Petersburg PORTA football trailed by two scores in the fourth quarter before staging a stunning comeback win over rival Athens on Friday.
ATHENS — Will O'Brien seemed destined to reach the end zone.
The junior fullback cast aside one would-be tackler before eluding several more on a screen pass from junior quarterback Lane McAnally. He came up just a few yards shy but scored the go-ahead touchdown just a couple short plays later with less than two minutes remaining to complete Petersburg PORTA/A-C Central's stunning 22-18 comeback win over rival Athens on Friday, Oct. 10.
It nudged PORTA (4-3) just one win away from its first playoff eligibility since 2013.
The Bluejays' hopes dimmed gloomily after failing to move the chains on a fourth-down pass attempt with just over three minutes left. Except the defense summoned a fourth-down stop of its own, snuffing out a toss play for a loss on a 4th-and-3 with 2 minutes, 40 seconds remaining.
McAnally then floated a short screen pass to O'Brien, who weaved his way down to the Athens 4-yard line. O'Brien later scored on a 3-yard touchdown plunge.
Athens (4-3) still nearly reached the red zone before PORTA senior defensive back Logan Baker wrested away the game-clinching interception in the end zone.
PORTA edged Athens 24-22 in last year's Blacktop Bragging Rights game.
O'Brien ran for 65 yards and three scores to go with two catches for 44 yards. McAnally completed 8 of 10 passing attempts for 109 yards.
Athens senior fullback Gage Honn ran for 162 yards and two scores.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Petersburg PORTA football climbs above .500 with big win over Athens
Category: General Sports
