BLAIRSVILLE — Bowdon ran in a 2-point conversion in the first overtime to beat Union County 56-55 Friday night in the first round of the Class AA playoffs.
Bowdon (6-5) ran for 654 yards, 397 in first half, and trailed just once in the game. Tay Shepherd did most of the damage with nearly 400 yards rushing and scored five times for the Red Devils.
Union County (9-2) battled from behind to tie the game five times, four in the second half. The Red Devils took the first lead 6-0 on the opening drive of the game but the Panthers would take their only lead of regulation on the ensuing kickoff when Josh Daniel went 95-yards to give them a 7-6 lead.
Bowdon answered with three more scores in the first half to take a 27-14 lead into halftime. Union's only other score in the first half came in the second quarter on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Joseph Mancuso to Sam Gilbert to cut the Bowdon lead to 20-14. The Panthers had a chance to draw closer but fumbled inside the Red Devils' 15 in the second quarter.
Union County got rolling in the third quarter with Bo Lynch scoring on a 27-yard touchdown run and then Mancuso connected with Gilbert for a second time on a 30-yard to tie the game at 27 midway through the period. It6 stayed that way until the fourth.
Bowdon reclaimed the lead just a minute into the final quarter on a 61-yard run but the Panthers answered back two minutes later on a 9-yard touchdown run by Lynch to tie the game at 34. The Red Devils jumped back in front on a 63-yard scoring with just under seven minutes left but Lynch scored his third touchdown of the game on a 47-yard run exactly one minute later for a 41-all tie.
Bowdon again reclaimed the lead on a 77-yard touchdown runw ith 3:42 left but again the Panthers came back getting a 9-yard touchdown pass from Mancuso to Cole Wright with just 19 seconds left to send the game to overtime tied at 48.
In the overtime, Mancuso hit Knox Kiernan on a 3-yard pass for a 55-48 with the extra point. But Bowdon got a 1-yard touchdown run to pull within a point and then secured the win with a scoring run on a 2-point conversion.
Mancuso finished with 251 yards passing and four TD passes for Union County. Gilbert had seven receptions for 138 yards and Lynch had 15 carries for 158 yards for the Panthers.
