MIDDLEBURG - Middleburg defensive end Darius Swilley blocked Beachside’s Aidan Kugler’s extra point attempt on the final play of overtime, lifting host Middleburg to a thrilling 37-36 victory over the Barracudas on Oct. 17. The win puts the Broncos in the driver's seat for a possible district title with a handful of games left in district 3-5A.

"He got in on the B gap from our right side and just did his thing," said Middleburg coach Ryan Wolfe. "We practice plays like that every day and Beachside had a backup kicker at the time because their top kicker was injured from earlier in the game."

Lined up in the gap between the center and the guard, Swilley penetrated the line upon the snap. Kugler’s kick was low, deflected off Swilley’s upraised hand and fluttered to the ground short of the goalpost, igniting a jubilant celebration as the Broncos raced toward midfield.

Against Beachside, after the game ended tied 30-30, Middleburg had the first possession in overtime. Starting at the 10-yard line, Gino Addison gained seven yards on first down. The Beachside defense stiffened, keeping Addison out of the end zone on second and third down.

Eschewing a field goal attempt, Wolfe opted to go for it. Addison rewarded this decision by taking a shotgun snap out of the wildcat formation and darting through a hole off right tackle created by wingback Sam Craven, scoring easily. The winning extra point snap was low, forcing Middleburg kicker Brock Araujo to kick the ball from a bad angle, but the senior got just enough toe on the ball to lift a wobbler over the crossbar.

“As good as we’re able to run the ball, and all the different packages that we have, we know that if we get the ball at the 10-yard line, it’s almost a given that we’re going to get in,” Wolfe said. “We know that we have a good field goal kicker, and he is going to bang that extra point. Their kicker was kind of hurt, so that worked out in our favor.”

The dramatic overtime overshadowed an epic performance by Addison, who carried 36 times for 276 yards and scored four touchdowns in rallying the Broncos from a 20-8 second quarter deficit. The senior consistently gouged Beachside with chunk plays, barreling up the middle at times and bouncing outside when the middle was clogged. His 7.7 yards per carry would have been even better had he not carried so frequently from inside the five-yard line.

“Gino is as good as I have had,” Wolfe said. “He is built for 30 carries a game. He is built for if you need one yard and he’s also built for taking the ball 80 yards. He was seeing things so great tonight.”

Two two-point conversions by Addison were critical to the Broncos victory. The Barracudas jumped offside on the extra point attempt after Middleburg’s first touchdown, so Wolfe elected to go for two. Addison made it to the pylon at the near corner of the end zone with a handoff from the wishbone formation, putting Middleburg ahead 8-7 with 3:17 remaining in the first quarter.

Addison doubled up again at the 9:22 mark of the third quarter, leaping over a pile from the one-yard line to give the Broncos a 21-20 lead, then pushing Craven from behind to sneak across the goal line to extend the lead to 23-20. The three-point advantage kept Beachside from going ahead when Owen Carey booted a 43-yard field goal with 8:59 remaining— the play on which Carey, a Tulsa commitment, was injured.

Neither team punted during a first half in which the offenses took turns scoring. Beachside’s potent aerial attack was in high gear as Eddie Jordan, who will take his talents to Lafayette next fall, completed eight of his first nine passes in leading the Barracudas on touchdown drives on each of their first three possessions. Middleburg answered with a ground game that amassed 309 rushing yards— mostly from Addison— and timely passes by Dalton Motes.

The only thing that stopped either offense was a turnover. Deshun Green’s fumble at midfield kept the Broncos from holding serve after Marco Lanza gave the visitors a 14-8 lead with a two-yard run early in the second quarter, and the Barracudas converted the turnover into points on a 12-yard scoring toss from Jordan to Maddux Hunstad. The snap on the extra point attempt was poor, preventing Carey from even attempting a kick and leaving the score at 20-8 with 5:41 left before halftime.

Travis Pinkard’s two-yard run brought Middleburg to within 20-15, but the Barracudas were poised to take a two-score lead into halftime when they drove to the 23-yard line in the final two minutes. Broncos cornerback Floyd Reed prevented that when he stepped in front of a sideline throw from Jordan intended for Hunstad and intercepted the ball before stepping out of bounds at the two-yard line with 10 seconds left on the clock.

“Pre-play I already knew they were going deep because of the running back,” explained the 6’2” Reed. “All their plays go off the running back. Once I saw him in a certain position, I already knew they were going to pass it deep. But I am a taller guy, so I knew he was going to back-shoulder it, and I jumped it.”

Middleburg reclaimed the lead on Addison’s run and two-point conversion on the opening drive of the second half, but the Barracudas went back ahead 27-23 on the ensuing possession when Jordan found Brennan Monaco on a perfectly timed 26-yard go route.

After an exchange of the first two punts of the game, the Broncos marched 80 yards on drive that culminated with a 12-yard sweep to the pylon by Addison on the first play of the fourth quarter. Araujo’s PAT made the score 30-27.
Neither team scored during a tense final 8:59 after Carey’s tying field goal, though the Broncos drove to the Beachside 27-yard line in the final four minutes.

Two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties derailed the drive, and the Broncos punted from the 37-yard line with 8:59 remaining.

Lost in the overtime drama and overshadowed by Addison’s heroics was the stellar play of Middleburg quarterback Dalton Motes. Motes, a sophomore making his first varsity start due to an injury to starter Mason Bacus, completed nine of 11 passes for 131 yards without an interception. His ability to connect on medium to long-range throws prevented the Barracudas from crowding the line to stop Addison.
“Dalton Motes is as good a quarterback as there is in the area,” Wolfe said. “He was the quarterback on the national champion 7-on-7 Jaguars team. He’s been learning our system, waiting his turn and he was ready for the moment.”

Despite Jordan’s 250 yards passing, Middleburg outgained the Barracudas 440-349 and had a 22-18 edge in first downs.
The Broncos will try to keep the momentum going in another key district game at Fleming Island (4-3, 0-1) on Oct. 24.

Beachside, now 5-2, 1-1, plays at Orange Park in another district game on Oct. 24.