WHITE OAK – The Gladewater Bears held on for a 41-35 win over the White Oak Roughnecks, recovering an onside kick in the final seconds to close out the regular season in thrilling fashion.
Gladewater moves to 3-7 overall and 2-3 in district play. White Oak drops to 3-7 and 0-5.
Gladewater went in front 41-28 with 1:16 to play on a Davaunte Powers 2-yard touchdown run, but the Roughnecks moved into scoring position on catches of 16 and 28 yards by Noah Carter – scoring on a 3-yard run by Azriel Sosa to get to within 41-35 with 19 seconds to play.
White Oak took the early lead on a 31-yard pass from Grayson Thompson to Luke Baker, but Kollin Lewis scored from five yards out with 6:48 left in the opening quarter to tie it at 7-7.
Frank Sierra’s 59-yard interception return for a score put the Bears on top with 3:17 left in the first.
The Bears scored on a 29-yard run by Julius Maddox with 7:47 left in the second to build a 21-7 lead, but the Roughnecks kept it close with a 6-yard TD run by Carter with 1:12 left in the half.
Both teams got big plays in the third quarter, with the Bears scoring on a 62-yard punt return by Lewis and the Roughnecks following with an 85-yard kickoff return by Carter.
White Oak took its first lead of the game at 28-27 with a 12-yard TD run by Dee Williams at the 10:57 mark of the fourth quarter, but the Bears answered two minutes later with a 26-yard TD pass from Kwame Gordon to Fernando Cornnado.