Wilson Hall holds off AC in 35-28 win

Keith Gedamke / The Item Wilson Hall's Gibson Klapthor (9) finishes off a 26-yard touchdown catch as Augusta Christian's Nick Cerasuolo, right, and Caleb Harmon (15). The Barons won 35-28.

By PATRICK ENZOR
Item Assistant Sports Editor
penzor@theitem.com

Entering the fourth quarter of their SCISA first-round 3A state playoff game at Spencer Field on Friday, Wilson Hall and Augusta Christan had combined for just 21 points and 395 yards of offense. A wild fourth quarter alone accounted for 42 points and 335 yards.

Thankfully for the Baron faithful, quarterback Josh Glenn picked up a first down on fourth down with a minute left to seal the game as Wilson Hall advanced to the semifinals with a 35-28 win.

The Barons will play host to Hammond, a 35-13 win over Pinewood Prep on Friday, next week with a spot in the state championship on the line.

“We're excited that we get to play in the state semifinals,” said Wilson Hall head coach Eddie Talley. “We get Hammond here at home next week. This group has come a long ways. As disappointed as I am in the way we played right now, I'm excited that we're playing next week.”

There were three touchdowns scored in the opening 3:03 of the final stanza. Wilson Hall scored on the first play of the quarter on a 29-yard pass to Gibson Klapthor from wide receiver Wesley Talley — his second TD pass of the game — to make it 21-7.

Two plays later, Augusta Christian's Evan Wells was in the end zone on a 70-yard pass from Tyler Robinson and cut the lead back to seven at 21-14 with 11:17 left in the game.

After a short kickoff, Wilson Hall took over at the AC 44. A 31-yard pass from Wilson Hall Glenn to Chris Sharp had the Barons down to the 13 and four plays later, Glenn found paydirt with a 1-yard keeper to push the lead to 28-14 with 8:57 left.

It didn't even take AC two minutes to cut the lead back to a touchdown as Robinson completed two passes for 55 yards down to the WH 3. Robinson then found Austin Lewis in the end zone and the Lions trailed just 28-21 with 7:01 left in the game.

After the teams exchanged fumbles, the Barons were finally able to run some time off the clock with a 6-play, 58-yard drive. With 3:01 left, Glenn found the end zone for his second rushing TD of the game from a yard out to once again make it a 14-point game at 35-21.

Forty-eight seconds later, the Lions were back in the end zone as Robinson found Caleb Harmon down the right sideline for a 18-yard TD.

“I kept thinking to myself that we scored too quickly,” said Talley. “They just kept coming back. Augusta Christian played well.”

AC still had two timeouts and used them after the first two plays of Wilson Hall's ensuing drive. The Barons faced a third-and-four and picked up two yards to make it fourth-and-two.

After Talley called two timeouts, he had the play called to pick up the first down. Despite what was called, he knew what was going to happen.

“I wanted to throw it, but Josh wanted to run it. I called for the pass, but I knew he was going to run it,” Talley laughed.

“I just went to them and said, Can we pick up two yards?' They said we could,” he added. “Josh wanted the ball in his hands.”

The cold air kept the offenses bottled up in the first quarter as the teams combined for zero points and just 46 yards of offense. It didn't take long for the teams to heat up in the second quarter.

The Barons got on the board first with a wide-receiver pass from Talley to Sharp for 46 yards. Glenn took the snap under center before passing backward to Talley who lofted a pass to a wide open Sharp as the Barons took a 7-0 lead with 10:11 left in the second quarter.

Sharp entered the game with 998 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. He finished Friday's game with 115 receiving yards and a touchdown on six catches.

The Lions, who had 12 plays in Wilson Hall territory in the first quarter, answered with an 8-play, 57-yard drive on the ground to tie the game. Robinson capped the drive with a one-yard sneak with 6:31 left

It took all of five plays for Glenn and the Barons to answer. Glenn completed 4 of 4 passes on the 66-yard drive – the final 26 on a streak to Klapthor to retake the lead at 14-7 with 4:33 left in the first half.

Glenn finished 18 of 24 for 234 yards. Talley was 2-for-2 passing for 75 yards and added 60 yards receiving on seven catches.

Wilson Hall 35, AC 28

AC WH

First downs 17 12

Rushes-yards 32-70 24-76

Passing 273 309

Comp-Att-Int 15-28-0 20-26-1

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 3-1

Punts 4-30.0 5-29.6

Penalties-Yards 4-35 8-55

Augusta Christian 0 7 0 21 - 28

Wilson Hall 0 14 0 21 - 35

First Quarter

None.

Second Quarter

W -- Sharp 46 pass from Talley (Blanding kick).

A -- Robinson 1 run (Croft kick).

W -- Klapthor 26 pass from Glenn (Blanding kick).

Third Quarter

None.

Fourth Quarter

W -- Klapthor 29 pass from Talley (Blanding kick).

A -- Wells 70 pass from Robinson (Croft kick).

W -- Glenn 1 run (Blanding kick).

A -- Lewis 3 pass from Robinson (Croft kick).

W -- Glenn 1 run (Blanding kick).

A -- Harmon 18 pass from Robinson (Croft kick).