With less than two minutes left and his team down a point awaiting the conversion attempt after Victor Caro’s 3-yard touchdown run, Brentwood Academy coach Ralph Potter contemplated going for two against top-ranked Baylor.
He opted for the conventional decision, and conventional sailed wide left.
The point-after attempt from Nathan Renfro missed and the Red Raiders and their fans breathed a little easier after a 21-20 homecoming win at Heywood Stadium.
“I should have gone for two,” said Potter, the former Baylor and McCallie coach who looked spent after his team’s second loss in as many weeks. “We had the momentum, and I was about to, but I went against my gut.”
Baylor coach Phillip Massey went with his instincts moments earlier, calling a newly installed jump pass on fourth-and-goal from the 5 that Jacon Huesman completed to Wyatt McRae for the tying touchdown with less than eight minutes to play.
“We put that in this week,” a smiling Massey said after his team improved to 7-0 heading into an off week. “I should have called it on third down, but with Jacob throwing to 6-foot-4 [McRae], it was a pretty good matchup for us.”
Huesman, the Red Raiders’ starting quarterback, lined up at running back, took the handoff and then leaped to find McRae for his lone catch of the game on the play.
“A little Tim Tebow action,” said Huesman, who offered a full-fledged impression of the former Florida Gators star. “We had 6-5 against a linebacker; I knew it was going to work.”
Everything worked for Huesman on Friday. He rushed 18 times for 107 yards and two scores – including the eventual game-winner, a 38-yard scamper with 4:37 left – and completed 14 of 17 passes for 189 yards. He exploited huge running lanes throughout the second half behind an offensive line that for the second consecutive week dominated the second half.
“They’re a good, physical football team,” Potter said, “and the quarterback makes a lot of plays for them.”
That almost was not enough.
A special-teams miscue late the first half gift-wrapped a touchdown for Brentwood Academy (6-2), and Baylor had two first-half drives slowed by presnap penalties.
After leading 14-7 at the intermission on short touchdown runs by Radir Annoor and Matthew Hamby, Brentwood Academy raised the stakes on mistakes. The Eagles had two touchdowns called back because of penalties, roughed the punter to extend what turned into a Baylor touchdown drive in addition to the missed point-after attempt in the second half.
“In a game like this, the team that makes the fewest mistakes usually wins,” Potter said. “We made more, and we made some critical ones. I feel like we easily could have won this game by a couple touchdowns.”
Baylor made the most of each chance, and the Red Raiders have become comfortable in tight, pressure-filled games. There’s something to be said for believing and for surviving.
“We’re a confident team right now,” Huesman said. “At practice, in the huddle, in drills, everyone keeps saying, ‘We’re going to win this game.’ It’s something that carries over, and we believe we can play with anyone.”
They have played with and beat all comers so far. Baylor all but surely will retain the top spot in the Division II poll next week, heading into the open week with all the homecoming festivities behind them.
“It was a bit of distraction, to tell you the truth,” said senior linebacker David Helton, who had at least 12 tackles and was named the homecoming king at halftime.
Helton and the other Red Raiders may have been distracted, but they remain undeterred. And undefeated.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6273.