Snow rallies to win Golden Isles Bowl

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- Snow College traveled more than 1,700 miles for Saturday's Golden Isles Bowl, and the Badgers didn't mind a little extra playing time.

Given the fact they allowed 21 points to Georgia Military College in a seven-minute span of the first quarter, the Badgers simply were thrilled to have a chance at overtime.

"When we got into the locker room at halftime," said Snow quarterback Jason Coutts, "we told ourselves we had to quit shooting ourselves in the foot."

After a shaky first quarter where it looked like they might be blown all the way back to Ephraim, the Badgers fought back from a 21- 7 deficit with two second-half touchdowns, then won on Coutts' 5- yard score in overtime, 27-21.

"This is huge for us," Snow coach Jeff Kilts said. "We want to be one of the schools that starts the season up there in the top five and stays there throughout the whole season."

The trip to Brunswick, located along the southeast Georgia coast, is the longest ever taken by Snow's football team. And if the sixth- ranked Badgers (9-1) were nervous about facing the 11th-ranked Bulldogs (8-3), a perennial top-10 squad, it showed in the fact Snow committed six turnovers. Snow lost three fumbles and Coutts, who finished 22-for-40 for 272 yards, threw three interceptions, after throwing five in his first nine games this season.

But the Snow defense got the Badgers back into it, forcing four turnovers on the day and setting up both second-half scores with fumble recoveries.

In the third quarter, sophomore defensive lineman Dustin Schroader, who won MVP honors for recording 2 1/2 sacks and putting relentless pressure on GMC quarterback Joe Riner all afternoon, pounced on a Riner fumble at the Bulldogs' 37.

Seven plays later, sophomore running back Gordon Reid bulled in from the 1. The extra point from Joey Mack, the only Georgia player on Snow's roster, pulled the Badgers to within 21-14 with 4:58 left in the quarter.

Still down seven entering the fourth quarter, Snow caught a break when GMC running back Brent Thomas fumbled a pitch, one of seven GMC fumbles. Freshman linebacker Randon Young recovered for Snow at the Bulldogs' 40, the fourth fumble recovered on the day by the Badgers.

The turnover set up Coutts' 19-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Justin Walker with 9:48 left in regulation. Mack's extra point tied it at 21-21.

"Our defense has played great all year," Schroader said. "It just came together for us in the second half."

In overtime, Snow stuffed GMC on four plays. Taking the ball at the 25 and needing only a field goal to score, the Badgers instead pounded it to the 5.

From there, Coutts kept, hesitated at the 3, then slipped a tackle and dove headfirst across the goal line for the game-winner.

"That final play sums up the kind of heart and desire he has," Kilts said of Coutts.

GMC had two chances to win the game inside the final two minutes. The Bulldogs reached the Snow 19 before a sack of Riner by Schroader and sophomore defensive back Brock Johnson, and a personal-foul penalty on GMC, forced the Bulldogs to punt instead of going for a potential game-winning field goal with 1:54 left.

But Coutts was picked off by GMC freshman cornerback Waymon Ford, who made a leaping interception at the Bulldogs' 45 with 1:05 left. The Bulldogs moved to the Badgers' 30, but Snow defensive lineman David Tongolei swatted down Blake Bartol's 47-yard field-goal attempt as the buzzer sounded.

"It's been a great year for us," said Coutts, who finishes with 2,811 passing yards. "This is the way we wanted to go out."

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