Broadmoor needed one more first down against McKinley.
The Buccaneers led by eight points late in the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s game and the Panthers reached Broadmoor’s 39 with less than two minutes left, before the Bucs’ defense forced a fumble.
Two plays after the Bucs took over looking to ice the game, they faced a third-and-7 with 52 seconds left and turned to senior Brailand Porter to close out the game.
Porter took a direct snap and refused to be brought down, dragging defenders past the first-down marker to end the game. The first down helped Broadmoor (5-1) win 14-6 against McKinley at Broadmoor.
“He was resilient,” first-year Broadmoor coach Jerome Wiltz said. “We say, ‘Hey, we need this first down. Keep pumping your legs. He stepped up to the plate.’ ”
Porter also broke the deadlock in the second quarter with a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown.
“Brailand Porter’s special,” Wiltz said. “He does it all for us. He’s just a gene.”
The Buccaneers’ fifth win marks the most games they’ve won since 2011 when Broadmoor won six games and last made the playoffs. Wiltz credited his faith with his team’s turnaround.
“What we did was we brought the Lord to these kids first,” he said. “We showed them that it’s about a relationship. It’s about love.”
Broadmoor’s defense bent several times throughout the contest, but rarely broke. In the second quarter, McKinley reached the Bucs’ 30-yard line before Shaun Davis intercepted the ball to end the drive.
The Bucs later forced a three-and-out near midfield that set up Porter’s punt return touchdown.
Broadmoor’s defense buckled down again late in the first half. McKinley’s Kaleb Brown dropped back into his own end zone on a third-and-long. A defender attempted to bring him down and spun Brown backwards as he threw the ball out of the back of his own end zone for a safety.
McKinley’s final 13 offensive plays to close the first half netted just 4 yards.
Broadmoor’s defense forced a quick three-and-out early in the third. The Buccaneers got a hand on the punt as it traveled just 11 yards to the McKinley 34. One play later, Quentin Williams lofted a 34-yard touchdown pass to Tyreke Robinson, extending the lead to 14-0.
The Panthers drove down the field looking to cut into the deficit, but Broadmoor’s defense came up big again. McKinley approached the red zone at the 26 before Broadmoor forced and recovered a fumble.
McKinley (2-4) finally found the scoreboard early in the fourth off a 3-yard run by Brown to trim the deficit to eight points.
The Panthers drove down the field late looking to tie the game. McKinley reached the Broadmoor 39 before the defense punched the ball out of Gerald Briggs’ hands for a fumble. The Bucs sealed the win with a first down.
“It’s very, very special,” Wiltz said on his team’s season. “Words cannot express what I feel.”
