It looked like King was getting ready to rout the Comets, but on the ensuring kickoff Cody’s Foley Mitchell blasted 92 yards for a touchdown, and, the stage was set for a tough physical game.
King held a commanding 19-6 fourth quarter lead, but Cody’s Eric Campbell recovered a King fumble and running back Tyerell Reed scored on a 4-yard run with 4:11 left, making it 19-14.
Cody stopped King on three straight plays and got the ball at midfield with about two minutes left in the game. Poised to pull off the upset, King’s Larry Steppes stopped Cody’s momentum by intercepting a La Rolans Joliffi pass to seal the deal.
“I’m proud of how our boys played,” Cody coach Calvin Norman said. “They showed character by coming back and battling King till the end.”
For Harvel and King it was an unbelievable year. First, James Reynolds retired right before the season started because of health problems. Harvel replaced him and had to refocus the team and arrest the emotional roller coaster the kids felt in losing their coach.
“It was hard at first (without Reynolds),” said Harvel, who coached under Reynolds for 22 years. “I told the kids this is still King football.”
Harvel said that this title is extra special because it was his first one as a head coach.
“This feels excellent,” King linebacker Dontavias Bryant said. “We had an off year last year, but this is my third PSL title. Being a senior makes it that much more special.”
Added Norfleet: “This team earned this title. We worked hard in practice every day and we started to believe that something special was going to happen for this squad, and, it did.”
Senior linebacker Martell Goodson said words cannot explain how happy he is. However, senior quarterback Derond Crawford cautions everyone saying, “We still have the States (playoffs) and we feel we can compete and make a run at a state title, too.”
King won PSL titles in 2006 and 2007 under Reynolds. Southeastern won the 2008 Division A title.
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