By Kris Freeman
White House Football

Not one single fan at Dewey H. Whitson Stadium would have complained if the collection plate passed at the close of Friday's epic contest.

As White House cashed in a 35-28 overtime victory over visiting Pearl-Cohn, it was clear this game busted the cliché - it was worth more than the price of admission.

The Blue Devils (4-3, 2-1) closed a furious rally when Justin West scored on fourth down in the first overtime from one yard away, then Perry Davis recovered a Deaveon Gregory fumble on the second play for the Firebirds (5-3, 3-1) to seal it. But the extra session was only a portion of the story, as White House 14 points in the final five minutes of regulation, then stopped Pearl-Cohn's Deaunte Mason inside the one yard line on the final play to maintain the tie.

"We just challenged our line up front in overtime and hats off to them for making the way," said White House quarterback Dustin Townsend, who completed 10-of-16 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns. "The receivers were in great position tonight and the offensive line gave us a lot of time to set up the play and the coaches did an excellent job with the game plan."

Townsend and his teammates came up clutch in the final moments, but not before the game nearly got away. He threw his second interception of the game with seven minutes to play, picked off by Dominique Sweat, and Pearl-Cohn was inside the White House 20 with a 28-14 lead.

But the defense held following two incomplete passes by Mason to turn the ball over on downs, and the Devils responded quickly. Townsend hit DeMarqus Payne for 20 yards then DeMarrius Payne for 60 and a score, and Jake Hunter's PAT cut the lead to 28-21 with 5:11 left.

Kirk Fulghum recovered the onside kick, and the Blue Devils marched 50 yards with Townsend finding Matt Parker in the corner of the endzone for a tipped reception with 1:59 to play. Hunter tied it up.

"Those two plays to get the score in less than a minute were huge," said White House head coach Jeff Porter. "We had a lot of chances tonight to turn it in and give up. Even when we threw the pick, and fortunately our kids chose not to.

"The onside kick was our assistant (coaches') idea and it was the proper call at that time in the game because we obviously had difficulty slowing them down. Getting the onside kick created momentum for us and I'm proud of the kids for making a play on third down when Parker caught that pass."

Pearl-Cohn head coach Tony Burnetti agreed the onside kick was the turning point in the game. The Firebirds had an up man touch the football before it traveled 10 yards, allowing White House to pounce at midfield.

"When you have opportunities to put away a good team, that can come back to beat us," said Pearl-Cohn coach Tony Burnetti. "They (White House) made the plays that had to be made. I think the onside kick was really the key point in the game and that's just a coaching mistake. I take the responsibility. When we don't execute, it's my fault."

But even with the score tied at 28-28, the game was far from over. Pearl-Cohn rumbled down the field quick in the final two minutes with only one timeout in their pocket. Mason scrambled for 26 yards, then fullback Trokon Paye banged for 28 to put the ball at the White House 25 with 30 seconds left.

Deaunte Mason connected with Rashad Mason at the two on a corner route with 11 seconds left, but Mason was stopped by Rogers Gaines and Adam Wiss as time expired inside the one, trying to lunge across the goalline.

White House scored in four plays in overtime and the game ended on Pearl-Cohn's sixth fumble of the night, second lost, when Gregory bobbled the option pitch and the Blue Devils were waiting.

"We got the momentum on the first play of overtime (West for five yards) and then each play gained something and that was significant," Porter explained. "Even though it took all four plays, positive yardage happened and there was no consideration for a field goal.

"We did not want the ball in their quarterback's hands; everyone saw what he could do all night. We wanted to make sure if they ran the option that he pitched it, and Parker sat down on the quarterback and we were able to get the fumble."

Pearl-Cohn led the entire game until the extra time, and dominated total yardage, 416-to-308. White House, however, had 159 yards in returns, including credit for 90 yards on a touchdown that was called back on a clipping penalty just before the endzone.

The story was missed opportunities, though, for the visitors from Nashville, as they turned it over three times, had a punt blocked, lost it twice on downs and scored just 1-of-4 times in the red zone. Pearl-Cohn was 1-of-7 on third down and just 2-of-4 on fourth down, while White House combined completed 5-of-11 conversions and scored four out of five times inside the 20.

Gregory, who led all rushers with 161 yards and two touchdowns, exploded on the first play of the game for 80 yards and a score to give the Firebirds a 7-0 lead. White House marched down the field, like the week before against Sycamore, and tied it with an 11-play drive covering 66 yards. Joe Mayhew made a leaping grab in the endzone and Hunter knotted the score.

But when the Blue Devils's Travis Page blocked a Pearl-Cohn punt, recovered by Thomas Aldridge, Hunter missed his first field goal of the year from 37 yards and Pearl-Cohn would eventually mount its only long scoring drive of the night for a 14-7 halftime lead. Gregory completed a 12-play, 80-yard drive with an 11-yard run.

The Firebirds nearly coughed up the lead before the half when Mason was tackled inside the two by Zack Duty for a loss of 35 yards when the snap sailed over his head, but Gregory barely made it out of the endzone on the final play before intermission.

White House quickly fell into a hole in the third quarter when Townsend was picked off by Howard Griffin in the middle of the field for a 47-yard touchdown and 21-7 lead. But DeMarqus Payne bolted on the kick return for a touchdown and with the penalty the White House drive started at the Pearl-Cohn 25 instead.

West scored his first of two touchdowns to make it 21-14, but a busted play would help Pearl-Cohn extend the lead back to two touchdowns. Facing another blocked punt on the heavy rush, Mason instead kept the football and bolted 64 yards through the 10-man rush for a touchdown.

After White House was intercepted in the fourth quarter, the game seemed sealed when Pearl-Cohn's drive stalled and the final few minutes of the game unfolded in exciting fashion.