The Cleveland Rams emerged victorious in a closely contested game against the Clayton Comets on Friday night, winning 33-31 thanks to a clutch final play.

Cleveland was listed as the 10th team in the HSOT Statewide Top 25 rankings. They were also ranked as the 24th team.

During the last play of the game, Jackson Byrd, the quarterback for Cleveland, threw the ball towards the end zone with only 2 seconds left on the clock. As the ball traveled towards the end zone, Cameron Goins leaped over the Clayton defenders and successfully caught the ball, putting an end to any possibility of an upset.

This would have been Cleveland’s initial defeat in a conference match since 2017. The Rams came into the evening with a record of 37 consecutive wins in conference games.

In the opening quarter, the Rams gained momentum as Tyson Stokes sprinted for a 72-yard touchdown. However, a blocked extra point resulted in the Rams only having a six-point advantage. Later on, Clayton’s quarterback Jonathon Montague also scored a 2-yard run, giving the Comets a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Montague scored once more with a 9-yard run. Byrd also scored his first touchdown of the evening in the same quarter with a 7-yard pass to Jordan Gulley. However, the Rams were unable to convert the two-point attempt, leaving them behind 14-12 at halftime.

After the Comets added a 42-yard field goal, they gained an 8-point advantage in the third quarter. Byrd then connected with Stokes for an 11-yard touchdown, and a two-point conversion was successfully completed, giving the Rams a 20-17 lead going into the last quarter.

Byrd hit Gully on a 72-yard touchdown bomb to extend the lead, but Montague scored two touchdowns in the quarter, the first on a 30-yard pass to Cort Schmidlin and then a 6-yard run to give the Comets a 31-27 lead with just over two minutes left in the game.

Byrd led the team’s attack down the field, preparing for the long, desperate pass.

Source: highschoolot.com