DARDANELLE -- Brayden Caudle fully expected to run a quarterback sneak as the final seconds ticked down and Charleston was a yard away from the go-ahead score.
Tigers coach Greg Kendrick had other ideas, though. He opted for a pass play, and Caudle hit Jaxson Furr in the end zone with 8 seconds left to give Charleston a 29-23 victory Tuesday over Dardanelle in nonconference football action at Keenan Field.
Charleston 29, Dardanelle 23
Charleston^0^7^14^8^—^29
Dardanelle^0^6^14^3^—23
Second quarter
CHAR — Wisdom 21 pass from Caudle (Stoll kick), 2:11.
DARD — Carter 26 run (kick blocked), 0:27.
Third quarter
DARD — Carter 52 run (Martinez kick), 11:41.
CHAR — Wisdom 74 pass from Caudle (Stoll kick), 9:51.
DARD — Carter 1 run (Martinez kick), 6:10.
CHAR — Wisdom 19 pass from Caudle (Stoll kick), 2:23.
Fourth quarter
DARD — FG Martinez 42, 6:57.
CHAR — Furr 1 pass from Caudle (Flanagan run), 0:08.
"It's kind of who we are," Kendrick said. "My quarterback grew up. My kids grew up. We lost eight starters on offense from last year's team, so I was really proud of our kids.
"They brought the excitement and played hard. We didn't execute very well, but we competed and battled. We still have a long way to go. We're nowhere where we need to be, but you couldn't ask for a better group with heart and character and how they kicked and clawed and scraped."
Caudle's fourth touchdown pass capped a 13-play, 79-yard drive that came after defensive lineman Dain Young intercepted Elyas Carter's screen-pass attempt with 2 minutes, 14 seconds left. Caudle mainly stayed on the sidelines and mixed in an occasional run as Charleston drove to the Dardanelle 22 with 27 seconds on the clock.
That's when the Tigers first bucked their trend. Caudle chose that time to go up the middle and hit Sean Michael Flanagan with a 21-yard pass to the 1, then hit Furr on the ensuing play following an official timeout as Flanagan left the field with cramps. Flanagan followed with a two-point conversion run that made it 2
"Sean Michael came up to me and said 'if you want a touchdown here, I've got it,'" Caudle said. "I went left, then went to him, and he made an unbelievable catch and put us in a position to win the game."
"On the next play, I just made sure I read it right. On that play, the primary receiver is the Y going across. They covered him, but I looked outside and there was Jack Furr. I put it on him."
Dardanelle had taken a 23-21 lead when Temo Martinez booted a 42-yard field goal with 6:57 remaining, and Charleston was hit with mistakes on its ensuing drive. Two penalties were called, including a false start call on a third-down pass that would have given the Tigers a first down at midfield, then a bad snap on a punt attempt gave Dardanelle the ball on the Charleston 16 with 3:25 remaining.
The Tigers' defense, however, stiffened at the right moment. Blake Chambers was dropped for a 3-yard loss on second-and-1 from the Charleston 7, and Young was at the right spot for his first interception when the Sand Lizards tried a screen pass on the next play.
"He just dropped back to pass and the line disappeared," Young said. "I thought it would be a screen play, and the ball just came right to me. Honestly, I thought I was going to drop it for a second.
"I just took off running, and a guy grabbed me by the ankles, and I just hung on to the ball."
Charleston led 21-20 after three quarters, with the difference being Dean Lee's block of a Martinez extra-point attempt in the first half. With Dardanelle's defense swarming Flanagan throughout the game, Caudle went to Mason Wisdom for touchdown passes of 21, 74 and 19 yards, while Dardanelle countered with Carter's touchdown runs of 26, 52 and 1 yards, the last one coming after Dardanelle chose to take a roughing the kicker penalty instead of a 24-yard field goal by Martinez midway through the third quarter.
Sports on 08/30/2017