By Michael A. Cummings
The Cullman Times
ADDISON — ADDISON — Think football is a game of inches?
Maybe sometimes.
But for Addison High’s football team on Friday night, it was a game of seconds — or more correctly, a lack thereof.
After falling behind to a late touchdown pass, Addison drove 55 yards to the Cleveland 21 in the final minute of regulation before watching the final second tick off the clock without a snap, giving the visiting Panthers a 22-20 win at A.G. Hicks Stadium.
With the loss, the Bulldogs (4-5, 3-4 in Class 2A, Region 7) were eliminated from the playoff picture while Cleveland (5-4, 4-3) took the fourth and final playoff spot out of the region.
“It was a back-and-forth game and (Cleveland) went ahead at the end there,” said first-year Addison coach Scott Curd. “All I know is this is about the fourth time this has happened to us, and I really don’t have anything else to say about it.”
Addison also suffered heartbreaking defeats earlier this season against Winston County and Lamar County, and dropped an eight-point game last week at Sulligent.
The Bulldogs took a 20-16 lead with 1:54 left in the game on Blake Robinson’s 38-yard scoring run. But Cleveland went back ahead a minute later on Dustin Cornelius’ 49-yard strike to Chas Cornelius.
Addison received a glimmer of hope when Jordan Rivers’ pass to Tyler Butler put the Bulldogs at the Cleveland 21-yard line with one second remaining. But time expired when the clock restarted following the first down.
“We called the play and said ‘Hutt’ and snapped it, but they called the game,” said Rivers. “(We’re) both good teams — just a play here and there and we could have won it.”
Addison opened the scoring in the second quarter on Trent Godbee’s 1-yard run to cap a 9-play, 51-yard drive that covered more than three minutes.
Cleveland responded three plays into its next possession as Dustin Cornelius and Geoffrey Gammon hooked up for a 50-yard touchdown pass.
The Panthers took their first lead with a 35-yard field goal late in the first half. Addison responded with Robinson’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Privett on a fake field-goal attempt early on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Cleveland retook the lead on Shiloh Biles’ 2-yard run with 8:16 left in the game, setting up the dramatic finish.
“Everybody’s tore up pretty bad about it,” said Godbee.” Of course, after next week, we’re done — no playoffs now.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it,” added Rivers. “We just have to keep our heads up and come out here and play next week.”
Godbee paced Addison with 146 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, while Robinson added 92 yards on 19 attempts. Rivers finished with 77 yards on 4-for-9 passing, and Butler had 56 yards on two receptions.
For Cleveland, Dustin Cornelius finished 8 of 16 for 166 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 35 yards on the ground. Chas Cornelius recorded 104 yards on five receptions while rushing for 57 yards on five carries.
Addison hosts Lynn next week.
Michael Cummings can be reached by email at michaelc@cullmantimes.com or by phone at 734-2131, ext. 258.
