Osbourn eliminates Battlefield

By Robert Daski

Published: November 15, 2008

He trotted onto the field with 2:24 remaining. All Thomas Keith needed to do was take his offense 54 yards to the end zone.
In nine plays, he did that.
Keith touched the ball on all but one play of Friday’s game winning drive. The final play belonged to Jerell McFadden, whose 2-yard touchdown run was the game-winning score.
That gave Osbourn a 22-20 win over Battlefield in the Northwest Region semifinal, putting the Eagles in the regional championship where they’ll face Woodbridge for the second time in three years.
Keith began Osbourn’s final drive by throwing two incomplete passes. But he scampered for 24 yards on third and 10 and completed an 18-yard pass to McFadden on fourth and 14 that gave the Eagles (7-4) the ball at the Battlefield 8.
“[Osbourn] coach [Steve] Schultze told me to be patient on the last drive,” Keith said. “Their crowd was cheering. Our crowd was cheering.
“My offensive line had trouble hearing me at times during the game, so I knew I had to speak up.”
McFadden’s touchdown run was not his lone contribution. He took a snap under center with less than a minute left in the second quarter and lofted a pass that receiver Rodney Whitehead caught and ran for an 86-yard touchdown.
A failed extra point attempt put the Eagles ahead 9-0 at halftime.
While Keith did not play a perfect game, he recorded 178 yards of total offense to help the Eagles.
“That’s the bottom line,” Schultze said. “We let a kid be himself and let him do what God wants him to.”
Emotions have been high for Keith in the past month and a half. On Oct. 4, he lost his 26 year-old sister Tonya Rose, who committed suicide. Later, Christian Green, a student at Osbourn, was killed in a hunting accident.
While Keith and his teammates have dedicated the season to Green, losing a family member hurts just as much.
“It’s hard not having her in the stands cheering,” Keith said. “All my sister wanted me to do was to play football. Whether we lose or win, I’m going to make her proud.”
Osbourn’s 9-0 lead was trimmed to 9-6 in the third quarter when Battlefield’s Sheldon Tapscott scored on a 46-yard touchdown run though the Bobcats (10-1) missed the extra point.
Osbourn’s Timmy Keith countered with a 55-yard run and the Eagles led 16-6 following the extra point.
Battlefield running back Adrian Ingram scored on a 1-yard run and the Bobcats crept to within a field goal with 7:28 left.
After Osbourn punted, the Bobcats’ offense returned to the field with 4:02 remaining. Battlefield reached its 46 before quarterback Bo Revell lofted a pass down the middle that Cooper Bull caught and turned into a 54-yard score.
Battlefield led with 2:30 remaining. But after McFadden scored the winning touchdown, the Bobcats could only get to their 40 on their last possession.
Then they were left to dwell on a second straight year that started with an outstanding regular season only to end with a first-round playoff exit.
“We’re disappointed, but that happens,” coach Mark Cox said. “We had a great regular season and we went 10-0. Not many people can do that.”