PREP FOOTBALL: Ballard comes up short vs. Covenant

In only its second season of football, Ballard was one game away — one quarter away, really — from the ICSGA championship game.

Ballard had a 3-point lead to start the final quarter Friday night against Covenant Christian, but the Eagles couldn’t hold on, losing, 34-29.
Ballard led 29-26 as the fourth quarter began. The coaches on the sideline shouted “12 more minutes.”

But it only took 8 minutes for Covenant to score in the final quarter.

With four minutes to play, Ballard got the ball back with one last drive to win the game and keep its season alive.

Then, it came down to one play. Ballard had the ball fourth-and-5 from the Covenant 15-yard line with 1:13 left in the game.

The Eagles ran the option to the left, but Covenant stopped them short, sealing the game and ending Ballard’s storied run.

After the game, Ballard head coach Buddy Hammock told the team that there were no losers in the locker room.

“I hate it for our seniors,” he said. “We played a good game against a good team. A game like this comes down to a few plays, and we didn’t execute right there at the end of the game. I felt like whomever had the ball last would win the game. It was like a basketball game, you wanted to have the ball in your hand last.

“We felt good after they scored because we had enough time to score and win the game.”

Ballard received the opening kickoff and marched down the field behind the running of Judson Butler and Jacob Hall. Hall capped the drive with an 8-yard score for a 7-0 lead.

Less than a minute later, Ballard found itself behind 8-7 as Covenant scored on a long run on its second offensive play of the game.

Late in the first quarter, Ballard’s defense stopped Covenant on a curious fourth-down try from its own 25, setting up Ballard’s offense in good field position.

A 15-yard pass from Judson Scott to Ben Causland on the first play of the second quarter gave Ballard its second lead of the game, 14-7.

After Covenant scored to tie the game at 14, Ballard’s offense moved down the field again later in the second quarter. The key play in the drive occurred when Scott pitched the ball to Hall, who then passed it back to Scott for a 26-yard completion.

Two plays later, Hall scored his second touchdown of the half from 8 yards out. Butler’s 2-point conversion made it 22-14. Covenant scored late in the second quarter to make it 22-20 at halftime.

Covenant took the lead with a touchdown on its first drive to begin the second half.

Ballard’s lone scoring drive began when T.J. Turkington caused a fumble, which was recovered by William Cahill. After Ballard’s drive was stalled at the goal line, Scott passed to Causland on fourth-and-3 to score a Ballard touchdown giving it a 29-26 lead as the third quarter ended.

Ballard ended their second season of football with a 10-2 record. Covenant advances to the ICSGA Championship game next week in Douglasville, Ga.