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A shocking series of events left Durant fans in disbelief in a loss to Newsome.

Photos Courtesy of Glen Ryan

Shock. Horror. Disgust. Rage. Suffering. 

Durant fan faces displayed all these emotions (and likely more) after a sucker punch loss to Newsome Friday night. 

The reaction was understandable. In the final three minutes of play, the home supporters witnessed the most unlikely comeback against their team. 

Nearing the end of the fourth quarter, the Durant Cougars held a 19-10 lead and had not allowed a score since the beginning of the first quarter. Newsome needed to pass after receiving a punt and that doesn’t jive well with their flexbone, run-heavy offense. They slowly got down the field, but a sack from defensive lineman Caleb Waters left the Wolves staring down third and 15. 

An incompletion on the play set up fourth and 15. Home fans prepared themselves for the coming celebration. Instead, Newsome quarterback Noah Guenther found receiver Clayton Brown on a deep sideline throw for over 30 yards, a first and goal at the one.  

After another sack on the following play, Guenther looked to Brown once again as he made a highlight reel touchdown catch over his defender. The receiver hauled it in despite contact that drew a penalty. A roughing the kicker call on the completed extra point made the scoreline 19-17 with Durant holding on to the lead. 

This is where things got weird. The penalty on the touchdown and the roughing the kicker on the extra point were enforced on the kickoff. This led to a puzzling image where Newsome kicked off on the opponent’s side of the 50. Durant got control of the low kick in the shadow of their endzone. 

The drama did not stop there. 

Durant’s first kneel brought out Newsome’s last timeout. Two more kneels and the game is over. On the following play, an offensive lineman got called for a personal foul and the clock stopped. 

Suddenly, the game was not over. 

The last kneel down went off successfully, but Newsome still had seven seconds on the clock. Durant quarterback/punter Ryan kicked the ball from the back of the endzone and the returner, with plenty of green ahead of him, called for a fair catch. 

Then came another befuddling sight for fans. The Wolves came out in kickoff formation. The ball rested on a tee as players flanked their kicker on either side. Durant’s defense hurried into receiving formation and no players were within ten yards of the line of scrimmage. The kick went through the uprights on an untimed down and Newsome was up 20-19. 

All of this was legal. While niche, a team can opt to make a free-kick attempt instead of running a play, as long as it follows a fair catch. If that kick passes through the uprights, it counts as a field goal. 

Due to the untimed down, seven seconds remained on the clock. The Cougars controlled the squib kick and began a lateral play. Players sent the ball to one another and back until a player was brought down and the refs blew the whistle. Durant players and fans were not convinced Newsome completed the tackle as the player twisted out and ran it into the endzone. 

That brings us back to where we started. Ten points in three minutes is not unheard of – especially in high school football – but there were a few more confusing paths to get there. To put this in perspective, the game started with a kickoff return touchdown, but the dramatics at the end made that play hardly worth mentioning. 

Additionally, 19 points is a hard score to achieve. Durant head coach Claybo Varnum elected to go for a conversion after two of the Cougars’ three touchdowns. The second opportunity would have put them up 13 to 10. Hindsight is 20/20, but these are the decisions that end up costing teams, the journey the Cougars took on their loss just made these calls sting even more. 

Despite the results, Durant players performed very well on both sides of the ball. 

Ryan found his receivers Damari Styles and Chris Langford often in the match to the tune of 127 yards and a touchdown. The duo made a great one-two punch. 

Styles was lethal after the catch. He would haul in bubble screens, and it almost always took more than one tackle attempt to bring him down. Langford, on the other hand, used his large frame to his advantage, consistently out bodying his opponents. People talk about how unreliable the goal line fade has become, but when Durant ran the play to Langford at the end of the first half it looked unstoppable. He took the ball right off the opponent’s helmet in an old-fashioned Moss-ing. 

Emmanuel Lee impressed again. He notched 85 yards on 16 carries and always threatened to take it the distance. It was no surprise that he eventually did take a rush 35 yards to the house in the second half. 

Durant can take good things away from this loss, but it will be hard to forget just HOW unusual a loss it was.

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