11/29/1985
District Playoff
Bartow at Astronaut
WAR EAGLES FALL IN DOUBLE OVERTIME, 43-41
Astronaut’s season came to an end Friday night Draa Field when a two point conversion pass to tie the game was intercepted in a second overtime. The War Eagles (10-1) lost to the Bartow Yellow Jackets 43-41.
In the first quarter, Astronaut Senior Quarterback Keith Mack rolled out after a play fake and connected on a 6 yard touchdown pass with fullback Ken Watson to take a 7-0 lead. The play capped a 10 play 56 yard drive. After forcing a Bartow punt junior tailback Joe Britt took a toss on a power sweep out of the wishbone formation and went 66 yards for a touchdown. The War Eagles took a 14-0 lead into the 2[sup]nd[/sup] quarter. Britt rushed for 120 yards on 15 carries for the game to lead the War Eagles.
Bartow fought back and picked up their first touchdown on a 15 yard pass with 6:38 left in the half. They then kicked a 22 yard field goal with 2 seconds left in the half to cut the lead to 14-10.
In the second half, Bartow took the lead on a 91 yard touchdown pass. “I think that may be the longest touchdown we’ve ever given up,” said a dejected coach B. Mack after the game. Another Bartow field goal make it 20-14 with 1:35 left in the third quarter.
On the next drive the War Eagles began a march to make a comeback. The drive started at their own 25 yard line and featured a series of 3[sup]rd[/sup] down conversions. First on a 3[sup]rd[/sup] and 5, Keith Mack scrambled for a 13 yard gain to set the ball up at midfield. Later in the drive, Mack connected with Clark Cook for a 13 yard pass to convert a 3[sup]rd[/sup] and 8 at the Bartow 23 yard line. The next play was an incomplete pass. Then Mack, hit fullback Greg Hovis for 7 yards to the 16. Mack then picked up the 3[sup]rd[/sup] and 3 by getting just enough on a run. Set up at the Bartow 13 two rushing plays netted just 2 yards. Then on 3[sup]rd[/sup] and 8 Mack threw incomplete. The War Eagles needed to convert on 4[sup]th[/sup] down. Rolling to his right Mack found Johnny Brown in the back of the end zone for a touchdown pass. Roy DeYoung kicked the extra point to give the War Eagles a 21-20 lead. The drive went 75 yards in 18 plays and took 8 minutes and 54 seconds off the game clock.
Bartow was left with 4:41 to play to try to get the lead back. It only took them a minute and a half to do so. A series of passes quickly moved to the War Eagle 26 yard line. Then Bartow got a 26 yard scoring pass to take the lead. A two point conversion attempt was successful and gave the Yellow Jackets a 28-21 lead with 3:11 left. Mack lead the War Eagles back down the field and with 6 seconds left connected with Hubert Williams for a 16 yard touchdown pass. Roy DeYoung’s extra point tied the game at 28.
“That was a tremendous fourth quarter, both team showed a great deal of heart,” said Coach Mack.
In the first overtime, Astronaut was on offense first. Rushes by fullbacks Ken Watson and Greg Hovis moved the ball to the 3. That is where Keith Mack found Jeff Boyd for a 3 yard touchdown pass to take the lead. DeYoung added the extra point to make it 35-28. In Bartow’s half of the first overtime, a first down rush yielded two yards. Then on second down the Yellow Jackets scored on an 8 yard run. The extra point was good and the game was tied at 35, heading for a 2[sup]nd[/sup] overtime.
Bartow with the ball first, picked up 9 yards on a first down rush. They then bulled in for a 1 yard touchdown. It was at this point that the Bartow coach made the decision of the game. Rather than kicking an extra point, he gambled and chose to go for a two point conversion. The conversion was good on a power running play and Bartow held to a 43-35 advantage.
It was now up the War Eagles to score a touchdown and get a two point conversion to continue the game. Keith Mack took off for a nine yard run on first down. Then he snuck in for a 1 yard touchdown. For the two point conversion, Astronaut chose to attempt a pass play, Mack was pressured heavily and through a desperation pass toward the goal line which was picked off by Bartow, ending the game.
Mack accounted for 5 War Eagle touchdowns. He passed for 4 touchdowns as well as the overtime rushing score. The Auburn commit, in the final game of his high school career completed 15 of 21 passes for 193 yards.