After a valiant comeback, the Nation Ford Falcons fell in overtime 41-40 to the second ranked Gaffney Indians.
Nation Ford (1-2, 1-2 Region 3-5A) went down early in the game and trailed 21-0 after the opening quarter, but battled back to send the game into overtime as the Falcons had Gaffney on the ropes.
The loss puts the Falcons in a hard spot to earn a playoff berth as they have just one more region game against Clover in two weeks. Nation Ford was led by receiver Ty Keaton, who caught three touchdown passes and quarterback Carson Black, who went 42-63-2 with 414 yards and threw five touchdown passes and ran for one.
Head coach Michael Allen said he was disappointed in how things ended, but loved the fight in his team.
“I am proud of our kids and our effort that we gave from the second quarter on,” Allen said. “It is something we can build on. We are young. We are a young football team. We found ourselves. It is something we can build on, but my heart is broke for these kids too.”
Nation Ford gained 539 yards on 93 plays, while Gaffney gained a total of 377 yards on just 52 plays. The Falcons struggled early on and turned the ball over four times in the first half, which Gaffney took advantage of.
The game was a tale of two halves as Nation Ford controlled the clock in the third quarter and would outscore Gaffney 20-6 in the second half. All 20 second half points for the Falcons came in the fourth quarter.
Black did a good job controlling the ball in the second half and found Kenan Bowman in the fourth quarter with 8:40 left. Bowman would come back and get his second interception of the game with 7:09 left and then gave Black another chance to score.
Black would take advantage of that chance and found Jerrick Foster on a six-yard touchdown pass with 5:26 left in the game.
Gaffney would go ahead with a 23-yard field goal with a little more than three minutes left in the game.
Nation Ford’s defense came up big on the next series and gave the ball back to their offense with a little over two minutes left. It didn’t take long for Black to find Keaton on this third touchdown pass with 1:55 left in the game.
Gaffney was able to put together a lengthy drive in the final minute of the game, but could only get a 27-yard field goal with 34 seconds to tie the game at 34 and eventually send it in overtime.
In overtime, Black would score from a yard out to put the Falcons up 40-34, but the two-point conversion fell short. Gaffney would score on their attempt and then hit the extra point to get the win.
The Falcons threw an interception on their first series of the game and Gaffney would go on to score off that turnover on the next series. Nation Ford would throw another interception with about 2:22 left in the first quarter, where Gaffney would again take advantage.
Up 21-0 entering the second quarter, Nation Ford was able to get on the board as Black found Keaton for a 12-yard touchdown pass with 11:30 left in the half. Gaffney came right back and found the endzone to make it 28-6.
Bowman was able to grab a Gaffney pass in the final 90 seconds of the first half, which set up a touchdown pass from Black to Keaton again.
Up next for Nation Ford is a non-region road game at White Knoll.
Final
Gaffney 41, Nation Ford 40 OT
Scoring Summary
First quarter
G – Undre Lindsay one-yard run, 8:57
G – Lindsay 29-yard pass to Kobe Paysour, 3:44
G – Lindsay 41-yard run, 2:13
Second quarter
NF – Carson Black 12-yard pass to Ty Keaton, 11:30
G – Lindsay nine-yard pass to Paysour, 10:45
NF – Black 13-yard pass to Keaton, 9.6
Fourth quarter
NF – Black 14-yard pass to Kenan Bowman, 8:40
NF – Black six-yard pass to Jerrick Foster, 5:26
G – AJ Hames 23-yard field goal, 2:54
NF – Black 49-yard pass to Keaton, 1:55
G – Hames 27-yard field goal, 0:34
Overtime
NF – Black one-yard run (conversion failed)
G – Edward Jefferies one-yard run.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
