After fighting a hard battle against the Winfield Warriors on Sept. 30, the Pirates varsity football team was able to secure their first win of the season. This win came with an insane ending including an overturned touchdown, which set up a completed hail mary touchdown pass. The Pirates were down 4 points at the end of the fourth quarter with a limited amount of time to make something happen. Once senior quarterback Blake Wiggs stepped in with a shotgun pass to senior wide receiver DJ Galmore, it seemed as if the Pirates scored a game-ending touchdown. This belief was quickly shut down when a holding call was thrown during the play on the Pirates offense. 

“Once I saw the ball in the air, I knew we were winning,” Head Coach Dan McMullen said, “once I saw the flag on the ground, that changed into a whole other story.”

The holding call pushed the Pirates offense back 10 more yards making the possibility of winning the game go out of reach. McMullen and the team had to decide which of their plays would give the team the best chance of winning. The ultimate decision was to rerun the same play as they did before the touchdown was overturned. 

“We had to go out there and do it again,” senior wide receiver DJ Galmore said.

After the team got in position, Blake Wiggs launched the ball down the field leaving it up to his receivers to find a way to catch the ball in the endzone. Junior receiver Bobby Hayes was able to pull off the catch in the endzone securing the Pirates’ first win of the season. The stadium was ecstatic and loud as the school celebrated the crazy ending to a close game.