GEORGETOWN, Texas - In one of the most exciting games to take place at Birkelbach stadium in recent history, the Pirates pulled off a 32-31 win over the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen in overtime.
The Pirate's 2022 season opener won't be soon forgotten, in a game if something unbelievable could have happened, it happened.
After the Pirates were stopped on their first drive of the game, Southwestern Punter Benjamin Lancas pinned the Kingsmen on their own nine yard line. The Pirate's defense forced a three and out, thanks to pressure from Jason Lund and good coverage on a third-down pass from Patrick Nicolas.
What followed could only be described as first-game jitters from the Cal Lutheran punter. The Kingsmen punter, punting out of his own endzone, fumbled the snap, was hit by defensive back Payton Vaughn, lost the football, and was recovered by Patrick Nicolas in the endzone for the Pirate's first touchdown of the season.
On the ensuing possession, the Kingsmen would take six and a half minutes off the clock on a fourteen-play drive, only to come up with a missed field goal. A three-and-out by the Pirates gave the ball back to the Kingsmen, who were able to secure a field goal to end the first quarter and a score of 7-3.
The Pirate's offense struggled early on, going three and out again to start the second quarter. A bad punt for Southwestern gave the Kingsmen excellent field position.
Four plays and only six yards gained for the Kingsmen, Kingsmen quarterback Nick Lasher took a shot at the endzone, only to be picked off by Patrick Nicolas, who timed the interception perfectly. The Pirates would get the ball starting at the two-yard line.
Landry Gilpin marched the Pirates out of their own endzone to their own 27-yard line. On 2nd and 10, Gilpin, faking the quarterback draw, hit a wide open Joey Robinson who ran all the way down to the Kingsmen' 27-yard line. Gilpin then hit a wide-open Gianni Taisague off a well-designed fake handoff, running back seem, for the touchdown. Following the point after, the Pirates led the Kingsmen 14-3.
The Southwestern defense held the Kingsmen to only three points in the first half despite almost 100 yards rushing by Kingsmen running back Isaiah Martin.
Neither team's offense could get anything going throughout the third quarter and it was the Pirate's defense yet again creating havoc for the Kingsmen with six minutes left in the quarter. Aleksander Gomez caused a fumble on a tackle and John Guerrero was there to pick it up, the fumble recovery by the Pirates led to a touchdown reception for Kolby Bartlett.
Cal Lutheran would go on to score in the third quarter but a missed point after gave the Pirates a 9-21 lead going into the fourth quarter.
After a fumble on the next drive from the Pirates', Cal Lutheran completed a touchdown pass where the pass bounced off cornerback Elijah Norris's hands, went over his head, and into the arms of the Kingsmen receiver, putting the score at 21-16 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
A long drive for the Pirates ended in a blocked field goal attempt that the Kingsmen were able to turn into another touchdown, giving Cal Lutheran their first lead of the night, 24-21 with eight minutes remaining.
When the Kingsmen got the ball back, they put it into the hands of Isaiah Martin, who finished with 38 carries and 179 yards. Martin and the Kingsmen were able to bleed the clock all the way down to :13 seconds left. The Kingsmen punted on fourth down from their own 30. A shanked punt by the Kingsmen put the Pirates in excellent position for a chance to tie the game if they could get into field goal range.
A few plays later, Gilpin hit wide receiver, Ethan Powell on the 12-yard line and the Pirates spiked the ball with :01 second left on the clock, putting them in field goal range. Austin, Texas native Charlie Fournier banged home a 34-yard field goal to tie the game and sent it into overtime.
The Kingsmen had the ball first and went right to work against a Pirates defense that had faced 81 offensive plays throughout the night. The Kingsmen scored, leaving it up to the offense to tie the game.
The Pirates were able to work their way down to the three-yard line. On third down, on a designed quarterback run, Gilpin broke a tackle behind the line of scrimmage and dove his way into the endzone for the touchdown.
In a decision that might have been shocking to the crowd but agreed upon by the players and the coaching staff, the Pirates chose to go for the two-point conversion to win the game outright.
With Gilpin in the shotgun and an empty backfield, Gilpin snapped the ball and was immediately met with pressure from the blitz. He rolled to his right and took a hit to the face from a defender. Gilpin threw the ball off his back foot to the endzone where JoJo Wilson, with a defender draped over him, made an impossible catch falling forward at the goal line for the win.
The Pirates, who were defeated by the Kingsmen last year in California, repaid the favor in a game that had everything a football fan could ask for.
Pirate Football will make the trip to Jackson, Mississippi to take on former ASC opponent Belhaven University on Saturday, September 10th at 7:00 pm.
Photo Credit: Carlos Barron