GALVESTON — Two yards away from the biggest victory of his career, Andre Patino ran into what looked like a brick wall.
The aftermath of the Ball High School football team’s 15-13 loss to Pearland Friday night made it look like the entire team hit it with him.
Some Tors players understandably threw tantrums. Others crashed to the ground in disbelief. Some walked around in a daze unable to get out of the way of other teammates who sobbed.
“This loss hurts so, so bad,” Patino said. “To drive the whole field all the way to the 2-yard line and not score hurts so bad.”
After marching 85 yards in less than three minutes, Ball High found itself on the Pearland 2-yard line with 20 seconds remaining and no timeouts. The referees placed the ball seconds after Kevin Matthews caught a 25-yard pass from Patino, then Patino called for the snap and tried to run the ball in on what he thought was supposed to be a quarterback isolation play.
Coach Ron Holmes said the sideline was calling for Patino to spike the ball to give the Tors a 2nd-and-goal play with about 15 seconds to play. Patino said he never heard the coaches screaming for an intentional clock stoppage. The senior leader got stymied at the goal line with 7 seconds to play, and the Tors did not get off another play.
Pearland coach Tony Heath said he was surprised Patino ran the play.
“They had one last play, and I’m just glad they didn’t spike the ball,” said Heath, whose Oilers clinched at least a share of the District 24-5A title. “I would have given the ball to Patino, too (after spiking the ball). He carried them tonight.”
After the initial shock of the dramatic loss wore of, the Tors (5-4, 2-3) were left to ponder whether it meant an end to their playoff hopes. They’ll likely have a bounce back in their step today after finding out Brazoswood defeated Clear Brook to leave a three-way tie for fourth place with Ball High, Clear Lake and Clear Brook. The Tors play at Clear Creek next week, while Clear Brook travels to Pearland and Clear Lake travels to Brazoswood. A victory over Pearland would have given the Tors a much easier path to the playoffs.
“This was a big ball game,” Holmes said. “Our kids played hard and I’m proud of that. Pearland has a good football team. They made the play when it mattered.”
The biggest play before the final one happened on the point after attempt following Ball High’s second touchdown with 6:32 to go in the game. Patino passed to Danny Swan for a 21-yard score on 4th-and-20. Pearland’s Gary Robertson, who had blocked three extra point attempts before Friday, raced up the middle untouched and blocked Jose Alcocer’s kick. Robertson picked up the ball on the 19 and ran the last 81 yards all by himself to give Pearland the point instead of the Tors.
Kasey Carrier did most of the damage for Pearland. He rushed 22 times for 125 yards and two touchdowns. His first touchdown helped tie the game midway through the second quarter. His second helped to give the Oilers a 14-7 lead early in the fourth.
Patino opened the scoring with a 72-yard run early in the first quarter. On the second series, he reinjured the ankle that kept him sidelined for the previous two weeks. Noticeably limping the rest of the game, he never left and finished with 135 rushing yards and 113 passing yards. He completed 6-of-13 passes, but made all the big ones count. He completed two on the last drive — a 28-yarder to Swan on 4th-and-12, and the 25-yarder to Matthews on the following play.
The next one, though, is the play they’ll all likely remember.
“We were looking to pull a little upset,” Ball High’s Mike Littleton said. “We thought we had the game in our hands.”
