Springfield stuns Centerville on last play of the game

Lightning may have delayed the start of a high school football game on Friday night at Centerville Stadium, but a last-second pass from Springfield was the real aerial storm that caught fans’ attention.

On the last play of the game, Springfield’s Danny Davis caught a 38-yard touchdown pass along the visitor’s sideline to lift the Wildcats to a 26-20 win in a GWOC National East game.

Springfield took the lead late in the fourth when Shane Ramsey intercepted a pass and returned it about 40 yards for a touchdown. The Wildcats scored on a two-point conversion run up the middle to go on top 20-17. But Centerville drove to Springfield’s 6-yard line on the next drive, and Brandon Walters hit a field goal with 2:29 left to tie the game.

But the Wildcats weren’t done. After a couple of big Danny Davis runs, Springfield went into Centerville territory. Centerville stopped the Wildcats on two runs and a broken up pass, and they called a timeout with 1.8 seconds left.

Springfield sent five wide, and Leonard Taylor launched a pass into the front corner of the end zone, which Davis hauled down for the win.

Centerville’s passing attack dominated the first half. Centerville marched down the field on two of its first three drives, but Springfield came back and scored just before halftime to make a 14-6 score at halftime.

Both teams went three-and-out on their first drives, but Centerville got going in the air on its second. Junior quarterback Alec Grandin led the team down the field and capped off the drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jake Spiewak.

The Wildcats moved the ball on their next drive, but pressure from Centerville’s defensive line forced an errant deep throw that was tipped and intercepted by Dom Ramsey. Centerville marched down the field and scored on a 7-yard touchdown run by Colin DeBord with 1:47 left in the first quarter.

Springfield’s defense contained Centerville in the second half, but it took until the last drive in the first half for its offense to get going. The Wildcats moved the chains on a couple of big runs by Davis and a long pass. Taylor punched the ball in from a yard out with 20 seconds left in the second quarter.

Centerville, which drops to 1-3, plays next Thursday night at Springboro, while Springfield (3-1, 1-0 GWOC) hosts Lebanon.

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