The clearest evidence that Buckingham County gave Group A powerhouse Gretna all it could possibly take?
It wasn’t the 42-41 score that the Hawks won by. It was the fact that Gretna quarterback Nick Miller and a number of his teammates — instead of a long celebration with coaches and fans — spent their immediate postgame time helping up or providing encouraging words to devastated Buckingham players.
“The reason we played bad was because of Buckingham,” said Gretna coach Kevin Saunders. “They’re a well coached football team and we caught a couple of breaks. My hats off to Buckingham and the way those young men played.”
It was an all-out battle for the Region B, Division 2 title and Gretna happened to have the ball last. Buckingham put the pressure on in the extra period, scoring a touchdown on a Maurice Taylor scamper to take a 41-35 advantage, but a false start made the point after touchdown a tougher proposition and the kick sailed wide right.
The Knights’ defense responded by halting Gretna on three downs, but Miller wedged his way in from two yards on his final carry of a 201-yard night to set up Gretna for the potential game winning kick. The Hawks converted and the celebration began as Gretna heads back to the state tournament to face King William High. The Hawks beat Gretna in similar fashion in 2009, then in the Region B semifinal, topping the Knights 28-20.
It took a minor miracle for the Knights to get into a position to possibly win in the first place. Buckingham trailed 29-15 at halftime and appeared incapable of stopping Gretna’s explosive offense. The Hawks got big plays in the first half out of Miller, Tony Miller and Joe McGee, all speedy, multi-dimensional players with the ability to strike from all over the field.
Tony Miller had an 81-yard touchdown run to start the scoring for the Hawks and Nick Miller managed to rip off a 52-yard run. McGee took the spotlight on Gretna’s third scoring drive with a long catch and run and a 3-yard touchdown.
Buckingham’s prospects for a comeback appeared even more slim when leading tackler Michael Layman was sidelined at the half for what appeared to be a concussion. That left the Knights’ already limited roster short a linebacker and a starting offensive lineman.
But Buckingham got things going late in the third just seconds after Nick Miller connected with Tony Miller on a throw to put Gretna up 35-15. The Knights ripped off 20 unanswered points starting with a 40-yard dump off pass and run from Tarian Ayers to Maurice Taylor. The defense then somehow came up with a stop and Ayers scored, this time on an 8-yard run to bring the Knights within one touchdown.
“Tarian’s a great athlete and that’s what he does — fight,” Taylor said. “Since we were seven years old, that’s what we’ve be doing, fighting in tough games like this.”
After another defensive stop, the Knights drove to the five-yardline and faced fourth and goal. An Ayers interception by Gretna’s Dustin Mahan that the senior defensive back returned to midfield seemed to seal Buckingham’s fate there. Buckingham defensive end Jackson Bryant, however, came up with his third forced fumble of the game on the next play though, jarring the ball loose from Nick Miller.
“I thought we had the game over and Nick never fumbles,” Saunders said. “If he doesn’t do that the game is probably over.”
Antonn Briley pounced on the loose ball and an exhausted Buckingham offense went back to work, driving 55 yards in one minute and 17 seconds as Taylor ripped off a 15-yard run and Ayers found Caleb White for a 26-yard catch and run with White crossing from sideline to sideline to pick up the yards. Two plays after White’s catch, Ayers again scored, this time on a 10-yard sprint, splitting a pair of tacklers near the goaline and stretching for the touchdown.
The teams traded unproductive possessions before the game finally went to overtime, where Gretna pulled off the win.
Taylor put together a warrior-like effort on both sides of the football, leading Buckingham in rushing with 124 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. He also had 65 yards and a touchdown on two catches while leading Buckingham in tackles including six solo stops. He appeared done after one of those tackles, on Gretna’s second down in overtime, and was shuttled off the field with a leg injury. He raced back on the field on fourth down, and Gretna wisely ran away from the senior, putting Miller behind an overloaded line on the right side.
“I was scared,” said Buckingham’s Craig Gill. “You can’t hurt him though, he’s a tough nut.”
The gross majority of the Knights’ top players outside of Taylor return to the fold next season, including Ayers and his top three targets, Briley, White and Cam Johnson. Bryant and linebacker Tariq Bartee, who had eight tackles Friday, are also underclassmen. But make no mistake, replacing Taylor will be a tall task.
“He might be one of the best I’ve ever coached,” Gill said. “He’s got more heart and desire, than any player I’ve seen and I’ve been here 35 years. He’s the total package.”
Friday night Taylor’s own heart and force of will brought the Knights to the brink of a region title. Only an equally valiant effort by Gretna prevented Buckingham from a state tournament berth.
“We just had the willpower to comeback, to keep on fighting back,” Taylor said. “It just wasn’t enough.”
