The classic David versus Goliath story shows up in books and movies all the time, but we rarely see it in real life. But it happened on Monday night when Boise State faced off against Oklahoma in the 36th Annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl at the University of Phoenix Stadium.
Boise State pulled out the rarely seen Statue of Liberty play during overtime to score their final touchdown leaving the score at 43-42, and used all kinds of other tricks along the way to seal the victory.
In the first quarter of the game, the Broncos stunned the Sooners with two quick touchdowns to take a 14-0 lead. Oklahoma made mistake after mistake and Boise State was quick to take advantage and possession of the ball.
The Sooners jumped back in the game in the second quarter when Marcus Walker scored a touchdown after an interception, followed by a kick by Garret Hartley to bring the Sooners’ score up to 10 points.
With a mere 33 seconds left on the clock before halftime, Drisan James scored his second touchdown of the night, putting the Broncos up by 11 going into the break.
Tensions ran high on the field during the game as penalty after penalty was called on both teams. Boise State started to lose energy, as Oklahoma channeled their frustration into the game. After the ball ricocheted off of a Boise player’s leg, Oklahoma took possession of the ball and Adrian Peterson scored a touchdown. This left the Sooners down by only one touchdown going into the fourth quarter.
This score stood until late in the fourth quarter. With 2:40 to go, Oklahoma had the ball deep in its own territory with no timeouts. It seemed like their final chance. They managed to sustain drive, culminating in a five yard pass from quarterback Quentin Chaney to Paul Thompson with 1:26 to go. The score was 28-28.
On the first play from scrimmage after the kick-off, Zabransky threw across his body to the right. Marcus Walker stepping into the flat and intercepted the pass for a 30-yard touchdown, breaking Bronco hearts everywhere.
But the story wasn’t over yet.
Zabransky returned to the field and this time immediately completed a 30-yard pass. He was sacked for a loss of ten on the next play. The next two plays were lost to incomplete passes. It was fourth and ten, 30 seconds to go, and Boise State coach Chris Petersen called timeout.
When play resumed, Zabransky threw a pass over the middle to Gerard Rabb, who immediately lateralled it right to Drisan James. James snagged the ball and scampered all the way into the end zone. With the extra point, the game was tied, with only seven seconds left on the clock.
The game went into overtime. The Sooners’ Adrian Peterson needed only one play to score a touchdown. The Broncos were forced to work longer for their touchdown, but, eventually, Derek Schouman scored. BSU Coach Chris Petersen decided to take a risk and go for the victory rather than extra overtime. Their trick play allowed Ian Johnson to race into the end zone.
After the winning touchdown, Johnson proposed to his girlfriend, cheerleader Chrissy Popadics on national television.
“It would have been easy to give up on us with a minute left, but we had a lot of magic left,” said Zabransky.
-Samah Pirzada and Isabel Herrera
Good descriptions. I like the way you transition your paragraphs. Keeps the drama of the game going. It's exciting reading it.
ReplyDeleteKeep on writing