Glenbrook went into overtime at home for the second time this season, only this time, they weren’t going home without a win.
The Apaches erased a 20-12 deficit and dominated the overtime period to come away with a 34-26 win on homecoming night in front of a large home crowd at Apache Stadium.
“In the lockerroom at halftime we told them if they didn’t find a way, that would be it for our season,” Glenbrook head coach Caleb Carmikle said. “I’m so proud of them for the determination and guts that they showed. Every time something bad would happen we found a way to flip the script.”
Glenbrook fumbled twice in River Oaks territory during a wild fourth quarter. One fumble came at the Mustang’s 12-yard line with less than 20 seconds on the clock. Glenbrook’s last-chance heave into the endzone fell incomplete sending the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Glenbrook scored on their first play when running back Cameron Fread went in untouched off left tackle. The two-point conversion was good through the air to Joseph Windham who also caught Glenbrook’s first touchdown of the game.
On River Oaks final possession in OT, the Glenbrook defense stifled three straight run plays before Fread came up with the game-clinching sack, sending the Apache faithful into a frenzy.
“As the game went on, our defense got better,” Carmikle said. “We finally saw them play with the emotion we saw back in the spring and throughout fall camp. That’s the emotion you have to play with to be a good defense. Coach Godfrey made some good adjustments and we got the stops and turnovers when we needed them. If we can get the defense to play whole games like they did that overtime, we might play a lot of football this year.”
Glenbrook’s second-half surge was keyed by Fread and a re-tooled offensive line that played their best game of the season.
“Cameron is an exceptional player,” Carmikle said. “A lot of the stuff he does has nothing to do with coaching. He really wore them down with his legs, and that offensive line, with a lot of guys in their first year of action, was able to win the battle up front against a good River Oaks team.”
Even in a winning effort, the Apaches could have been better. Two touchdowns and a few other big plays were called back for penalties and several times throughout the night the Apaches had to call timeouts over personnel issues.
“That’s part of having a young team and a young offensive line,” Carmikle said. “Some of it is how physical they are and that’s where we want them to be. We just have to fine tune it and get them to be a little more disciplined with their hands and aiming point and I think we’ll be alright.”
Tyler finished 10-of-13 passing for 49 yards with 1 touchdown. Windham led the receivers with 4 catches for 32 yards and a receiving touchdown. Fread paced the running backs with 129 yards and 3 touchdowns on 18 carries, while Tyler added 112 yards rushing. Da’Maza Robinson added 65 yards rushing and a touchdown.
The Apaches will hit the road next week for a rivalry game with the Claiborne Academy Rebels in Homer.
