cooper.