PANAMA CITY BEACH – Arnold's Chandler Marshall knew what was coming. All that remained was blowing it up.
Marshall stuffed Bay quarterback Xavier Longerbeam at the 1-yard line on a two-point conversion attempt with seven seconds left in the game, and Arnold held on for a wild 31-30 victory in a District 1-5A football game at the Mike Gavlak Sports Complex.
Arnold improved to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the district with the thrilling Homecoming victory. Bay (2-5, 1-3) suffered a second straight heartbreaking defeat in which the Tornadoes couldn't convert a play in crunch time inside the opponent's 5-yard line.
Longerbeam located receiver Justin Davis wide open for a 15-yard touchdown pass to pull Bay within 31-30, and the Tornadoes called timeout before lining up to attempt a two-point conversion. Bay, which missed a field goal in the final seconds last week in a narrow loss, tried to run Longerbeam on a read-option play, but Marshall was positioned perfectly to hit Longerbeam and drive him backward for the game-saving tackle.
“I saw the guard pull, and the quarterback had been keeping it most of the game,” Marshall said.
Arnold jumped ahead 8-0 in the first quarter with a safety sandwiched by a pair of Austin Peffers field goals, but that advantage didn't hold. The teams traded leads throughout the contest, and neither program was able to swing momentum in its favor for long.
Trailing 24-23, Arnold forced a punt and regained possession at the Bay 43 with 3:11 remaining on the clock. Running back Torri Cotton, who finished with 99 yards on 12 carries, raced 23 yards on the first play before squirting through the Tornado defense for a 20-yard touchdown run. His two-point conversion moments later gave the Marlins a 31-24 lead with 2:57 left.
Bay took over at its 25 and converted a pair of third downs to move the ball quickly into Marlin territory. Longerbeam had a 6-yard touchdown pass to Robert Monroe called back because of a holding penalty. After an incompletion, Longerbeam saw Davis running alone down the left sideline and delivered a perfect throw for the touchdown.
Longerbeam, who rushed for 108 yards and contributed with another 109 through the air, rushed for a 2-yard touchdown and added the two-point conversion to knot the score at 8-8 in the second quarter. Arnold responded with Cody Saunders' 21-yard touchdown pass to Jovanni Perea for a 15-8 edge at halftime.
Raekwon Webb, who lost a fumble at the Arnold goal-line earlier in the game, rushed for touchdowns of 3 and 35 yards in the third quarter. He finished the night with 24 rushes for 148 yards.
Saunders added a 45-yard touchdown pass to Stephen Benedik, who finished with five catches for 82 yards.
Saunders rushed for 81 yards on 18 carries, and he completed 10 of 18 passes for 137 yards.
Bay 0 8 16 6 – 30
Arnold 8 7 8 8 – 31
Arn: FG Peffers 22
Arn: Safety, ball snapped through back of end zone
Arn: FG Peffers 41
Bay: Longerbeam 2 run (Longerbeam run)
Arn: Perea 21 pass from Saunders (Peffers kick)
Bay: Webb 3 run (Webb run)
Arn: Benedik 45 pass from Saunders (Saunders run)
Bay: Webb 35 run (Longerbeam run)
Arn: Cotton 20 run (Cotton run)
Bay: Davis 15 pass from Longerbeam (run failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Bay: Webb 24-148, Longerbeam 12-108, Turrell 1-(minus-7). Arnold: Saunders 18-81, Cotton 12-99, Marshall 1-(minus-2).
PASSING -- Bay: Longerbeam 8-11-0 109. Arnold: Saunders 10-18-0 137,
RECEIVING -- Bay: Monroe 2-38, Turrell 3-21, Webb 1-17, Davis 2-33. Arnold: Benedik 5-82, Cotton 3-25, Patterson 1-9, Perea 1-21.