Enterprise’s thrilling drive edges out Loyd Star in Sting Bowl

ENTERPRISE — With less than 10 seconds in the game, Loyd Star’s Phillip Ross Spencer threw up a prayer to try and work a miracle as the Hornets trailed Enterprise 29-28. His pass found the open arms of Enterprise’s Landon McNickles who raced down the sideline.

Loyd Star was able to push him out of bounds as the horn sounded and McNickles ran away from a surge of teammates celebrating. He let out a couple of “Lets go.” His head coach Trey Woodard hugged him as he should.

McNickles scored three touchdowns and had the game-ending interception. His agile legs kept plays alive following bad snaps. He was catching his breath even after Woodard finished talking to the team and they ended the night with prayer.

“It means everything to me to win. They beat us last year and I didn’t like it. It soaked with me all summer,” McNickles said. “I just wanted to showcase my skills and beat them. Every team we lost to last year I’m coming for all of them. I wanted to score on the interception. They beat us by one last year and I wanted to beat them by eight.

Enterprise got off to a hot start when McNickles marched the team 95 yards down the field in six minutes and scored on a 30 yard touchdown rush to take a 7-0 lead. Loyd Star quickly responded when Jordyn Kees raced 73 yards to a touchdown. He helped add the two point conversion to make it 8-7.

Enterprise regained the lead when Ayden Arevalo plunged up the middle and scored a touchdown on a five yard rush. The PAT was missed so Enterprise was up just 13-8 with 11:24 in the second quarter.

Michael Magee then forced a fumble for Enterprise. Loyd Star returned the favor by stopping a Yellow Jacket drive with a fumble recovery made by Cedric Sanders. Kees then scored on a 29 yard rush carrying two defenders with him and added a two-point conversion to give Loyd Star a 16-13 lead with 7:45 left in the second quarter.

Mcnickles then threw an interception to Anthony “Wild man,” Humphrey. Loyd Star drove down to the 4 yard line with 16 seconds left and was able to punch it in with Braxton Williams scoring the touchdown. The two point conversion failed as Loyd Star led 22-13.

It took a team effort for Enterprise to flip the script and beat Loyd Star in the second half. The Yellow Jackets ended the first half fighting amongst each other in the goal line stand. At halftime, Loyd Star’s head coach Adam Smith noticed there were some cracks in the Yellow Jackets defense. He told his team to “make them quit.”

Spencer gave Loyd Star a 28-13 lead with 6:25 left in the third quarter. Enterprise did not quit though.

“What changed is we got better. We started playing more physical,” McNickles said. “It was a team effort and we all did our part to get the win.”

Three minutes after Loyd Star’s touchdown, McNickles found AJ Rayford in the back of the endzone for a touchdown and two point conversion. Enterprise now trailed Loyd Star 21-28.

Jonathan McNickles recovered a fumble and gave Enterprise the football at the 31 just a minute later. Enterprise was unable to capitalize and turned the ball back over.

Loyd Star then mounted a long march down the field sustained by a roughing the passer penalty and a hard earned first down. Enterprise dug its heels in and forced a turnover on downs and got the ball back with 5:39 left in the fourth quarter.

McNickles found Jack Rippy over the middle for a pass to get down to Loyd Star’s 49. A pass to Rayford got Enterprise down to Loyd Star’s 22. McNickles picked up a first down on a scramble to the five with one minute left. He then steamrolled a Loyd Star player and scored the winning two-point conversion with 42 seconds left.

“AJ is a grade under me so for me to play with him I’m able to teach him. I like him, I know he is a big target,” McNickles said. “I love to throw to him. My brother is a big target too.”

Enterprise is now 1-0 to start the season and will next play St. Andrew’s Episcopal. McNickles said he believes the team can accomplish a lot but they need to stay focused.

Loyd Star falls to 0-1 and will play Wesson next week. Smith told his players after the game to not let the loss define them but to grow from it.

“We have to get in better shape. We have a lot of guys who are inexperienced playing in a lot of new positions. The o-line was playing pretty good until the end,” Smith said. “I have a lot of young players. We have to build and keep growing.”

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