With Union up by a field goal and less than a minute to play Friday night, the 19,287 in attendance at Tulsa's Chapman Stadium watched in disbelief as Jenks quarterback Cooper Nunley connected with receiver Dylan Harding for a 76-yard touchdown and 20-16 victory.
Redskins fans weren't alone in their surprise, however, as the No. 1 Trojans claimed MidFirst Bank Backyard Bowl bragging rights on the improbable third-down conversion.
"I was shocked," said Nunley, who finished 10-of-16 passing for 237 yards. "I knew I was going to throw it to him before the play, but when I threw it, I got hit and I thought that forced me to throw it short.
"Then I heard the crowd going crazy and I looked up at the Jumbotron and saw him running into the end zone."
The play was a make-or-break situation for Jenks (2-0), which would have still needed to make up three-quarters of the field with no timeouts left.
"We had to move the ball down the field, but evidently Harding made a great release because they were playing man-to-man underneath," Jenks coach Allan Trimble said. "Cooper threw the ball in rhythm, so obviously he knew what he had. It was a really good throw."
The Backyard Bowl win - Jenks' first regular-season victory over No. 2 Union (0-2) since 2010 - was also the first for senior running back Cameron Booty.
Booty, playing in his first Jenks/Union rivalry after transferring from Richardson, Texas, before this season, was a strong contributor for the Jenks offense, racking up a team-high 92 yards rushing and the Trojans' only running touchdown.
"It's crazy," Booty said. "It's probably one of the craziest games I've ever been in in my life."
High School Football
The Tulsa World is looking for photographers to shoot all the action surrounding high school football games — the fans, the bands, the mascots,
the cheerleaders and plays on the field.
