HARRISON -- Coach Joel Wells yelled toward Harrison's bench Friday night and said he needed somebody to get on the field.
Cy Madden volunteered and became the Goblins' latest man of the moment.
The junior receiver hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Cole Keylon with 40.6 seconds remaining and gave Harrison a 38-35 victory over White Hall and moved the Goblins into the Class 5A state semifinal round.
"I told our players the best thing I could tell them is that we practice again Monday morning," Wells said. "I can't say enough about the heart of this team. That's about the fifth game we've won like that this year, and I'm super proud of these guys. They're a bunch of winners."
Madden's catch completed an eight-play, 66-yard drive where Harrison (11-1) had to throw more passes than it did through the first 46 minutes. The possession, however, started with Keylon being called for intentional grounding and leading to a second-and-19 situation, but he kept the Goblins alive when he hit Dylan Block with a 28-yard pass to the White Hall 42.
Four plays later, a holding penalty negated Keylon's 27-yard touchdown pass to Noah Moix with a minute left, but the two connected again moments later with a 32-yard pass to the Bulldogs 11. Madden then came on the field late and hauled in Keylon's pass with no defender within 15 yards of him. Madden also caught the two-point conversion pass to cap the scoring.
"I just ran out there, and I knew the play," Madden said. "I was supposed to go into the backfield, but I said I've got it. I knew it was for me. I just went out there and did my thing.
"It was a pop-and-go route. I was supposed to block, then go. Cole found me open and gave it to me."
White Hall (8-5) appeared in control after Caleb Taylor threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to TK Walker and gave the Bulldogs a 35-30 lead with 4:31 remaining as the two-point conversion try by Zaire Green fell short. White Hall then sacked Keylon for an 11-yard loss on third down and forced Harrison to punt with 2:46 on the clock.
The Bulldogs were able to force the Goblins to call all three timeouts, but White Hall only gained 3 yards on three running plays. That meant White Hall had to punt the ball away with 2:25 remaining, setting up Harrison's second last-minute drive in as many weeks.
"We held our composure and made some plays," Wells said. "The biggest series was that defensive series after we were sacked. Our defense made some stops, and we were able to get the ball back with an opportunity.
"Cy does a good job of catching the ball in those kind of situations."
Kam Robinson hauled in a pair of touchdown passes from Taylor, including an 18-yard reception that gave White Hall its first lead, then Taylor ran the two-point conversion to give the Bulldogs a 29-23 cushion with 37.7 seconds left in the third quarter. That lasted until the first play of the fourth quarter when Keylon, who was hurt in last week's win over Camden Fairview, raced 24 yards for a touchdown.
Henry Apple can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAHenry.