[huge_it_portfolio id=”39″]

Gabe Williams stood hopefully in the end zone with the football in his arms. The game was over, and he had either scored the game-ending, game-winning touchdown or he hadn’t.

On fourth down with nine seconds left in the fourth quarter and Glenn leading 30-26, Glenn elected to punt the ball. After the punt landed on the field, the clock ran out and the Glenn players and the referees headed off the field.

Game over.

The way the McCallum players on the field saw it, however, the Grizzlies never touched the ball down, so the ball should have been still live. Hoping it was, Williams scooped it up and ran to the end zone. But the referees had already called the play and the game over.

Even though the Knights didn’t win this one, the game’s final play revealed what the previous two wins had already made clear: the Knights never give up … not until and, in this case even after, the clock runs out.

“I’ll ride with y’all until the wheels fall off no matter what the outcome is,” Coach G told the team after the game.

They never gave up on the game, and they played until the last down. The stick-with-it attitude of this team was proven before when they came from two scores behind to beat Anderson by one point in the Taco Shack Bowl and when they battled their way to score 27 unanswered against Lehman the week after to win 40-27. No matter the circumstances, this Knights team does not give up easy.

This past Thursday, the Knights traveled to Leander to face the Glenn Grizzlies at Gupton Stadium. The team again rallied from two touchdowns down to take a late lead, but the Knights this time did not get the result that they hoped for, losing 30-26. After a back-and-forth game, the Knights nearly completed a crucial third-down pass play in the end zone. But despite the missed opportunity, the Knights had another good night offensively overall, with 258 yards total, 180 of them coming from the passing game.

Takai Satberry led the receiving corps with 98 yards on five receptions, and Cruz Escobar and Darius Lewis had touchdown receptions of 25 yards and 36 yards respectively. For Escobar, it was his first touchdown of the year.

“It felt good to get my first varsity touchdown,” Escobar said.  “It’s something I will always remember, and I hope there’s more to come in the future.”

Gabe Williams and Connor Boggs each intercepted a Grizzlie pass during the game. The Knights made several big plays in the game to be in a position to win. The team rallied from a two-touchdown deficit to tie the game at the half and then took the lead on a 3-yard run by Cole Davis, set up by Tino Depaz’s 97-yard kickoff return that opened the second half.

“I think we played really hard but we had too many mistakes to overcome,” Williams said. ” I think this game taught us that if we don’t come out completely focused we won’t be as successful as we want to be.”

This is the first year that McCallum has played Leander Glenn. The team continues the toughest portion of its schedule next Friday when it plays arch-rival LBJ to start district play. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Nelson Field. The Knights hope to rebound off this loss and beat LBJ for bragging rights and a chance to get back in the W column.

“Even though we put up one hell of a fight, we ended up beating ourselves,” Escobar said after the game. “From the turnovers to making mistakes on offense and not having good practices the week prior, it cost us.  I think Coach G is a great man and coach. He’s dedicated to this team and to the game. I wouldn’t want any other head coach.”

CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this story had the location of Friday’s LBJ game wrong. The game is at NELSON FIELD not House Park.