Martin survives a late two-point conversion try by Bowie to claim the District 8-6A title

It was the worst time for the Arlington Martin offense to not show up. But it’s a good thing for the Warriors that the defense did.

Arlington Bowie came calling to face the Warriors for the District 8-6A championship at Choctaw Stadium and the Volunteers moved the ball all over the field, but when it counted most, the Martin defense and special teams stepped up.

The Warriors stopped a two-point conversion pass with 36 seconds left in the game to escape with a 30-29 victory over Bowie on Thursday night to claim the 8-6A title.

“Our defense and special teams made big play after big play all the way down to that two-point conversion at the end,” said Martin coach Chad Rives, who’s team scored touchdowns on an interception return and a blocked punt in the first half. “It’s a credit to our defense. We gave up 409 yards of offense in the first half and still found a way.”

Bowie (7-3 overall, 5-1 district), down 30-23, got the ball back with 2:29 left in the game at their own 25 after a 42-yard field goal by Martin (7-3, 6-0) fell short.

The Warriors’ defense had stepped up after the half forcing a Bowie punt and holding the Vols on downs three times before the final drive.

Quarterback Larry Nichols marched the Vols to the Bowie 46 yard line, but a sack by Martin’s Jesse Ford pushed them back to the 39. Nichols then hit Zion Shelley for 16 yards on fourth down to the Martin 45.

Nichols took the next snap and was pressured, but rolled to the right to find a wide open Keidric Osunde-Brown in the back of the end zone to cut the lead to 30-29. Nichols rolled right again on the two-point conversion, but his pass to Osunde-Brown was tipped away at the last second by a Martin defender.

“The two-point conversion, that was my fault,” said Bowie coach Joseph Sam. “Maybe I should have organized it better and I’ll take the blame for that. It is what it is. I was going with my gut instinct on that one.”

Martin’s Marcus Mason recovered the ensuing onside kick and the Warriors were able to run out the clock.

Bowie out gained Martin on offense 409 total yards to 90 in the first half and ran 51 plays to the Warriors’ 14, but the Volunteers only had a three-point lead, 23-20, at the break.

The Volunteers first drive ended with an interception by Martin’s Zavien Abercrombie who picked off the pass at the Warriors’ 12 yard line and returned it out to the 31. Bowie had kicked off to start the game and tried an onside kick that was recovered by the Vols’ Jacob Patterson at the Martin 46.

Martin was woeful on offense early going three and out on its first two possessions. The Warriors didn’t pick up a first down until around the 8:30 mark of the second quarter.

Nichols started Bowie’s second possession with a 46-yard run down to the Martin 35 yard line. Six plays later Nichols scrambled and found Osunde-Brown in the back of the end zone from 19 yards out to give Bowie a 6-0 lead with 4:31 left in the opening frame.

Following another Martin punt, Tavares Duckett took the second snap off right tackle and raced down the sideline for a 78-yard score. The Vols were right back in business when Mason Williams recovered another onside kick, this time at the Bowie 47.

Nichols drove the team down to the Martin 26, but a third down pass was picked off by Warriors’ sophomore safety Jordan Talley and returned 89 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 13-6 with nine seconds left in the first quarter.

“We were in a deep third and the quarterback rolled out so I was looking,” said Talley. “I remembered all day in film that they’re key player was number eight (Dilon Jackson) so I looked off and boom the ball was there. I just had to make a big play.”

Bowie moved the ball again driving into Martin territory, but a holding penalty at the eight nullified a 38-yard TD pass from Nichols to Rafeald Campbell. The Vols had to settle for a 30-yard field goal by Nate Acheampong to up the lead to 16-6 with 9:29 left in the second quarter.

After another Martin punt, Bowie was on the move again going 30 yards in nine plays before the drive stalled at the Martin 40 yard line. Logan Baresh and Keller Webb raced in and blocked the punt for the Warriors with Webb picking the ball up at the 31 and reaching the end zone to cut the lead to 16-13 with 3:25 left before the intermission.

“We were struggling in the first half, but we made some big plays,” said Webb, a senior linebacker, about the Martin defense. “We weren’t doing our jobs right, but we got adjusted at halftime for what we were doing wrong and just took the coaching and fixed it.”

Nichols and the Volunteers were not fazed, however, scoring 32 seconds later. Nichols hit passes of 12 and 17 yards to Jackson before tossing a 26-yard scoring pass to Campbell who made a diving catch in the end zone.

From that point, Martin finally got its offense going.

After a 32-yard kickoff return to midfield by Brooks Brigance, the Warriors scored three plays later when Brigance tossed a perfect pass to Trantan Miles for a 36-yard score. Brigance dropped the pass right over the shoulder of a Bowie defender into the arms of Miles to cut the lead to 23-20 which held until halftime.

Martin took its first lead at the 5:35 mark of the third quarter when Brigance ran a zone read around left end for a seven-yard TD to make it 27-23. The Warriors had sniffed out a fake punt by Bowie that gave Martin the ball at the Vols 22 and a pass interference penalty on Bowie set up Brigance’s score.

“The interception for a touchdown was such a huge momentum changer and the blocked punt for a TD even more so,” said Brigance, who threw for 98 yards completing seven of 12 passes and rushing 14 times for 59 yards. “It was just awesome that our defense and our special teams can just back us up if something isn’t going our way on offense.”

A 40-yard pass play from Brigance to Lael Tillman set up a 30-yard field goal by Martin kicker Harry Davidson to up the lead to 30-23 with 10:45 left in the game.

Bowie still out gained Martin in the second half 128-104. The Vols finished with 537 total yards with 242 coming on the ground and 295 through the air.

Nichols completed 25 of 35 passes for 295 yards and rushed 10 times for 48 yards for Bowie. Campbell had 10 catches for 110 yards with Jackson hauling in six for 64 yards and Osude-Brown with three receptions for 72 yards.

Duckett finished with 99 yards on 12 carries and Darrion Bowers carried 20 times for 81 yards for the Volunteers.

Martin had 194 yards of total offense with 96 rushing and 98 passing.

“We did everything in our power to lose this game so we’ll go back and watch the film,” said Rives. “If we don’t correct a lot of our mistakes then we’ll be done. That’s a pretty easy message.”

Martin came in to the game ranked No. 5 in the Star-Telegram Class 6A Area Rankings with Bowie right behind the Warriors at No. 6. Both teams had already qualified for the playoffs and both will get home-field advantage in the first round.

Martin will face Richardson Berkner (5-4) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Wilemon Field in Arlington in the Division 1 bi-district round. Bowie draws Dallas Jesuit (6-3) and will also play at Wilemon Field on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Berkner and Jesuit each have a game left to play on Friday, but the seeding is set.

“It’s been amazing,” said Talley. “Just really being part of the team for the first time and really feeling it, winning the district championship.”