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In baseball there is always a chance for a team to win until the final out is called.
In basketball you can foul constantly in the final minutes to save time and give your team a chance.

In football there is always a chance if you have three timeouts, are down by a possession and can get a quick three and out. 

Cathedral proved this Friday night. 

With a minute left, Cathedral turned the ball over on downs. Parklane Academy’s band started chanting “I believe that we will win; I believe that we will win,” which if you believe in jinxes, sealed their team’s fate. 

The Green Wave defense kept the Pioneers from getting a first down and coaches used their timeouts to preserve 48 seconds on the clock. 

It was enough time for the Wave to get a good punt return and drive the field.

A football is oddly shaped. Most balls bounce in a fairly predictable way, although their spin can catch a player off guard. 

Footballs with their prolate spheroid figure can take unpredictable hops and bounces. Fortunately for Cathedral, these unpredictable bounces went their way and kept a bad snap from bouncing out the back of the endzone, saving Cathedral a safety. 

Instead, it set up the Green Wave with a short distance to get into the endzone to take the lead on Parklane. 

Cathedral led 21-20 and there were 40 seconds left to go in the game. It was plenty of time for Parklane to drive the field and kick a field goal or score a touchdown. Thirty seconds later, Parklane found itself inside the redzone with an opportunity to possibly win the game on a last second play. 

They would come up short as Green Wave defensive back Kaden Batieste made a break on the Pioneer’s last pass of the game. He collided with the receiver as the ball fell to the ground incomplete, ultimately winning the game as Noah Russ kneeled the remaining three seconds off the clock. 

Cathedral took all the emotional ups and downs of being a football fan and bottled it up into a minute of football action. It was an exciting story to witness and tell.

I have been privileged to cover some incredible teams and games in this state. Last Friday night’s crazy last-minute victory is arguably the best finish to a football game I have covered. 

There is always a chance to win – all you need is three timeouts, a defensive stop and a lucky bounce to see it through. 

Hunter Cloud is a sports reporter for The Democrat. Contact him at hunter.cloud@natchezdemocrat.cam.