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The first hint was the game ball being delivered via air by a skydiver, New Albany graduate Paul Stanford.
The excitement factor carried on.
Corinth and New Albany practice it every day - the art of blocking and making extra points. It came in handy Friday night in a 21-19 win.
The Warriors remained unbeaten at 4-0 thanks in huge part to the hand senior lineman Randy Hill got on Eathen Rainey's extra point attempt in the fourth quarter.
The block forced New Albany to go for two to tie at the end of the game.
"We practice PATs, field goals every day live," Corinth coach Doug Jones said. "It was a team effort, but that was the play that really sticks out to me and we stuffed them on that two-point conversion."
There were a handful of key plays, freshman Antares Gwyn's pick-6 included. Hill said he gets to pick where he is on the extra-point play.
"In practice, you may get tired of it, but (Jones) tells us to keep trying," Hill said. "It's not a waste of time."
getting TRICKY
Hill's block was nearly an afterthought. New Albany was down to its final play and trailed 21-13. As time expired, quarterback Spencer Day lined a pass to Chandler Nail at the Corinth 38. Nail drew a pair of tacklers and made a perfect pitch to running back Boston Newsome who won a 30-yard foot race to the end zone.
Newsome was stopped on a tying two-point run attempt but the hitch-and-pitch TD will be talked about for a while. It's not the first time it has worked either. The Bulldogs are 3-for-3, all touchdowns, on the play.
"If we don't miss our extra point, we're going to overtime," New Albany coach Ron Price said. "It's frustrating because we work on extra points every day. It's frustrating when you come out here on Friday night and somebody takes a play off."
brandon.speck@journalinc.com
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
SCHEDULE
(MHSAA kickoffs at 7:30 p.m.)
Thursday
Coldwater at Falkner
Friday
Amory at Calhoun City
Biggersville at Thrasher
Bruce at Houston
Calhoun Academy at North Sunflower
Columbus at Tupelo
Corinth at Alcorn Central
East Webster at St. Andrew’s
Hamilton at Walnut
Hatley at Mantachie
Holly Springs at Independence
Houlka at Tupelo Christian
H.W. Byers at Vardaman
Kossuth at Mooreville
Lafayette at Pontotoc
Lake Cormorant at West Point
Louisville at Aberdeen
Middleton (Tenn.) at New Site
Nettleton at North Pontotoc
New Albany at Cleveland
Okolona at Itawamba AHS
Oxford at Center Hill
Saltillo at New Hope
South Pontotoc at Baldwyn
Starkville at Lanier
Strayhorn at East Union
Tishomingo Co. at Choctawhatchee (Fla.)
DAILY JOURNAL RANKINGS
(Updated each Monday)
Class 6A/5A LW
1. West Point (2-2) .............................. 1
This week: vs. Lake Cormorant
2. Oxford (4-0) .................................... 2
This week: at Center Hill
3. Saltillo (3-1) .................................... 3
This week: at New Hope
Class 3A/4A LW
1. Lafayette (4-1) ................................ 1
This week: at Pontotoc
2. Itawamba AHS (4-0) ........................ 2
This week: vs. Okolona
3. Houston (5-0) .................................. 3
This week: vs. Bruce
4. Aberdeen (3-2) ................................ 5
This week: vs. Louisville
5T. Amory (4-1).................................... 4
This week: at Calhoun City
5T. Corinth (4-0) ................................ NR
This week: at Alcorn Central
CLASS 2A/1A LW
1. Bruce (4-1) ...................................... 1
This week: at Houston
2. Vardaman (2-2)................................ 3
This week: vs. Byers
3. East Webster (4-1) .......................... 4
This week: at St. Andrews
4. Smithville (3-1) ................................ 2
This week: Off
5. Falkner (3-1).................................... 5
This week: vs. Coldwater (Thursday)