Mount Si forgets shaky start to beat Liberty in OT
September 24, 2011
By Sebastian Moraga
The Mount Si Wildcats endured three first-half turnovers to defeat the Patriots 16-13 in overtime.
The win was the Wildcats’ third of the season and head coach Charlie Kinnune’s 100th in his career.
“The kids gutted it out,” Kinnune said of his team.
A field goal with 33 seconds left in the game tied the game at 13, bringing the Wildcats back from a 13-0 halftime deficit.
Then, in overtime, Wildcat kicker Cameron Vanwinkle nailed a 35-yard field goal, and his Patriot counterpart Josh Johnson missed a 35-yard attempt, giving Mount Si the victory.
The win helped erase the sting from Liberty’s playoff victory at Mount Si last year.
“All summer long, I kept thinking about that game,” Mount Si quarterback Ryan Atkinson said. “This helps.”
Mount Si began the game fumbling the ball on its second play from scrimmage and later turning it over at both ends of the field, its own and its opponents’ 1-yard line.
With two minutes left in the first quarter, Liberty blocked a Mount Si punt at the Wildcats’ 17-yard-line.
Mount Si’s Joseph Cotto. recovered the ball but was stopped at his own 1, and Liberty’s Hamilton Noel jogged three feet on first-and-1 for the score.
Then early in the second quarter, Patriot quarterback Jordan West dialed his own number at the Liberty 49 and carried it to the Mount Si 5. On third-and-goal at the Mount Si 1-yard line, the signal-caller hit redial and left his team up 13-0.
With 3:10 left in the first half, Noel himself intercepted a Mount Si pass in the Liberty end zone.
After the break, the team in red came out seeing red.
With 7:17 left in the third quarter, Liberty had Mount Si backed up into its own 2-yard line. Instead of letting Noel and Co. jog into the end zone again, the Wildcats forced a fumble. On the ensuing drive, they burned six minutes off the clock but managed to get on the board with a field goal.
Since the drive stopped on third-and-8 at the Liberty 8, some questioned not going for it on fourth-down, but the skepticism lasted one play. On first down at their own 20, the Patriots fumbled again. Six plays later, Atkinson found Tyler Button in the end zone and the crowd exploded.
It would not be the last time.
The Patriots punted on their next drive and everyone in the stadium knew the game was all but tied if Mount Si got into field goal range. On another clock-burning drive, the Wildcats drove to the 28-yard line before Vanwinkle tied it. West let time expire rather than risk a turnover and a quickie field goal.
In overtime, the Wildcats repeated the recipe, this time with a 35-yarder.
Forced to counter, Liberty found itself deep in the hole. On third-and-18 at the Mount Si 33, Liberty’s QB unloaded one last run to the Mount Si 18. On fourth-and-3, Johnson’s kick fell short and the party began, with drivers honking horns and coaches high-fiving fans.
“I’ll never forget this night,” Atkinson said. “For the rest of my life.”
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