It’s fitting the game essentially ended on a penalty.
In a game mired by 280 penalty yards, Antonio Holloway’s 15-yard touchdown catch at the final horn was called back for illegal touching, leaving Cedar Grove with a 20-12 win over Columbia.
The Eagles’ offense hadn’t moved the ball much until the final possession, starting at their own 39-yard line with 2:04 left and marching methodically toward what could have been a tying touchdown.
Ten plays later, Columbia quarterback Andre Brown spiked the ball to stop the clock with 2.4 seconds left and the ball at the Cedar Grove 15, setting up what figured to be the final play.
He threw a short outlet pass to Holloway on the right sideline, and Holloway sidestepped two defenders, then leaped into the end zone, seemingly setting up a two-point conversion play that could send the game to overtime.
But the side judge immediately threw a flag and called Holloway for illegal touching, as his right foot landed just out of bounds a step before making the catch.
The 15-yard penalty put the Eagles back to the 30, and a final long throw by Brown landed harmlessly out of the back of the end zone.
The controversial ending overshadowed a stellar effort from Cedar Grove’s Deion Sellers, who had 201 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, as almost the entirety of the Saints’ offense.
Despite his effort on the ground, the Saints (1-1) couldn’t put many points on the board; after Sellers’ two scores, the other six points came on a key defensive play.
Midway through the fourth quarter, with Cedar Grove clinging to a 2-point lead, Brandon Norwood grabbed his second interception of the game, returning this one 21 yards for a touchdown that gave the Saints their final margin of victory. Without that, Columbia could have considered a game-winning field goal in the waning seconds.
Cedar Grove finished with 165 penalty yards, and Columbia nearly matched them with 115 of their own. One particularly notable series of penalties left the Saints kicking off from their own 7 following the Norwood touchdown.
Brown finished 13-of-24 for 131 yards and one touchdown. Shadell Bell led the Eagles with 55 receiving yards and a touchdown on a 40-yard toss from Brown.
