One year ago, an unbeaten Lansdowne squad was blown out by Western Tech and receiver Daion Wheeler’s season ended that day with a broken ankle. Wheeler got a chance for redemption Friday night and he did it in dramatic fashion with the game-winning touchdown catch with three seconds left in the Vikings’ stunning 32-28 victory.
“It was just a terrible loss because that loss put me out for the season, so I knew I had to come back out here ready to rock,” said Wheeler, who had six receptions for 127 yards and two touchdowns.
His game-winning catch came after sophomore quarterback Ayeden Butler fumbled the shotgun snap, scrambled right and threw to Wheeler for 34 yards.
“Really, It was just all heart and it was just my dedication to attacking the ball,” Wheeler said. “I knew there was three seconds left on the clock and I had to go out there and attack the ball just so I could keep my team in it.”
Wheeler wasn’t the intended target originally.
“I was just trying to tell them to get open and hopefully we could win the game,” said Butler, who was 8-for-20 for 146 yards with three touchdown passes.
“That was a very senior-type play to get through traffic and let that ball go,” said Lansdowne coach Matt Kuhn who also praised his line. “I will say our left tackle, Kevin Marroquin, on that play he had the key block on the back side and he freed up Ayeden in order to make that happen.”
Wheeler’s game-winner spoiled a dramatic comeback from the Wolverines, who trailed 26-8 with 7:05 left in the fourth quarter after Butler’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Ryheim Parker.
Western Tech junior quarterback Anthony Laboo ran wild — gaining 172 of his 266 yards after Lansdowne took the 18-point lead. He scored on touchdown runs of 31, 36 and 7 yards.
His final score gave the Wolverines a 28-26 lead with 47 seconds left.
“I know I saw one person and I made him move,” Laboo said. “Once I made that move I knew it was a touchdown. If it’s a one-on-one, I’m scoring.”
The Viking defense was also wearing down.
“We preach conditioning all the time and our fourth quarter is why,” Kuhn said. “And when they fought back and fought back and we got tired and I’ve been looking for the heart of this team and they finally showed that they have the heart. They fought back til the very last second.”
Laboo’s first score during the rally came with just over five minutes left and the second came a minute later, three plays after Jesse Pentsil recovered a Lansdowne fumble.
Following a Viking punt, Laboo directed a six-play drive that began with 2:30 left in the game. A key first-down pass to Andre Fuller and 38-yard run by Laboo sparked the drive.
But after the go-ahead score, the Wolverines were flagged for excessive celebration and were forced to kick from their own 25.
A 14-yard kick return by Kwame Jackson and pass interference penalty moved the ball in range for the final prayer.
The first half was filled with miscues as the teams combined for six turnovers and Lansdowne’s first score came on a blocked punt by Marley Jackson that was recovered by Deshawn Jackson.
“Our special teams have been phenomenal for us this year,” Kuhn said.
The win was the first after three straight losses and Kuhn knew the magnitude.
“We needed this. We needed our self-confidence back,” Kuhn said.
Wheeler was beaming with confidence one year after his season ended abruptly.
“I’m just feeling very confident going into the rest of the season,” he said. “It’s just a lot of good energy, hope to keep this into next week.”
Although Western Tech’s coach Shawn Waller was disappointed, he gained new respect for his winless squad and felt his own team’s energy during the rally.
“I’m proud of them even with that devastating loss, we could have gave up, we could have folded, we could have stopped trying, we could have stopped playing har, we could have stopped listening, but all the things that we preach we just kept going and I’m more proud of that than upset about the loss,” Waller said. “Yea, the loss hurt, but I’m more proud of how we fought when we could have gave up.”
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