Published: November 09, 2009 10:48 am      

Gilbert lifts PV to third place finish

Pauls Valley snatched victory from the jaws of defeat Friday night. Senior receiver Ethan Gilbert got behind the Bethany defense and senior quarterback Caleb Livingston hit him with a perfect pass that that covered 84 yards to give the Panthers a 19-14 lead with a minute to play.

The defense made a huge stand for the Panthers in the closing minute as Gilbert picked off a Bethany to seal the victory and a third place finish in district 3A-2.

“That was the biggest play of the game and possibly of the year,” Panther head coach Kevin Foster said. “We were facing a fourth-and-20 and Caleb (Livingston) hits Ethan (Gilbert) with a perfect pass for a touchdown.”

“We thought we were beat,” Gilbert said. “I mean how could you not think that in that situation?”

“I knew that he would be open,” Livingston said. “I just called the play ‘Georgia’ and waited for him to come open down the sideline.”

The play took a long time to develop and the Panther offensive line gave Livingston enough time to loft the ball 40-yards down field to Gilbert in stride and he never looked back.

Bethany came into the game with their names in the headlines. Senior quarterback Silas Day, who was among the leaders in Class 3A in passing, and Nate Day, the Bronchos receiving leader, quit the team.

“I respect those guys in the other locker room,” Foster said. “They’ve had some adversity this week and I proud of the coaching staff for sticking to the decisions made this week.”

In for Silas Day was sophomore quarterback Ryley Clayborn. Clayborn has seen limited action this year and his numbers Friday night showed that, finishing 4-of-21 with 83 yards and three interceptions.

The Bethany offense sputtered most the night with only 146 total yards, but a couple of third quarter touchdowns gave the Bronchos a 14-13 lead.

“I thought our defense played well all night but especially in the first half,” Foster said. “They ran six plays in the first quarter for zero yards and only had 23 yards at half time.”

Pauls Valley on the other hand squandered two opportunities in the first half to put points on the board after getting inside the ‘Red Zone.’ They drove 74 yards in the first quarter only to turn the ball over on downs and had a short field after a fumble that they also turned the ball over on downs.

In between though, the Panthers had a 13-play drive that included two third-down conversions and ended with Terry Sanders going in from two inches out for the touchdown and early second quarter lead.

Late in the first half, Pauls Valley got the ball back in the Bethany end of the field after a nine-yard punt into the howling south wind. With the clock ticking down and Pauls Valley facing a third-and-10 from the 27, offensive coordinator Richard Norman went deep in his playbook.

Livingston dropped back to pass and hit Gilbert with an 8-yard pass. Gilbert pitched the ball to Tyler Harding on the hit-and-pitch. Harding streaked up the sideline untouched for the touchdown and a 13-0 lead.

PV tried the same thing at the end of last week’s game with Purcell and it ended with a fumble. This week it worked to perfection as PV had a two-touchdown lead at the break.

Bethany had won the toss to start the game and deferred to the second half. They kicked off to start the game and chose to make Pauls Valley go into the wind to start the second half instead of receiving the ball.

It worked for the Bronchos as PV went three-and-out quickly to start the second half. The Panther defense didn’t let that bother them as they returned the favor forcing Bethany to turn the ball over on downs.

In the middle of the third quarter, Bethany got the break they were looking for. After a Sanders fumble, Bethany hit pay dirt when Clayborn completed only his second pass of the day a 39-yard reception to Tanner Robinson cutting the lead to 13-7.

Bethany caught another break of sorts near the end of the third quarter when Jacob Nelson picked off a Livingston pass and returned it to the Panther 7-yard line. On the next play, Devin Campbell found the end zone and Cole Rinke kick gave Bethany a 14-13 lead.

Pauls Valley had a chance to regain the lead early in the fourth quarter but turned the ball over on downs at the Bethany 26-yard line.

Bethany then took over six minutes off the clock with a 15-play drive the moved the ball from their own 26 to the Panther 26. Bethany turned the ball over on downs, but left the Panthers with a lot of real estate in front of them and very little time.

Livingston was sacked for a 7-yard loss on first down and just missed out on a big play on second down as the ball went off the finger tips of receive Dylan Norman. On third down the ball was snapped before Livingston was ready and the game almost ended there, but Livingston was able to get on the loose ball with only a 3-yard loss back to the 16-yard line.

Facing a fourth-and-20, Livingston dropped back to pass. He got plenty of protection from the lineman up front giving he and Gilbert time to hook up. Gilbert’s reception was the longest of the season and the biggest thus far.

Pauls Valley went from guess we will be home next week to Clinton here we come all in the matter of 10 seconds as Gilbert went into the end zone virtually untouched.

“We overcame some adversity in the third quarter,” Foster said. “I have to take my hat off to our kids. They stepped up when it counted.”

Pauls Valley will now prepare for what is turning out to be one of the scariest teams in Class 3A the Clinton Red Tornadoes. They are getting healthy at the right time and have the experience to capture another gold ball. It all starts Friday in the Tornado Bowl in Clinton.