Smiths Station falls at Enterprise

ENTERPRISE — In football, sometimes it comes down to which team’s big playmakers make the most plays.

In the end of Friday’s showdown between the Smiths Station Panthers and the Enterprise Wildcats, the ‘Cats were the team that made the most plays.

Enterprise running back Brandon Hart ran in for a touchdown with 23.8 seconds left as the Wildcats took a 23-16 homecoming victory over the Panthers.

“My hat’s off to Enterprise. Our guys fought hard. They never quit, but Enterprise made one more play,” said Mark Rose, Smiths Station head coach.

With the win, Enterprise keeps its playoff hopes alive as it is 2-3 in region play.

Hart’s score was the last of three scores inside the final four minutes of the contest.

With the game tied at 10, Enterprise got a punt return of 34 yards from Hart to the Panthers’ 27 with 5:39 left to play.

Six plays later, Enterprise quarterback Tony Gray rushed in for an 8-yard score to put Enterprise up 16-10.

The snap on the extra point was mishandled, leaving the door open for the Panthers.

The Panthers took advantage, as their big-play running back Robert Frinks took a screen pass 54 yards for a score.

On the extra-point attempt, Enterprise’s Bryant McGowan blocked his fourth point-after attempt this year.

“I just watch the ball and get a jump,” McGowan said, adding he knew he had to take a better angle on the final Smiths Station kick. “I knew I had to step it up.”

“We go over must-block situations,” Wildcats head coach Kevin Collins said, adding his players know their assignments well in those situations. “(McGowan) gets off the ball quick.”

The next huge play came on the first play of the final Wildcats drive.

Gray dropped back to pass, but took off running for a 49-yard gain to the Panthers 27-yard line.

“My receiver was covered. I saw the opening, and I hit it,” Gray said.

Three plays later, Hart rushed in for the 17-yard score to put Enterprise up, 22-16.

The extra point from D.J. Kober made the score 23-16.

For as explosive as the fourth quarter was, the rest of the game had few highlights.

The first one came in the first quarter. On the Panthers’ second drive, quarterback Cody Hussey hit A.J. Williams with a 40-yard touchdown pass to put Smiths Station up 7-0.

A fumbled punt return set the Wildcats up with good field position at the Smiths Station 27, but the Wildcats settled for a 35-yard field goal from Kober.

The Panthers scored on a Nolan Carrero 24-yard field goal as the first half expired to lead 10-3 at halftime.

Enterprise had 57 yards of offense in the first half.

“We had so few offensive snaps that we had no rhythm,” Collins said. “We felt like with snaps we’d hit a few big plays.”

They did in the third quarter as Enterprise tied the game with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Gray to Xavier Frazier.

“The long pass sparked (the team),” Collins said.

Gray led the Enterprise offense with 15 carries for 144 yards and 5-of-11 passing for 92 yards.

Gray had three carries for minus-4 yards in the first half.

Frinks led Smiths Station with 15 carries for 63 yards and two receptions for 83 yards.

Roderick Austin had five catches for 77 yards and Williams had four catches for 75 yards as Hussey rolled up 235 yards passing.

He completed 11 of his 22 attempts for two touchdowns and two interceptions.