VELMA — VELMA — The Velma-Alma Comets and Healdton Bulldogs were deadlocked at 13 at halftime of Friday night’s A-4 District clash at Jerb Bryant Stadium-Edgar Martin Field.
It was Senior Night for the Comets, and senior running back Trenten Files gathered the majority of his 171 yards in the second half to lead Velma-Alma to a 49-21 win and second place in A-4.
With junior running back Tanner Jenkins hampered by a sprained ankle, Files broke four runs of 26 or more yards, one of which was a scoring run in the fourth quarter.
“Tanner went down a little and I felt like I needed to lead,” Files said. “My legs finally feel good.”
Files also had two touchdown receptions in the game.
The Bulldogs had momentum after taking a 13-7 lead late in the second quarter, but that momentum swing was short lived.
Velma-Alma senior quarterback Dustin Sloan hit three of his six passes on the ensuing drive. Sloan’s first pass fell incomplete after Jenkins had picked up six yards to the Comet 38. Files carried for no gain on the next play. On fourth-and-4, Velma-Alma went for it, and got the Bulldogs to jump off sides resulting in a fresh set of downs.
Sloan carried for five yards and then connected with Dillon Dennis on a 27-yard pick up to the Healdton 24. Senior wide receiver Frank Johnson snagged a pass for a 21-yard gain to the Bulldog three.
A V-A penalty pushed the Comets back to the HHS 8 with eight seconds left in the first half. On fourth-and-goal with four seconds on the clock, Sloan and Files connected on an eight-yard scoring pass. Cord Gothard missed the extra point to leave the score at 13-13.
“It was nerve racking and we knew we were running out of time,” Sloan said of running the two-minute drill for a score. “We were really focused. We knew we had to score because they had the momentum.”
Jenkins returned the opening kickoff of the second half 76 yards, but a block in the back brought the ball back to Healdton’s 43. Jenkins carried one time for 11 yards and Tucker Dobbs finished the drive on the next play with a 32-yard run with just 40 seconds expired from the third quarter.
Files caught his second touchdown pass of the night from 16 yards out from Sloan on the next drive, and Gothard’s extra point made it 28-13.
In the fourth, the Bulldogs only completion of the night came in the form of a J.J. Montaie pass to Billy Benitez at the 10:38 mark in the fourth.
Jenkins one-yard run finished off a 70-yard drive with a plunge from a yard out with 7:21 to go in the game.
Then, Files scored on his 26-yard run to build the lead. The scoring was finished off by Tyler Smith, who scored from 10 yards out for the 49-21 final with 1:55 to play after Velma-Alma recovered an on-side kick.
It was Jenkins, who finished with 138 yards on 16 carries, that got the Comets on the scoreboard first.
With 4:48 left in the first quarter, Jenkins punctuated an eight-play drive with a 14-yard run on second-and-goal after a Velma-Alma penalty.
“I felt like they couldn’t stop us on offense,” Velma-Alma head coach Greg Gothard said. “I didn’t know If we could stop them, either. I felt like we stopped ourselves in the first half with penalties.”
Healdton answered in the second quarter with 13 straight points. Montaie scored on a 64-yard scamper on a nine-play drive with 7:05 remaining before the half. Dustin Roper booted the PAT to tie the contest at 7-all.
Montaie capped an eight-play drive with a six-yard run with 1:56 to give the Bulldogs a 13-7 edge and the momentum.
Velma-Alma will open the playoffs at home, as they host the Hollis Tigers Friday night.
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Ron Booth
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UNTARNISHED
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