(FREE) Norman tops Mustang in shootout

Bryce McKinnis

September 18, 2021 @ 09:32 AM

Your guess was a good as mine, last night, regarding who would win the Norman-Mustang matchup in Norman; with ten lead changes throughout the game, it was clear by the third quarter that whichever team scored last would win. As it played out, that team turned out to be Norman, scoring with three seconds on the clock via Tias McClarty’s sixth touchdown of the night to give the Tigers a win. Here’s how it went down:

TURNING POINT

Norman’s turning point came in three acts. After scoring its go-ahead touchdown minutes prior, Mustang stumped the Norman offense deep inside its own territory, leading 58-55 with about three minutes to-go. Facing fourth-and-ten from its own 25, the Tigers had no choice but to punt it away and gamble that the Norman defense would hold strong -- not a great gamble, by the way, considering how infrequently either team successfully kept the other out of its end zone all night. But, lefty Zack Stone rolled left and sent away an almost perfect punt spiraling into the night sky; it turned over and landed near the Mustang 30 before bouncing another 20-or-so yards and bouncing out-of-bounds at the Mustang 8 for a net punt of 67 yards; act one. Now, it was up to the Norman defense. It looked bleak, again, as Mustang felt little pressure, with quarterback finding Oregon-commit for 23 yards to gather a first down as the Broncos rolled down the field through the air as they had all night. But nothing predictable about this game, and the unexpected was bound to happen. With about 2:15 on the clock, Russell handed the ball off to a Broncos teammate, who was immediately met by Norman defensive tackle , who stripped the ball and drove it back towards the Mustang end zone -- all quicker than the snap of a finger. Less than a minute before, Norman faced fourth-and-ten, down three, from its own 25 yard-line with no hope. Now, the Tigers offense had a chance, taking over 34 yards away from the Mustang end zone; act two. McClarty picked up a first down rather quickly, but a few unsuccessful plays passed, and the Tigers came up on fourth down. They elected to bring Colyn Wade onto the field to try a 39-yard kick. Then, this happened:

Q4 0:49, he comes up just short from 39 yards, but running-into-the-kicker call will give Norman five yards, and they’ll go for it on fourth-and-four
— Bryce McKinnis (@McKinnisBryce) September 18, 2021

A couple timeouts and careful deliberation later, and Norman confirms its decision to go for it. Then this:

My gosh; it appeared McClarty fumbled but a teammate picked it up and took it for the first pic.x.com/ZjJ30AwN3s
— Bryce McKinnis (@McKinnisBryce) September 18, 2021

And then, well, you know, this happened:

Q4 0:03: McClarty scores! his sixth of the night to give Norman the lead with seconds to go

Norman 62, Mustang 58 @PrepRedzoneOK @mustangtimes pic.x.com/6d37soCr0R
— Bryce McKinnis (@McKinnisBryce) September 18, 2021

Act three. Tigers win 62-58.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Undoubtedly, the player of the game was McClarty, who blistered the Mustang defense for 254 yards and six touchdowns, was the player of the game, although there were about six players between both teams who, on any regular night, would have been the most outstanding player on the field. It’s not typical in 2021 times for a quarterback to carry the ball 30 times, as McClarty did Friday night, but he earned the player of the game award in the last four, rather than the first 26; it was clear from the press box that McClarty was gassed. He had ever justification to take a break and let backup Holden Kee take over, not the least of which that he had already sprinted almost 250 yards with the ball during the past three hours, taking a beating from a host of Mustang defenders every other play. But, when Mason recovered the strip, McClarty took the field, as he had done all night, with one more opportunity to drive his team down the field. Rushes of 6, 8, and 3 yards put the Tigers in scoring range, and his final rush of 3 yards, put the Tigers ahead one last time. Get some rest today, Tias.

Here's a graph of that last three minutes of play, in case it was hard to follow on Twitter: