By Sean Isabella
Enterprise-journal
Sprint right 89 wheel.
For the time being, that will arbitrarily be the name for the freak play that ultimately gave McComb its first playoff berth since 2007.
Franco Harris’ play for the Steelers in the ‘70s spawned the Immaculate Reception, Stanford is known for the band play and Boise State for the statue of liberty.
Now, if McComb makes a run in the 5A playoffs, Sprint right 89 wheel may anoint a new name.
In one of the wildest finishes in the state this season, McComb used a late score in the last minutes to clinch a 18-14 homecoming win over West Jones for the fourth and final playoff spot in Region 3-5A.
Down 14-12 with less than two minutes to play, McComb faced a third-and-17 from its own 37-yard line. That’s when the play was called.
Junior quarterback Quartavious Smith, who battled a left leg cramp the entire night, sprinted to his right and lofted a pass 20 yards downfield into triple coverage.
Intended receiver Kevonte Dillon could only get a hand on it at West Jones’ 38 yard line. The ball, however, was tipped backward toward the 40 and right into the hands of MHS senior Cavellis Luckett. He took the gift and raced toward the middle of the field and down the left sideline, sending the McComb bench and fans into hysteria.
“When I first threw it, I was like, ‘Ah man.’ I squirmed a little,” Smith said. “When I saw him catch it, I was like ‘Thank God.’ I knew no one was going to catch him. I was the happiest man on earth.”
Like Smith, those two words — thank God — was the first thing coach Malcolm Jones came up with after the game. Jones, who has been criticized at times by the disgruntled McComb fan base, proved the naysayers wrong by reaching the playoffs in his third season.
“I give this program my heart and my soul and I put everything in that I have … to turn it around and it’s finally happening,” he said. “Nobody outside this locker room, nobody outside this coaching staff believed that we could beat (West Jones).”
Without Luckett’s instincts and track speed, there is no telling where McComb’s season may have gone.
Yet despite Luckett’s effort, the team would have never been in that situation if not for the defense. The Tigers shut down the Mustangs attack, who scored 46 points in a win over Pearl last week, to 253 total yards.
West Jones had the ball inside its own 40 with 6:04 left to play, needing only a few first downs to seal the victory. Quarterback Seth McDonald deflated the crowd with a 41-yard scamper to the McComb 20. But the Mustangs hit a wall on the next three plays, and McDonald’s errant throw out of the back of the end zone on fourth-and-3 turned the ball over on downs to the Tigers at the 13-yard line with 3:13 to play.
“We’ve been relying on our defense the entire year,” Jones said.
“They took care of business as usual. My defense is as good as anyone’s in the district.”
Even with the long run, McComb held McDonald to 48 yards on 21 carries. McDonald was 9 of 15 for 161 yards through the air, although a large chunk came on a 68-yard completion to Ryan Windham in the third quarter that set up West Jones with a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line. Ernest Owens punched it in three plays later to put the Mustangs back on top, 14-12.
McComb built a 12-7 lead at halftime using a pair of scores in the second quarter by Smith and running back Deonte Evans.
Evans capped a 12-play, 67-yard drive with 4:33 left in the first half with a 3-yard TD run. The score was set up by Keithrick Thompson’s leaping interception that halted a West Jones drive.
Evans finished two yards shy from his third-straight 100-yard game with 98 yards on 16 carries. He also played a big role on defense - recording three sacks - including one that sealed the win with four seconds left.
After a quick stop, McComb drove 67 yards and scored when Smith, line up at receiver, picked a jump-ball out of the air in the corner of the end zone for a 15-yard score from sophomore Alex Woodall.
“Quartavious came to the sideline and said, “Coach, put Alex in, I can beat No. 2, I can beat No. 2,’” Jones said. “So we threw it up to him and he out jumped him like he normally does. He just made big plays.”
Smith started and took about 80 percent of the snaps but Woodall made his first appearance since spraining his AC joint at South Jones.
