Drek Reid plucked the ball out of the air, and where others saw a sliver of space up the left sideline, he saw wide open space.
Somehow the Richmond Academy junior's 170-pound body squirted down the sideline for an 80-yard interception return. That touchdown on the final play from scrimmage in the first half turned out to be the difference in Richmond Academy's 15-12 win over Glenn Hills on Friday night.
Richmond Academy (5-2, 5-1 3-AAAA), which avenged a 20-point loss from a year ago, can clinch a playoff berth next week with a win over 2-5 Cross Creek.
Glenn Hills outgained the Musketeers 344-141 and allowed just one second-half first down. The Spartans ran 47 plays to Richmond Academy's 15 in the final 28 minutes.
So how did the Musketeers win?
"I have no idea," Richmond Academy coach Chris Hughes said. "(Reid's) interception flipped momentum around. ... We made plays when we had to; it was one of those bend-but-don't-break efforts."
Glenn Hills drove to Richmond Academy's 25 in the final minute, but quarterback Kendrick Armstrong slipped trying to pick up a yard on a fourth-down quarterback sneak. The Spartans' plan was to pick up the first down, spike the ball, then run two plays they had already called.
Glenn Hills (2-4, 2-5) drove into Richmond Academy territory on all but two of its eight possessions, but managed only two TDs. Short of the Region 3-AAAA standings imploding over the next three weeks, the Spartans will not make a return trip to the playoffs.
"We just can't get a break, and it's been like that for the last several ball games that we've lost," Glenn Hills coach Ernest Tolbert said. "The last play we blew them off the line; his knee just slipped."
Reid, Mark Cummings and Chris Gothie picked off passes for the Musketeers. A 3-yard Jerrel Anderson scoring run on the first play of the second quarter accounted for their only offensive points other than David Cordaro's 27-yard field goal on the game's opening drive. Richmond Academy gained 141 yards.
"They out-physicaled us," Hughes said. "(Glenn Hills linebacker Terrell) Fitts and those guys started popping us in the mouth. ... They were blitzing everybody, and we had trouble picking it up."
Reid said only one Glenn Hills player touched him on the interception, which put the Musketeers ahead 15-6 at halftime.
"One block, and I just went to the house," Reid said.
Reach Matt Middleton at (706) 823-3425 or matt.middleton@augustachronicle.com.
RICHMOND ACADEMY 15, GLENN HILLS 12
PLAY OF THE GAME: Drek Reid picked off a Glenn Hills pass and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown with 1 second remaining in the first half. It gave the Musketeers a two-score halftime lead.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Reid's interception was the difference in a game in which the Musketeers gained only 141 yards.
WHY RICHMOND ACADEMY WON: Its defense allowed just two touchdowns even though it surrendered 344 yards.
WHY GLENN HILLS LOST: It moved the ball well but couldn't overcome three interceptions and two costly bad snaps.
NEXT: Richmond Academy is at Cross Creek and Glenn Hills plays host to Josey, both Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Were you Spotted at the Glenn Hills at Richmond Academy game?
View and share photos FREE at spotted.augusta.com.
icon.
