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How one play saved Brantley’s season

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The Brantley Bulldogs host Linden in the Class 1A state quarterfinals on Friday. It’s the fourth straight quarterfinals appearance for the Bulldogs, and coach Ashley Kilcrease said one play has made all the difference.

The Register is offering a new, interactive way to watch Iowa and Iowa State football this season.

The Register is offering a new, interactive way to watch Iowa and Iowa State football this season.

After starting the season 1-2, Brantley trailed Red Level with 30 seconds left. It came down to the final five seconds, when junior quarterback Jacob Free hit freshman receiver Parker Driggers for the winning score.

“I just don’t know if we lost that game if we’d be here today. I hope we would, but I don’t know,” Kilcrease said.

The sentiment was echoed by Free – a 3-star prospect with offers from Troy and UAB. It was the first game-winning touchdown Free has thrown. While it was a fun experience, he’s hoping it won’t be that close this week.

“I was really excited, but really nervous too,” Free said. “In my head I could’ve counted to 15 before that ball reached him. Even though it wasn’t but one second. It felt like a lifetime.”

The game-winning touchdown was the icing on the cake, but the season really turned at halftime of the Red Level game. On the verge of falling to 1-3, Kilcrease challenged Free at halftime to be the leader he needed to be.

“I was feeling sorry for myself because I didn’t have a very good game. I was being kind of selfish and wasn’t picking my team up, wasn’t being a good leader. He just told me that I need to be a better leader and show my team we need to pick it up and win this game,” Free said.

With Free’s leadership on offense – along with junior receiver Tommy Spivey who has 21 touchdown catches – Brantley has rebounded to win nine straight games.

Kilcrease also credited the sacrifice of Colby Carpenter, who volunteered to move from tight end back to offensive line. On defense, the swarming defense has been led by linebacker duo Xavious Coleman and Savion Jones, who have combined for 232 tackles.

Finally playing to their full potential, the Bulldogs hope to keep it going against a familiar opponent on their journey to return to their 2012 state-champion form.

“We run into Linden just about every year. We know how good they are, and they know how good we can be,” Free said. “We know each other, and we want to win that one pretty badly. Not just to go on, but because we need to keep it rolling. We need to let them know that we’re still Brantley no matter what kind of year we’re having, and that we’re going to come out on top.”


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