Fired up

Coach G is fired up after Gabe William's fourth-quarter interception gave the Knights the ball and maintained their 26-21 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Photo by Dave Winter.

Down the Sideline Again

In a play reminiscent of his gamewinning touchdown versus Lehman, Takai Satberry makes a long run after making a short catch and eluding Glenn defenders to put the Knight in the red zone late in the fourth quarter. Satberry had five catches for 98 yards for the game. Photo by David Winter.

Davis goes the distance

After shedding several tackles, Cole Davis ran the ball in from 14 yards out to score the game-tying touchdown early in the second quarter. Photo by Grace Nugent.

Cruzing in to score

Wide receiver Cruz Escobar runs the ball in for the Knights last touchdown of the game on a 25 yard pass. Photo by Lindsey Plotkin.

Down but not out

Elijah Griffin tackles Glenn running back Lamont Spade in the 30-26 loss last Thursday. Photo by David Winter.

The school song must go on

Blue Brigade seniors Chanyn James and Mackenzie Remaley perform their routine after Glenn defeated the Knights, 30-26 at Gupton Stadium. Photo by Grace Nugent.

11 for six

Cruz Escobar glides into the end zone after his 25-yard touchdown reception gave Mac a 26-21 lead in the fourth quarter. It was Escobar's first career varsity touchdown. Photo by Grace Nugent.

Hot and Cole

Against the Grizzlies at Gupton Stadium, the Knight offense relied heavily on Cole Davis's arm. The senior signal caller completed 12 of 20 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He also gained 27 yards and rushed for two more touchdowns. Photo by Kennedy Weatherby.

Connor roll

Sophomore Connor Boggs, shown here running back his first-quarter interception, made a huge impact on the game. In the first half alone, he intercepted a pass, knocked down a pass and recovered Glenn's onside kick attempt. Photo by Lindsey Plotkin.

Leaping Lewis

Junior wide receiver Darius Lewis leaps into the end zone to complete a 6-yard first-quarter touchdown that put the Knights on the scoreboard after the Grizzlies had jumped to a 14-point lead. Photo by Lindsey Plotkin.

Pay dirt

Sam Martin hauled in this 25-yard pass from Drew McGuire on fourth down and 11 for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown with 4:24 left in the game. Photo by Dave Winter.

Change of possession

Gabe Williams flips the ball to the referee after his interception ended a Glenn drive in the red zone midway through the fourth quarter. Photo by Dave Winter.

Roe is me

Mary Roe urges the fans to make some noise for the Knights. Student attendance in was low due to the fact that it was a Thursday road game and the weather forecast predicted that it would rain. Photo by Dave Winter.

We're talking about practice

In his postgame speech to his players, Coach G praised his team's will to win but said that sometimes playing with heart is not enough if you don't practice well and don't avoid mistakes during the game. Photo by Dave Winter.

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.