CFNN Reporters Ansley Thomas and Kamari Faison

The Colts traveled to Emsley A. Laney high school Friday, September 8th, to close out their non-conference schedule. In a nail biting, edge of your seat, back and forth-type game, the Colts comeback bid came up short, as their attempt to tie the score on the final play of the game on an untimed down from the Buccaneer five yard line fell incomplete. 

The Colts gave it all they had, but came up short, losing 21-28. This puts the Colts record at 2-1 before they enter their conference schedule this week. 

Laney started off strong with an 85 yard pass for a touchdown on the first drive. The Colts responded quickly as Quarterback Brice Mckenzie threw to Wide Receiver Jeremiah Melvin a 75 yard touchdown pass. With a successful extra point attempt, the score was knotted at 7-7 to close the first quarter.

The second quarter started with both defenses playing strong. Laney ended up making its way down the field and scoring. A successful point after made the score 7-14 to close the first half.

Sophomore Geronimo Sanchez was put in as quarterback to start the second half.

“My mindset going into the second half was that as long as there’s still time on the clock, we still have a chance to win the game,” said Sanchez.

Cape Fear started the second half by receiving the ball. Unfortunately, though, the Colts ended up punting the ball to Laney. Laney drove the ball down the field and ended it with a rushing touchdown and successful point after.

The score was now 7-21. The Colts knew they had to make a comeback now. After the kickoff the Colts moved the ball down the field. Then Geronimo Sanchez threw a 13 yard touchdown to Jeremiah Melvin. 

“The start of the season has definitely been an eye opener; a lot of guys have surprised us as a whole and as we make it out of conference play, we need to work on things that we know will separate us from good to great like dead ball penalties, assignments, and turnovers,” said Melvin.

Melvin, a Wake Forest University commit, was the star of the show Friday, catching 10 passes for 218 yards and 3 touchdowns. He is currently one of the top receivers in the state and has hauled in a whopping 8 touchdown passes in the Colts 3 games.

Sophomore Kicker Fransisco  Rodriguez made the point after, bringing the Colts back within striking distance with the score being 14-21 to end the 3rd quarter. 

The Colts started the fourth quarter strong as Sanchez threw another touchdown to Melvin. The point after by Rodriguez now tied the game at 21-21. 

The Colts then kicked off to Laney. The Colts defense was able to stop Laney forcing them to punt. Unfortunately a dropped punt by the Colts gave the ball back to Laney deep in Colt territory. 

Laney moved the ball down to the Colt 5 yard line for first and goal. The Buccaneers were stuffed on first down. They were pushed back on second down. The tough Colt defense held again on third down at the one yard line. On fourth down, the Buccaneer offense was able to find the end zone and score. The point after made the score 21-28. In Laney’s favor.

The Colts took the kickoff and immediately started to drive. They jumped into their two-minute offense and picked up three first downs. In an attempt to score from the Laney 40 yard line,, the Colts threw an interception. 

With all hope seemingly lost, the Colts defense stopped Laney and forced them to punt. This gave the Colts one last chance to score with 21 seconds on the clock. 

The Colts drove the ball down the field as Sanchez used his legs on a scramble to get the Colts into scoring position. Sanchez then killed the clock with 9 seconds remaining.  He dropped back on second down and threw to Wide Receiver Ricardo Mcdonald in the end zone. The pass was intercepted and returned as time expired, but a pass interference call gave the Colts one final chance from the five yard line with no time on the clock.

A football game cannot end on a defensive penalty, so the Colts played an untimed down in a true “do or die” situation.

In the last play of the game, Sanchez threw the ball up to Melvin in the end zone where it was broken up by Laney defenders.

Sanchez ended the night with 10 completions on 17 attempts for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns. Bryce McKenzie was 5-8 for 134 yards and a touchdown.

This sealed the final score of the game 21-28 with the Colts coming up short. The atmosphere was electric and the Colts battled through adversity to have a chance to win on the last play. 

“This was definitely a playoff atmosphere,” said Head Coach Jake Thomas. “Usually you see games this competitive in the third and fourth round of the playoffs. I told the guys before the game that this was going to be the type of game where we have to be willing to win on the last play, and it came down to just that. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get it done.”

The Colts will be back in action this Friday as they open United 8 Conference play against the Lumberton Pirates at 7:30 PM. Come out and show your support for the Colts!