The Highland Home Flying Squadron pulled out a big play just when it mattered most: trailing by three points with under a minute left in the game to defeat Samson 25-22 in a barnburner.

“There were 26 seconds left in the game when we scored the go-ahead touchdown,” said Highland Home head coach Tom Pinkston.

That touchdown was a 70-yard connection from quarterback Kase Kelly to Raheem Berry.

“We threw a hitch and go, and Raheem just got behind the defense,” Pinkston said. “It was a kind of redemption for him because he dropped a touchdown earlier in the game that would have put us up 20-7.”

The Squadron jumped out to a 13-0 lead following a six-yard run by John Dunn and a 20-yard touchdown pass from Kelly to Dunn.

However, a long touchdown pass by Samson and a subsequent Highland Home turnover helped Samson take the lead 14-13.

Even though the Squadron managed to go ahead 19-14, Samson had a long kickoff return and scored on that drive to give Highland the ball back with under a minute to play.

“Samson played hard, and they’ve got a good team,” Pinkston said. “But John Dunn had a great game for us, and he just made play after play.”

One thing that hurt the Squadron all night was penalties as HHS was penalized 17 times.

“We made enough mistakes for three games,” Pinkston said.

The win moved Highland Home to 2-0 on the season and was also a region win.