After taking an early lead, Glenbrook had to play catchup for most of the game and came up just short in the first round of the select Division IV playoffs.
Glenbrook, the No. 16 seed, fell to No. 17 St. Martin’s Episcopal 56-42 Friday night at Glenbrook.
After starting the season 2-5 against a tough early schedule and going through a coaching change, the Apaches finished 5-6. The Saints (7-4) visit No. 1 seed Riverside Academy in the second round.
“The kids kept playing hard and and they never gave up,” Glenbrook interim head coach James Thurman said. “I told them that’s all we can ask of you. I’m proud of the effort. We definitely kept fighting, had a chance, got there at the end to pull it within a score and things just didn’t really go our way several times.”
Thurman gave the Saints credit.
“That’s a good team,” he said. “They’re in the playoffs every year and they go deep in the playoffs more than they don’t. So, I mean, that’s a good ball club. Their coaches did a great job.
“They’re way more physical than I thought they would be and we didn’t match it in some spots. They did some things that caused some issues for us and it took us to about halftime to try get to where we could make some adjustments to it.”
Glenbrook trailed 50-42 after a 10-yard touchdown pass from Louie Collins to Ryan Reagan with 3:25 left in the game.
But on third-and-4 from the Glenbrook 45, Kade Vinju broke loose for a touchdown with 2:07 left. Glenbrook quickly moved into Vidalia territory. The Apaches got inside the 10 but time ran out.
Vinju made things tough for the Apaches all night, making one big play after another.
One of the biggest was a pass completion on a fake punt. That set up a 5-yard touchdown run and gave St. Martin’s Episcopal a 50-35 lead with 7:06 to play.
“He had a career night and the crazy part is, he’s good on film, but never like that,” Thurman said. “No. 4 was a guy on film that looked like the one they kept going to that was a super player, but No. 5, he had a night.”
There were plenty of big plays by both teams, but the fake punt was one of the biggest.
“That was a killer right there,” Thurman said.
Vinju caught a 53-yard touchdown pass from Terrill Green Jr. on the second play of the game.
Glenbrook quickly answered with a 49-yard touchdown drive capped by an 11-yard run by Reagan.
Reagan had a 44-yard run and scored from 10 yards out to give the Apaches a 14-7 lead.
Green ran 26 yards for a touchdown and a two-point conversion put the Saints on top 15-14.
St. Martin’s Episcopal extended the lead to 23-14 on another Vinju touchdown catch and two-point conversion.
A 14-yard run by Vinju made it 30-14.
The Apaches answered with a 48-yard touchdown pass from Louie Collins to Carson Powell. A two-point conversion attempt failed and Glenbrook trailed 30-20 still In the second quarter,
Vinju scored on a 10-yard run with just 59 seconds left in the half. A bad snap on the extra-point attempt kept it a two-score game.
The good news for Glenbrook was the Apaches were still within striking distance trailing 36-20 despite three first-half turnovers,
Glenbrook quickly cut the lead to eight with a touchdown on its first possession of the second half.
The Apaches got the ball back and were forced to punt. St. Martin’s Episcopal drove 62 yards for a touchdown and a 43-28 lead on a 37-yard pass with 1:57 left in the third quarter. It looked like the Glenbrook defensive back was going to make an interception but it deflected off him into the hands of the receiver.
Glenbrook again cut the lead to eight with a 64-yard touchdown drive capped by a Collins 2-yard run.
After the Saints went up 50-35 thanks in part to the fake punt, they recovered an onside kick. But the Apaches blocked a punt and went 51 yards for their final touchdown, a 10-yard pass from Collins to Reagan, who returned to the game after suffering an injury in the third quarter.
The game was the final one for Reagan and four other seniors — linemen Nolan Still, Franklin Bridwell and Aiden Nehls, and fullback/linebacker Hudson Glasscock.
Now Glenbrook will set its sights on hiring a new head coach.
“We haven’t officially started anything,” said Thurman, who is also the school’s athletic director. “I’ll talk to the administration on Monday and kind of talk about it. We may go ahead and try to open it officially this coming week.”