DUNLAP, Tenn. - For once, Sequatchie County football coach Adam Caine will not get tired of hearing his wife tell him "I told you so."
Not after her advice paid off in a huge win for the Indians on Friday night.
With his team trailing powerhouse Marion County by one point in overtime, Caine opted to go for two points when - despite his offense having rushed 51 times for nearly 400 yards - he chose to listen to his wife's advice and throw the ball in a big situation.
Caine gave the play - Fake 26, 91 Out - to senior quarterback Ethan Barker, who executed it to perfection by connecting with junior Cameron Weaver in the right front corner of the end zone, giving the Indians a 42-41 upset win.
"All week long my wife kept telling me we needed to throw the ball more," Caine said with a smile and a shrug as his team celebrated behind him. "After we had missed that last extra-point try, there was no way I was going to put the pressure on our kicker. I never hesitated to call the two-point play."
The Indians (1-1) rallied from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to snap a five-game losing streak in the series with Marion (1-1). Barker ran 20 times for 182 yards and his team's final touchdown, and he also completed four of seven passes for 40 yards. His biggest completion was his shortest, a high spiral he lofted to allow Weaver to run under it for a basket catch.
"I just wanted to lob it up and make it an easy ball for him to catch," Barker said. "We just kept fighting. We kept telling each other that if we could just get them to the fourth quarter, we could get it done. We never gave up, no matter how far down we were."
Marion raced out to a 14-0 lead thanks to big plays on the ground, through the air and from its defense. After Jacob Saylors scored on a 28-yard run, the Warriors forced a fumble and one play later Isaiah Sampson hit Saylors for a 42-yard touchdown. Sampson later added a 52-yard scoring pass to Kane Hale as the Warriors scored 21 first-quarter points.
But once the Indians slammed the door on the big plays, it was their defense that got the stops needed to open the door for the comeback.
After rushing for 158 yards in the first half, Marion was held to 81 in the second half and was stopped on its last three possessions of regulation. Saylors ran for 114 of his 158 yards in the first half, and Sampson threw for 95 of his 170 before halftime as well.
Meanwhile, Sequatchie County seemed to wear on Marion in the second half, gaining 383 of its 442 yards on the ground. Indians fullback Brett Hicks added 126 yards on 19 carries and scored his team's first five touchdowns, including a five-yard run on third-and-goal with just 43 seconds remaining in regulation.
"That's a really good team over there," Caine said, pointing toward the Warriors as they exited the field. "This was just a beautiful win for our kids. We needed it. We have so many new guys who aren't experienced in big games, so this could really do a lot for our confidence."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.