Haleyville loses by one in OT heartbreaker

HALEYVILLE - The Haleyville High School Lions (2-2-0, 1-1) battled from a 21-10 deficit at halftime to 28-28 as the clock ended regulation play Friday night against the Northside Rams (3-1-0, 2-0) in region play.
Due to a penalty on the play that ran the clock out, Haleyville’s Jacob Lolley kicked a tremendous 49-yard field goal attempt that was on the mark, but  fell just a couple of yards short.
The game went into overtime with HHS putting points on the board first, on a Kane Gravitt-Tucker touchdown and Lolley adding the PAT.
Northside scored a TD on their possession and quarterback Jake Corkren carried in the two point conversion to give the Rams a 36-35 win.
At the start of the game, Northside scored midway in the first quarter, when Corkren hit Blake Powell wide open in the flats for a 60-yard touchdown. Nick Overton kicked the PAT for a seven point lead.
It was three-and-out for the Lions in the next series. Dallas Clark blocked the punt by Jackson Kennedy to take possession at the HHS 15.
Wes Maluda brought down a touchdown pass in the middle. Overton’s PAT made the score 14-0, with 3:48 left in the first quarter.
Haleyville once again had to punt, but an interception by Kennedy gave HHS possession at the Lion 35.
Camden Smith gained eight yards on a carry, followed by quarterback Eli Musso moving the chains to the HHS 45 on a keeper.
Musso optioned right to Christian Chambers for the 55-yard touchdown. Lolley was good for the PAT to make the score 14-7.
An onside kick by the Lions resulted in a fumble and a HHS recovery by Jarrett Baggett at the Northside 36-yard-line.
Chambers added three yards on a carry, with Smith going up the middle to the NHS 29. Musso gained a first down at the 21-yard-line on a keeper, but after three plays Haleyville faced a 4th-and-8 situation. Lolley came in to boot a 35-yard field goal, narrowing the Northside’s lead to 14-10.
The Lions went for another onside kick that resulted in a fumble recovery by Eli Wakefield for Haleyville at the Northside 45. The possession was short-lived on a fumble by Haleyville on the first play of the drive. The Rams took possession at the HHS 33. Northside took the ball in to score in four plays.  The PAT was good to make the score 21-10 in the second quarter of play. The score stood at halftime.
Haleyville scored 18  points in the fourth quarter.
Gravitt-Tucker recovered a fumble at the Northside 14-yard-line.  On the third snap, Musso hit Eli Wakefield in the end zone for six points. Lolley’s PAT was good, which made the score 21-17.
The Rams answered on the first play of the next drive, going 63 yards to score. The PAT was good, increasing the NHS lead to 11 points.
Lolley was called on again for a field goal on a 4th-and-7. He put the ball through on the 37-yard attempt. This left the Lions trailing by eight.
Northside was forced to punt in the next series, Chambers, Wakefield, Nick Whitman and Ty Black put the ball at the Ram 5-yard-line. Black barrelled up the middle to the end zone for the touchdown. Musso scored the two-point conversion on a keeper that tied the score at 28-28 with 2:56 left in the game.
The Lions defense came out tried-and-true in the next series to hold the Rams on downs at the Haleyville  24-yard-line.
Haleyville worked their way down to the NHS 32 as the time ran out and the overtime ensued.
HHS head coach Chris Musso commented following the game, “I am so proud of our guys. They fought their guts out. They are all winners and they fought as hard at they could fight.
“The Rams made an extra play there at the end. If we had scored second, we would have went for two as well. We have to tip our hats to them and we have nothing to be ashamed of.”
The Lions has an open date this Friday night.