PINEVILLE, La. — (Cover: QB Luke Smith) First Baptist Christian School’s 60-54 win over Midstate Thursday night had a little bit of everything—big plays, turnovers, momentum swings, a goal-line stand and, finally, a 99-yard drive to win it.
For FBCS Coach Grayson Standiford, however, the story of the game was simpler. His Eagles made enough mistakes to lose the game, but showed enough grit to win it anyway.
The Eagles traveled to Pineville on August 20 to face the Midstate Storm on the campus of Louisiana Christian University. FBCS built a 34-26 halftime lead and eventually went ahead 40-26 before the game turned dramatically in the third quarter.
“We turned the ball over inside our 30 four times,” Standiford said.
The worst of it came in a span of only a few minutes.
“We muffed the punt. They scored. We fumbled. They scored. We fumbled again. They scored,” Standiford recalled. “They went up 48-40 in about a three-minute span.”
The official scoring reflects just how wild the third quarter became. Midstate scored 28 points in the period, while FBCS added 12, turning the Eagles’ halftime advantage into a 54-46 Midstate lead entering the fourth quarter.
Standiford said the third quarter alone took an hour and six minutes to play.
But after three quarters filled with offense, the game would ultimately be decided by the FBCS defense.
One Yard From Defeat
FBCS cut the Midstate lead to 54-52 and, with approximately three minutes remaining, attempted an onside kick.
It did not work and gave Midstate the football near midfield. From there, the Storm drove all the way to the FBCS one-yard line.
With the Eagles trailing and time running out, Midstate faced fourth-and-goal from the one.
FBCS stopped them.
The stand gave the Eagles the football at their own one-yard line, still trailing 54-52 and needing to travel essentially the length of the field.
“We stopped them on fourth and goal,” Standiford said, “and we went 99 yards in about two minutes.”
That drive culminated with the play that turned the game around for good—a 51 yard long touchdown pass from senior quarterback Luke Smith to senior Luke Page that put FBCS ahead.
Midstate would not score again.
After surrendering 54 points through the first three quarters, the Eagles pitched a fourth-quarter shutout and scored 14 unanswered points to escape Pineville with a 60-54 victory.
Eagles Run Wild
The dramatic finish may have decided the game, but FBCS was able to stay in position to win because of a dominant rushing performance.
“We ran the ball really well,” Standiford said.
That might be an understatement.
The official statistics credit FBCS with 360 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 38 carries, an average of 9.5 yards per attempt.
Benji Moore led the Eagles with 215 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries, according to the official statistics. Gavin Francis added 131 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries, including a 64-yard run. Page rushed for another 49 yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps just as important was who helped make room for them.
Standiford singled out eighth-grader Andrew Lambert, who was pressed into service on the offensive line despite being built more like a receiver and having never played football before this season.
“He’s a wide receiver-type kid,” Standiford said. “Never played football before, but he’s a bulldog. He’ll block, and he’ll block all night and get ahold of you and do his best.”
Big Plays Through the Air
The Eagles also hurt Midstate through the air.
Smith completed seven of 13 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns. Page also threw a 49-yard touchdown pass, giving FBCS 211 passing yards and three touchdowns for the night.
Standiford identified Page and Judah Pritchard as the recipients of Smith’s two touchdown passes.
Pritchard finished with four catches for a team-high 114 receiving yards and a touchdown, while Page caught two passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns. Moore added two receptions for 23 yards.
Altogether, FBCS finished with 571 yards of offense.
Midstate’s Backup Answers the Call
Midstate had plenty of offense of its own.
The Storm were without their regular starting quarterback, forcing junior Noah Chandler into the role. Standiford acknowledged afterward that FBCS had not prepared for Chandler to play quarterback.
“He really threw the ball well,” Standiford said. “We were not ready. We had not game-planned for him.”
Chandler made the Eagles pay.
He completed 11 of 20 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns while adding 67 yards rushing on only five carries. Freshman Andrew Pool rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown, while Brailen Bush caught eight passes for 148 yards and two scores.
“Fabulous job,” Standiford said of Chandler’s performance.
Midstate finished with 469 yards of total offense, including 220 rushing and 249 passing.
Grit When It Mattered
There were certainly things for Standiford and his staff to correct when they reviewed the game film. Most notably, turnovers repeatedly gave Midstate short fields and allowed the Storm to erase a 14-point FBCS lead in a matter of minutes.
But those are correctable mistakes. What Standiford saw during the final minutes in Pineville was something more difficult to coach.
Asked what the game taught him about his team, Standiford pointed to his seniors.
“The seniors have a lot of grit, a lot of resolve,” he said, “and the young kids were willing to step up and follow that senior leadership.”
That may have been the most encouraging part of the night for FBCS.
The Eagles had a lead. They lost it. They gave Midstate short fields and watched the Storm score three times in a matter of minutes. They trailed late. Then, with the game seemingly slipping away, they stopped Midstate at the one-yard line and drove 99 yards for the go-ahead score.
The lesson, Standiford said, is that “no matter how late it is in the game, you have to keep playing.”
Just as importantly, the Eagles learned how quickly turnovers can change a football game.
“If we go down and score” when leading 40-26, Standiford said, “we probably put it away. But we didn’t, and three short fields, and now they’re winning.”
This time, FBCS recovered.
Northshore Comes to Broussard
The Eagles now return home Thursday night to face Northshore at 7 p.m. in Broussard.
Standiford expects a different type of challenge.
“Northshore is big and physical,” he said. “They like to run the football.”
His goals for the week are straightforward.
“I want to see us get better in the trenches on both sides and value the football a little bit more.”
After a 60-54 shootout in Pineville, taking better care of the football could make next Thursday considerably less stressful.
But there was also something to be said for the way this one ended.
Down two points, backed up at their own one-yard line and with only a couple of minutes remaining, the Eagles needed 99 yards.
For an FBCS roster that does not have much depth up front, Lambert’s willingness to step into an unfamiliar role mattered.
They got all 99.
J. Christian Lewis/AI assisted