Tied at 14 with less than a minute remaining, Centennial had the ball and was driving back into Nolensville territory.
A reception by Ethan Cleary put the Cougars’ on the Knights’ side of the 50, but Centennial needed more to get well into Wells Stanley’s range for a potential game-winning field goal. Then Kani Johnson happened.
Despite being completely covered by a Nolensville defender, Johnson hauled in a 37-yard pass right after Cleary’s reception to put Centennial on the Nolensville. A few plays later, Stanley booted in the short field goal to secure the 17-14 win.
“Coach told me ‘Go win the game’ and that’s pretty much all he told me,” Johnson said. “I just needed to go make the catch and I did. I was just thinking that I needed to go up and catch the ball honestly.
…if I hadn’t come down with it, we would have been in a bad position where we wouldn’t be in field goal range. I had to go up and make that play.”
A first for Jamaal Stewart
From his tenure at East Nashville through the first six games at Centennial, one thing has always eluded Jamaal Stewart: a game-winning field goal.
He was able to add one to his resume on Friday night as he calmly watched Stanley make the most of his opportunity. Stewart remained calm on the sideline in the moments leading up to the kick. He may have been nervous, but he didn’t let it show.
“All I’m thinking is ‘please go in’,” Stewart joked after the win. “I had confidence in Wells and he works his butt off every day. I told him that it was nothing more than an extra point and that I had 100% confidence in him.”
Nolensville tried to ice Stanley – not once, but twice – on the attempt. With the ball on the opposite hash, it could have easily been a tricky attempt despite how short it was.
Stanley stayed out after each timeout though lining it up and making sure he had the right angle. That extra work was more than enough as Stanley booted it through cleanly.
“It was electric,” Stanley said. “They tried to freeze me twice but I was ready for it. It was just pure excitement watching it go through the uprights.”