GREENVILLE - Pillow Academy needed an all points bulletin in overtime to find the same defense that allowed just two first downs and six rushing yards in the second half.
That unit was last seen entering the huddle for the first overtime and was never heard from again.
The PA defense put up little resistance after that as Washington School needed just six plays to score five touchdowns in five overtimes.
Fortunately for Pillow, its offense matched the Generals score for score - until a missed PAT kick opened the door for a Mustang victory.
After Washington went up 55-49 in the fifth extra period, sophomore Billy Brozovich missed the extra-point kick. Pillow scored three plays later on a 2-yard run by Bryce Daves, and sophomore John Craig Patterson booted the game-winning PAT - giving Pillow a heart-stopping 56-55 victory here Friday night.
"This was a wild one, a really great win," Pillow head coach Riley Myers said. "I am very proud of our kids for battling like that.
"We played pretty dadgum good defense until overtime. I think they ran the same play in the same hole every time. I had decided that we were going for two in the fifth overtime until the boy missed the kick."
Senior tailback Thomas McGee scored on three 10-yard runs and a 3-yard run in four of the five overtime periods, and senior fullback Peyton Yarbrough added a 10-yard run.
"They were just beating us at the point of attack, the B gap on the weak side," said Pillow defensive coordinator Jeff Jones. "They were taking our middle linebacker out of the play by faking to the fullback. It's a play that we run, and that our defense usually doesn't have a big problem stopping."
With the win, the Mustangs improve to 5-3 overall, 4-1 in the North AAA conference and take a giant step toward making the playoffs. They can wrap up a spot in the postseason Nov. 5 with a win at Magnolia Heights.
"We feel good about our playoff positioning because we don't have to depend on anybody else to get in," Myers said. "If you're going to be in the playoffs, you ought to have to earn it."
"Both teams showed a lot of character in the overtimes," said Washington head coach Todd Lott. " I wanted this game badly because of the playoff situation. However, our young men should have no regrets. They played as hard as I've seen them play all season."
In the final four overtimes, Washington got the ball first and put the ball in the end zone with ease, putting the pressure of the Mustang offense to respond.
And it did.
Senior quarterback Louis Coleman didn't have one of his better games, but he came up with two touchdown passes to senior wide receiver Bill Gulledge in the second and fourth overtime periods. Outside of those two completions, he was 3-of-15 passing.
"I wasn't thinking about what had happened in the past. I wasn't bothered by it. I just wanted to win," said Coleman, who finished with 92 yards passing. "We had a lot of confidence in the huddle. With the way our offensive line was blocking, we knew we could score from 10 yards out."
With neither defense able to put a stop together, the pressure mounted with each overtime on the kickers, holders and snappers for both teams. And it was Washington that buckled first.
Myers praised long snapper Jacob Coleman, Daves, the holder, and Patterson, the kicker, for their clutch performances.
Down 14-0, Pillow scored two touchdowns in 34 seconds late in the first half to tie the game at the half. The first TD came on a 19-yard run by senior Adam Ellis and the second on a 1-yard sneak by Louis Coleman.
The Mustangs went up 21-14 with 3:56 left in the third quarter when Daves capped a four-play, 26-yard drive from one yard out. Lewis Buford, a hard-running sophomore, keyed the short drive with a 21-yard romp.
The Mustangs then missed out on two scoring chances on their next possessions, fumbling the ball away at the Washington 13 and then turning the ball over on downs at the Washington 4.
On fourth and goal from the 4, Myers decided to go for it instead of trying for the team's first field goal of the season, and Coleman's pass fell incomplete in the end zone.
"I thought about kicking it, but I didn't like it on the right hash that close," Myers said. "(Patterson) would have probably made it, but we should have already put the dagger in the heart."
Two plays later, Washington quarterback Kevin Lanford hit Yarbrough out of the backfield with a throwback pass, and Yarbrough slipped out of the grasp of a couple of Mustang defenders and raced 93 yards for the game-trying score.
Brozovich missed two field goal attempts (42 and 31 yards) in the final 31/2 minutes. The 31-yarder was wide left on the final play of regulation.
Pillow finished with 254 rushing yards on 53 carries. Buford led the way with 86 hard-earned yards on 12 carries.
Daves had 78 yards and three TDs on 14 carries, while Ryan
Burt added 44 yards on 13 carries and Ellis 33 on seven.
Burt also had two receptions for 40 yards. Gulledge had the other three for 52 yards and two touchdowns.
Patterson, who entered the game 9-of-11 on PAT kicks, was 8-for-8 and had an interception. He leads the team with five pickoffs.
The Generals (4-4, 2-2) had 141 yards on the ground and 200 through the air.
