By Heath Walley
Sylva-Bay needed that one big play to get over the hump at home Friday night, and they got it.
Trailing 7-6 to Clinton Christian with the ball at midfield and just over ten minutes left in the game, Campbell Graves busted through the Warriors’ offensive front, got a paw up, and blocked a punt. Logan Blackwell then scooped up the bouncing ball and rambled to Clinton Christian’s 13-yard line.
“It was huge, and we didn’t even have a block on,” said SBA head coach Terry Underwood of Graves’ enormous play. “His job was to box, but he individually saw that he could get there and did. It was a huge play in the game.”
That it was.
Following the blocked punt and recovery, the Saints were not out of danger of its sixth loss of the season, but quarterback Phillip Anderson put the game on his shoulders and willed Sylva-Bay to the victory. Facing a fourth-and-long from the 17-yard line following a penalty, Anderson found some daylight on a draw play and fought through defenders to the 4-yard line. Two plays later, Anderson toted five Warriors defenders into the endzone to give the Saints a 12-7 lead and eventually Sylva-Bay’s first win of the 2017 season.
“He’s one of our top athletes,” Underwood said of Anderson. “He’s a fast kid and a tough kid. He plays both ways just like all of our kids do. He made some big plays for us tonight in the run game. When the game was on the line, he probably came through just as big as anybody for us tonight.”
Anderson put Sylva-Bay’s first touchdown on the scoreboard when he rolled off a 48-yard run early in the second quarter to give the Saints a 6-0 lead. Clinton Christian countered on the next drive when Bobby Gibson hit Jay Leggett on a 27-yard touchdown strike to hand the Warriors a 7-6 lead following the extra point.
Then, the scoring haulted, until 8:46 left in the fourth when Anderson put the Saints ahead.
Clinton Christian mustered one last, good drive, running primarily out of the ‘swinging gate,’ but the Saints came up big defensively at its own 14-yard line, throwing the Warriors for two consecutive losses. On fourth-and-twelve from the 20-yard line, Clinton’s Gibson lofted a pass to the endzone, but Sylva-Bay’s Casey Houston was in good position and batted the ball down with 4:52 remaining in the game.
Anderson then put the game in the books when he waltzed off three tough runs to the Warriors’ 39. There, the game ended, and the Saints finally got that much needed, first victory of the season.
“This win means an awful lot. The kids have worked tremendously hard since I got here, and we’ve been very close the last couple of weeks. We just haven’t been able to get over the hump,” Underwood said. “Our kids deserved to win, but ‘deserve’ doesn’t get you to a win. Plays get you to a win. Our kids were able to fight through and make enough plays to win tonight.
“I’m very proud for them; I’m proud for everybody involved, the team, fans, and the coaches. We needed this win because they’ve invested a lot of time and effort. It means a lot because it’s something we can build on. Every streak begins with a win.”
The Saints will travel next Friday to take on Amite School Center in Liberty, Miss.
