GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Middleburg High senior running back Travis Pinkard ran 23 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 17 seconds remaining, lifting unbeaten Middleburg to an emotional 28-27 victory against host Clay in an instant classic on Friday, Sept. 5.

The touchdown came on a fourth down with Middleburg needing one yard to maintain possession. The 5-foot-8 Pinkard ran through a hole over right guard, evaded a lunging linebacker and ran away from Clay safety Wyatt Rapoza to score.
“We ran the play this this program was built around,” Middleburg Head Coach Ryan Wolfe said of the final play call. “We are going to run Power.”
Pinkard, elevated to the starting role due to an injury suffered by Gino Addison, took advantage of his opportunity, rushing for 120 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries.
“It is hard for one guy to bring him down because he has such a low center of gravity and he runs hard,” Wolfe said. “He has got really good vision.”
It appeared the Blue Devils (0-3) were headed to their first victory in Head Coach Jeff Gierke’s tenure when quarterback Landon Martin ploughed over the goal line with 1:59 to go, putting Clay ahead 27-21. A poor snap on the extra point attempt prevented Blue Devils kicker Andrew Riddling from kicking the ball cleanly. The kick dribbled into the line, leaving the door open for a Middleburg victory if the Broncos scored and converted the extra point.

Middleburg drove 80 yards in 1:42, converting three fourth downs along the way. Senior Mason Bacus converted two of them with throws to C.J. Williams, who caught four passes on the drive, and Pinkard converted the last one with his game-winner.
“All we needed was a chance. I had zero doubt,” Wolfe said of the winning drive. “I knew we were going to go down and score.”
Pinkard’s heroic run was the final tally in a seesaw fourth quarter that saw both teams score two touchdowns. Trailing 14-13 and facing a fourth and four from the six-yard line, Clay took its first lead on the first play of the quarter when Nehemiah Bailey ran untouched over left guard, scoring easily. Martin ran for the two-point conversion, giving Clay a 21-14 lead.

Middleburg answered with a 52-yard touchdown pass from Mason Bacus to Jordan Williams. Williams ran a post pattern, and though the pass was underthrown, the senior was so wide open that he still had time to haul it in and reach the endzone before Rapoza caught him. Brock Araujo’s extra point tied the score, 21-21, with 7:11 remaining.
A sloppy first half gave no indication of the drama to follow. Nearly 100 yards in penalties, plus a botched punt snap put Middleburg at the Clay 3-yardline where Pinkard pounded in for the score.
The Broncos got to a 14-0 lead with an 80-yard drive with Pinkard again scoring from nine yards out.
Clay’s only chance to score in the first half was a 31-yard field goal attempt by Riddling, whose low kick was blocked by Middleburg’s Keensdee Roseme.
In the second half, Clay's ability to land two of three onsides kicks turned the game around. Clay quarterback Landon Martin hit Kade Williamson on a crossing pattern for a score.
Clay's second onsides went directly to Middleburg’s Lorelle Pitt, but the ball squirted forward to Riddling at the 43. A screen pass to MiKeise Battle with blocks from Parker Dykas and Landon Chadwick had the Blue Devils within one point, 14-13, with a dinged PAT kick.
“It is our identity,” Clay head coach Jeff Gierke said of the onside kicks. "We are going to do it nine times out of 10. It is such a game-changer, and it gets the kids fired up. It got us back in the game. Usually if you get three of them you are going to win.”
Martin was the Clay offense, accounting for 258 of the Blue Devils’ 259 total yards. The junior threw two touchdown passes and rushed for 183 yards on 35 carries.
“He is a tough kid, and he wants the ball in his hands,” Gierke said of Martin, who placed fourth in the FHSAA Class 4A state wrestling tournament as a sophomore. “He laid it on the line. He did everything he could possibly do to win that game.”

Week 4

Clay travels to Tocoi Creek on Friday, Sept. 12, to take on the Class 6A Toros, who are 2-1 after a 35-14 loss to Bishop Kenny on Friday.
Middleburg hosts Freelance League state runner-up Zarephath Academy, which finished 13-2 last year and is now 1-2. Zarephath opened with two ugly losses – 35-0 to Impact Christian, and 55-14 to Sante Fe, but it won last week at P.K. Yonge, 44-6.