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What transpired Friday night at Roger Perry Field is something that no one in attendance will be forgetting any time soon. Sleepless nights for both the Lebanon and Mt. Juliet faithul are likely to follow as well but for completely different reasons.
Down by two touchdown after five minutes and by 21 points at the break, it would have been easy for the Golden Bears to lie down and just let their unbeaten streak come to an end. That’s not the kind of group Trey Perry has this season though.
Rallying from that 21-point halftime deficit, Mt. Juliet forced a pair of overtime periods before finally putting the clamps on with its defense to secure the improbably 38-31 win.
“I feel like I’m 100 years old after that but that’s what makes this game the greatest game on the planet,” Perry said. “It’s just pure. At the end of the day these kids have to get up and go to class, they’ve got girlfriends to think about and after school jobs, but they pour their heart out six days a week and 350 days a year. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Lebanon came out firing in every phase
The Blue Devils set the tone of how they were going to play the first half on the opening drive. After marching down the field, Casen Kinkaid connected with Jack Clinard on a short touchdown pass to get the night’s scoring underway.
Not even 20 seconds later Lebanon was back on the board. Tyler Travers’ first pass of the game was tipped and fell easily into the arms of Weston Binkard. He did the rest taking it back for six more.
Mt. Juliet got on the board on its next drive thanks to a 64-yard touchdown run from Harrison Edwards. That play was the lone bright spot of the half for the Golden Bears though as Lebanon quickly answered with a quick touchdown drive of its own.
The night seemed to be at a loss on Mt. Juliet’s next drive. After Travers took a sack deep in Mt. Juliet territory, the Golden Bears punt attempt was blocked and then recovered for another Lebanon touchdown.
Defense gets the Golden Bears going
Mt. Juliet’s second half comeback wasn’t something that immediately happened in the third quarter. Both teams traded interceptions to start the quarter before the Golden Bears mounted their second scoring drive of the night midway through the third.
While the offense started to find its rhythm, the defense halted any sort of momentum Lebanon’s offense had built from the first half.
“At the half we got rid of everything we had done this week and went back to playing our basic stuff,” Atticus Fiorita said. “We played mentally sound defense and it ended up working for us.”
With the defense continually holding down the line, Mt. Juliet began to chip into the Lebanon lead. After a field goal late in the third and one midway through the fourth quarter, the Golden Bears defense forced another Lebanon punt giving their offense a golden opportunity to tie the game late.
They made the most of that opportunity as Travers connected with a Carson Slocum and then converted on the two-point conversion with just under two minutes remaining. Both teams were unable to score on their final two possessions and overtime, what once seemed like a dream, had become a reality in Mt. Juliet.
Golden Bears were clutch when they needed to be
Field goals were exchanged in the first overtime period resulting in more free football for everyone in attendance.
Mt. Juliet started off with the ball to start the second overtime period and made quick of their drive. After a couple of runs, Travers scampered his way into the end zone giving the Golden Bears their first lead of the night.
Lebanon quickly found itself in a third and long with the game on the line and in need of some sort of spark on offense. Opting to go with a type of double-reverse, Lebanon’s Dameon Callaway quickly found himself swarmed by several Mt. Juliet defenders.
That swarm promptly stripped the ball away from him. Mt. Juliet’s Tre Redmond scooped it up, bolted down the sideline with a few of his teammates and the celebration was on.
“I was running down there with them!,” Edwards said. “This is a big win for us. This shows that MJ is here and we mean it.”
