AURORA — Never count Eaglecrest out.
The Raptors rallied from a big deficit to defeat cross-town rival Grandview 36-35 in a showdown between two undefeated and ranked teams Friday night. And it all came down to the final seconds of play.
With 32 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Eaglecrest quarterback Dylan James connected with Ty Robinson, who made an incredible one-handed catch, to set up a tie game after the extra point. Instead, the Raptors went for the two-point conversion and win -- a move that played off earning them a statement victory.
"We just got to push through adversity, and that's what we did. When we work as a team, we're a good ball team," James said.
Grandview was the first to score, on a 46-yard rush from Jordan Billingsley. The Wolves seemingly put the game away in the third quarter, after Noah Schmidt found the end zone, giving Grandview a 35-14 lead -- their largest of the night.
But the Raptors fought back. James scored three rushing touchdowns in his team's victory, and they backed him up -- including the highlight-worthy game-winning touchdown from Robinson.
"I knew he was going to throw it to me because I saw him roll out. I knew at that point I had to make a play, because it was that time of the game I had stick up and make a play," he said.
Eaglecrest improves to a perfect 6-0 on the season, and will play Overland on Thursday, October, 4. Grandview dropped to 5-1, and will face No. 8 Cherokee Trail next Friday.
The Grandview vs. Eaglecrest game was also voted the 9Preps Game of the Week. Prior to the game itself, students from both high schools met on the gridiron to participate in the Game Before the Game. See the action in the video below.
