Gallery by Renee Richardson
Battles between Raleigh County Class AA rivals Shady Spring and Liberty are already full of emotion.
Factor in the playoff implications surrounding the game and it was clear both teams would get the other’s best shot Friday night in Glen Daniel.
To no one’s surprise the game was not decided until the final minute of the contest.
Lining up for a game-tying field goal that would have sent the game to overtime, a quick decision by Shady Spring senior Jacob Showalter sent the Tigers home with a 29-26 victory.
On a high snap from center, Showalter improvised to score the game-winning touchdown.
“I didn’t even try to set it down. I looked over and I saw that hole open up. I darted and I wasn’t letting that kid tackle me. That is the best game I ever had in my life,” Showalter said.
“It was a bad snap. It was a boy that we had just got back that been our snapper,” Shady Spring head coach Vince Culicerto said. “We didn’t get him back until today. He had snapped good, but he got a little shaky there at the end. That was all Bucky, just getting that thing and going for the corner. He made a heckuva play.”
A win for Shady Spring appeared out of reach early with most of the game being played on the Tigers’ end of the field. However, fumbles plagued the Raiders who could not capitalize on drives into the red zone.
After Will Harmon’s field goal gave Shady the early advantage, Showalter hauled in a 54-yard pass from Cameron Manns for a 10-0 lead.
Logan Dodrill made it a 10-6 game at the break when he scored from five yards out in the second quarter. However, the early mistakes and missed opportunities would come back to haunt Liberty on Halloween weekend.
“When Liberty and Shady play, you can throw out the records. It was a hard-fought ballgame, but we turned the ball over four times. Those were all self-inflicted. We shot ourselves in the foot in the first half,” Liberty head coach Mark Workman said.
Bryson Pinardo’s touchdown early in the second quarter gave Shady a 10-point lead before Dodrill led a Liberty comeback.
Dodrill scored on a one-yard plunge to make it a 16-12 game before he electrified the home crowd on senior night with a 70-yard punt return to give the Raiders an 18-16 lead heading to the final 12 minutes.
Less than two minutes into the final quarter, Dodrill scored for the fourth time of the night and ran in for the two-point conversion to give Liberty a 26-16 advantage.
Just when the Raiders seemed to have the game in full control, Shady answered by going 56 yards in less than a minute for a score. A 22-yard run by Tyler Mackey on a reverse, set up a 19-yard jaunt from Caleb Whittaker, cutting the lead back to 26-23.
Liberty drove the ball to the Shady Spring 20-yard line before an unsportsmanlike penalty was called that pushed them back.
The ensuing punt pinned Shady deep in its own territory and things went from bad to worse for the Tigers when Tanner Beller picked off a pass at the Shady 40-yard line.
With the game in the balance and its season on the line, Shady Spring came up with its biggest defensive stop of the season.
“We had third-and-4 and fourth-and-3. We have transitioned over to the single-wing offense, and we were trying to chew up some clock to get some first downs. We had it and we let it slip,” Workman said.
Getting the ball back with 3:15 to play, Manns worked the sidelines to Mackey on three straight passes for a total of 20 yards.
With the Raiders looking pass, Whittaker hit a 30-yard run up the middle. A personal foul penalty was tacked on to put the ball at the Liberty nine-yard line.
With Shady unable to move the ball any closer, on fourth down they lined up for what would be the wildest play of the night.
“We came up with some defensive stops, but they could have put us away too. We dialed some stuff up and just made some plays,” Culicerto said. “I can’t believe it. There was every emotional turn that you could imagine in the second half. Liberty played hard and they game planned good, but our boys just kept fighting. We had some big plays and some injuries. That just shows if you keep playing the game and keep after it, you can win one. I haven’t been on the winning end of many of those.”
The win keeps Shady Spring’s playoff hopes alive but dealt a fatal blow to Liberty’s chance to host a postseason playoff game.
“We have played with some sense of urgency lately. I think the seniors understand that this is it and they are getting after it,” Culicerto said. “We have just been playing some better ball and making things happen.”
“That’s football. The bounce didn’t go our way tonight. I know it was senior night and they wanted to win, but they can’t let that define them,” Workman said. “We still have a job at hand and that is to beat Wyoming East and get into the playoffs. That was our goal from the beginning.”
Liberty (5-3) travels to Wyoming East Friday, while Shady Spring (6-3) visits PikeView Tuesday.
SS: 3 7 6 13 – 29
L: 0 6 12 8 – 26
First quarter
SS: Will Harmon 30 FG
Second quarter
SS: Jacob Showalter 54 pass from Cameron Manns (Harmon kick)
L: Logan Dodrill 5 run ( rush failed)
Third quarter
SS: Bryson Pinardo 1 run (rush failed)
L: Dodrill 1 run (rush failed)
L: Dodrill 70 punt return (rush failed)
Fourth quarter
L: Dodrill 26 run (Dodrill rush)
SS: Caleb Whittaker 19 run (Harmon kick)
SS: Jacob Showalter 9 run (kick no good)
Team stats:
Rushing: (SS) Manns 3-6, Showalter 1-9-1, Whittaker 14-87-1 Pinardo 3-12-1, Sellards 5-21, Mackey 1-22; (L) Doddrill 33-111-3, Ryan Simms 16-100, Clayton Williams 9-31, Chris Mickey 1-7.
Passing: (SS) Manns 11-23-194-1-1; (L) Dodrill 0-1-0, Williams 1-6-23
Receiving: (SS) Showalter 2-95-1, Gavin Davis 2-57, Mackey 3-20, Whittaker 2-11, Pinardo 1-9, Hayden Johnson 1-2; (L) Simms 1-22.
