The Selma Times-Journal

What a way to come back off a road trip.

The Concordia Hornets won Saturday’s game on a special teams play in the final seconds to end a six-game losing streak.

Miguel Terrell and Sherman Black both got their hands on a field goal try that would have put Texas College in the lead with a few ticks left on the clock.

Instead, their block nailed down a 13-12 win, ending what was by far the Hornets’ longest losing streak in their two-year history.

“The coaches were saying during the time out, ‘We know they’re going to have to go for it, so everyone go hard,'” Black said of the Hornets’ final defensive play. “We just said to each other one of us has got to get a hold of it, and I guess we just got there at the same time.”

This season has been vastly different for Concordia (2-6) in terms of wins and losses. Their longest losing streak last season was two games, coming to Millsaps College and Webber University Sept. 24 and Oct. 13, respectively.

But at least the Hornets kept from losing consecutive games at home for the first time in the program’s history. Their last game at Memorial Stadium resulted in a 32-12 loss to Stillman. Their last four games have been on the road.

“First of all, the honor and the glory goes to God. That’s who all the credit for this goes to,” Concordia coach Shepherd Skanes said. “It’s just good to be home. This road trip took a lot out of us. We’ve played Texas College before, and we know Jay Brown does a great job and does the utmost to prepare his guys. We made a bunch of mistakes, and we overcame some adversity today.

“I just thank God to be here in front of our home crowd.”

Concordia seemed to have sealed the win when defensive back Randall Brown intercepted quarterback Allen Webb’s pass with less than a minute and a half left in the game.

But Webb met Brown at the 13-yard line and ripped the ball out of Brown’s hands as they wrestled to the ground.

On fourth down, Nolan Williams attempted a kick from 40 yards away that didn’t get nearly enough height to clear the outstretched hands of the Concordia defenders.

Concordia took over possession, and Ken Johnson took a knee to end the game.

There was a lot of physical play and a lot of jawing from both sidelines right from the start of the game – and even a couple of minutes before kickoff.

Thirty-three seconds into the second quarter, it was the Steers (3-5) who turned that energy into points on the scoreboard. Williams hit a 30-yard field goal to give his team a 3-0 lead.

Concordia was forced to punt after three plays on the following possession, but the kick was muffed and Derrick Price recovered for Concordia on the Steers’ 35.

Demorris Kilow carried the ball twice, and his second carry resulted in a trip to the end zone. He spun out of a handful of arm tackles in the backfield and went in to score from 30 yards.

Williams closed the Steers’ deficit to 7-6 when he hit a 34-yard field goal with 6:34 left in the first half.

Concordia had a chance to extend its lead even more with a field goal as time expired in the half. But Black, who was the holder, failed to get a low snap up and was tackled for a loss of 14 yards.

Johnson placed a pass over the hands of a pair of defenders and hit receiver Eric Taylor for a 33-yard touchdown with 2:53 left in the third.

On the very next series, the Steers scored when Webb found receiver Justin Carter wide open in the end zone for a 2-yard score with 14:35 left in the fourth.

Instead of tying the game with an extra point, the Steers went for two and were stopped far short of the goal line.