Austin erases 18-point deficit to stun Hartselle late
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 10—HARTSELLE — The Austin Black Bears were dead and buried.
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Trailing by 18 points with just 10 minutes left in the game, you might as well have just turned the lights off and sang the alma mater.
Problem is, nobody told the Black Bears that.
What started with a 21-3 fourth-quarter deficit Friday night in J.P. Cain Stadium ended with Austin running back Aidan Davis rushing for the game-winning touchdown to give the Black Bears an improbable 24-21 comeback win.
"That's the most amazing feeling I've ever had," Davis said of his game-winning score. "I can't give enough glory to God for what happened tonight."
Austin dominated the stat sheet on Friday, outgaining the Tigers 473-242. However, through the first three quarters the Black Bears couldn't find the end zone.
Austin turned it over on downs twice, had a touchdown called back, settled for a 37-yard field goal from Oscar Delgado and threw an interception in the red zone.
Meanwhile, Hartselle took advantage of its opportunities as Asa Priola scored on two 1-yard runs and Maddox Southern added a 10-yard rush.
Despite the large deficit though, Austin didn't panic. The Black Bears marched down the field and scored on an 18-yard Davis run and then recovered an onside kick. A few plays later, Donovan Jarman connected with Tyler Sales for a 13-yard score to cut Austin's deficit to 21-17.
"We got frustrated in the first half. We had good drives, but we couldn't finish," Austin head coach Jeremy Perkins said. "We got down 21-3 and answered with a good drive and then got the onside kick. All of a sudden the game flipped."
"I told the guys the most important thing was to focus on the next play, and when we did that, we started making plays," Perkins added.
Austin's game-winning drive started at its own 32-yard line with just under three minutes to go. Quarterback Donovan Jarman, who had struggled early in the season, came in clutch when his team needed him, finishing 16-for-27 passing for 176 yards, including key passes on the final drive before Davis' run sealed the win.
"All that was going through my mind was to trust in my team," Jarman said of Austin's final drive. "We come to work every day so we can be ready for moments like these."
Davis finished the game with 33 rushes for 226 yards and two touchdowns, while Sales caught seven passes for 64 yards and a score.
Hartselle's David Amos was 7-for-9 passing for 148 yards and an interception. Priola caught five passes for 102 yards and also rushed 10 times for 41 yards and two scores.
The loss was back-breaking for Hartselle, as the Tigers fall to 3-4 and are now in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017 and just the second time in the last 20 years.
"We knew coming into this last region stretch that we had to win two out of three if we wanted to be a playoff team. Now we have to win the last two," Hartselle head coach Bert Newton said.
On the other side, Austin improved to 4-3 and remains tied for second in Class 5A, Region 7. The Black Bears still control their own destiny when it comes to winning the region championship and will host undefeated Florence next week.
"All our goals are still in front of us, and we learned tonight that our guys are going to continue to fight no matter what," Perkins said.
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