By Kyle LoJacono
In 2009, the Gaither football team fell to one of the lowest points in the program’s 28 history when it went 1-9.
Now, just three seasons later, the Cowboys (7-2, 4-1) have consecutive winning seasons, back-to-back playoff berths and their first district championship since 2007.
Running back Shug Oyegunle was a freshman on that 1-9 team and a member of the squad that finished 3-7 the following year. He struggled to find the words to describe how far Gaither has come
“Joy, relief,” Oyegunle said. “I just, I mean, we’ve come so far.”
The Cowboys showed how different the program is today after claiming the Class 7A-District 7 championship by holding on for a 35-32 home victory against Tampa Bay Tech (TBT) Nov. 2. They learned in the fourth quarter that Steinbrenner had defeated Chamberlain 35-28, which opened the door for the title.
“We went from zero to hero,” said second-year Gaither coach Jason Stokes. “I’m so proud of these kids.”
The Cowboys missed a chance to clinch a playoff spot the week before by losing on the last play at home to Chamberlain 19-17. The defeat meant Gaither had to beat TBT (6-3, 4-1) to stay alive for the playoffs.
“The whole week of practice it was ugly,” Stokes said. “We got after it like cage fighters — offense, defense, special teams. Like that old saying that iron sharpens iron, and that’s how we came into the game.”
The Cowboys faced a nearly identical situation in the final seconds against the Titans as they did against Chamberlain the week before.
TBT had the ball on the Gaither 5-yard line with one timeout and 18 seconds remaining. On third-and-goal, the Titans called a run play for Deon Thompson, who was met in the backfield by junior linebacker Matt Williams. During the struggle, senior defensive end Jeshua Williams stripped the ball and recovered the fumble.
“Somehow it just landed by my feet,” Williams said. “I just thought don’t let anyone else get it.”
The turnover allowed Gaither junior quarterback Alex McGough to kneel out the game’s last seconds.
“When they had the ball down there, I couldn’t watch,” McGough said. “I was on the other side, and somebody told me we got the ball. I just grabbed my helmet, ran on the field and told my center to get the ball up to knee this out.”
The Cowboys played the do-or-die contest without three starters because of injury: free safety Danny Bonham, nose tackle Thanasi “Pork Chop” Halkias and center Justyn Jacoby.
Gaither showed early jitters in the game that threatened to derail their march to the district crown.
TBT’s Justin Akins picked off a tipped McGough pass and returned it 31 yards to the Cowboys’20-yard line on Gaither’s second drive.
Gaither gave up only a field goal, but the Titans got the ball right back after the ensuing kickoff bounced around the Cowboys’ special teams unit, giving them the ball 23 yards from the end zone.
The defense rose up again, forcing a fumble that was recovered by senior defensive end Ernest Suttles to set up a 69-yard drive capped by an 8-yard touchdown catch by Oyegunle.
“That fumble Earnest got was so big,” Stokes said. “To give up only three points after giving them the ball deep on our end twice was a huge momentum changer.”
The squads entered halftime with the Cowboys leading 7-3. Gaither came out of the locker room on fire, scoring three touchdowns in the third quarter.
Suttles again set up the offense by recovering a muffed punt on the Titan’s 25-yard line. Senior wide receiver Marcus Brown caught a screen pass two plays later and took it 25 yards for a score, followed by a 49-yard strike to Oyegunle and an 80-yard bomb to senior running back Vu Le.
Oyegunle caught a 73-yard pass on the first play of the fourth, his third touchdown of the night.
“Me and Shug, we always had a connection from the first time I got here,” McGough said. “Every ball to him is a good ball because he just makes plays.”
The scoring barrage put Gaither up 25 points. This from a squad that scored just 33 in its previous two games.
“They had linebackers sticking me, Vu and Josh Bell, and that’s definitely a mismatch,” Oyegunle said. “We picked on that.”
Stokes gave credit to McGough for hanging in the pocket, buying time and taking several hits while delivering the long strikes.
“His guts to stay in that pocket with everything around him, I’m so, so proud of that kid,” Stokes said. “He grew up.”
TBT mounted a furious comeback with 22 fourth-quarter points, but it was not enough.
McGough set a new career high in yards and touchdowns with 306 on 15-of-32 passing and five scores.
Oyegunle had 136 combined receiving and rushing yards while adding another 31 passing on a trick running back toss to Le in the second quarter to set up his squads’ first points.
Le caught five passes for 157 yards.
The Cowboys host Newsome in the regional quarterfinals Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. They close the regular season at Riverview Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m.
—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker
