Fort Frye’s Tytan Waller (12), Grady Hesson (2) and Kainan Bradford (10) celebrate after a play during Friday’s playoff game against Waterford. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

BEVERLY — The final stages of Friday night’s Fort Frye-Waterford playoff game were a blur to Cadets head coach Eric Huck.

Huck knew only one thing for certain — his team had survived.

The Cadets held a 29-17 advantage with two minutes remaining in the Division VI, Region 23 quarterfinals against the rival Wildcats, but had to narrowly escape catastrophe multiple times to hang on for a 29-26 victory.

“That one will go down as one of the craziest games I’ve ever been a part of, without a doubt,” said Huck, whose team improved to 9-3 and will take on top-seeded Grandview Heights in the regional semis next Friday at a location to be determined. “I think people will talk about that for a long time.”

Grady Hesson’s 1-yard touchdown run at the two-minute mark seemed to be the dagger as the Cadets went up 12 and Waterford had just one timeout left.

Waterford’s Colten Jones (33) carries the ball behind teammate Logan Jackson (55) during Friday’s playoff game against Fort Frye. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

However, Colten Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to the Fort Frye 10-yard line, and Hayden Jones threw a 7-yard TD pass to Zavier Heiss with 1:25 on the clock to make it 29-24.

The Wildcats had to get the onside kick — or so everyone thought. Fort Frye’s Tyce Beardsley recovered Ryker Hutchins’ kick, and coach Huck signaled for victory formation.

Waterford called a timeout after Hesson’s first kneel. Hesson took two more kneel-downs, but on the second, the Cadets were called for a personal foul, which not only pushed Fort Frye back to its own 9, but stopped the clock with 31 seconds left.

Waterford now had a glimmer of hope.

The Cadets opted to have Hesson scramble to drain some clock, eventually running out of the back of the end zone for a safety, making it 29-26 with 23 seconds left.

Fort Frye’s Tyce Beardsley carries the ball during Friday’s playoff game against Waterford. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

Fort Frye then had to kick off from its own 20. Tytan Waller booted it to the Waterford 31, but Hayden Jones found a seam and ran it all the way to Fort Frye’s 10 with 13 seconds left.

On first and goal, Waterford QB Hayden Jones rolled to his right and threw a short pass to the sideline, but Fort Frye linebacker Maddox Huck was there to intercept it and save the day.

“We’re not supposed to be kicking it deep like that,” Huck said of Hayden Jones’ return. “We didn’t have any timeouts left, so it is what it is. Our guys got to cover. Thank goodness Maddox found a way to get that interception right there at the end.”

It was heartbreak for the Wildcats, who missed out on some critical scoring opportunities.

“Our kids fought, man,” said Waterford head coach Eric McCutcheon. “Nobody thought we even had a shot there at the end. Kids were resilient. Great job. We were still aggressive when they were trying to kneel it and got them in a fourth down. Had to do our thing there and give our kids a shot. Got a great return. They just made one more play than we did at the end.”

Fort Frye suffered a big setback when Clayton Miller, whose 61-yard touchdown run put the Cadets up 7-0 in the first quarter, was knocked out of the game with an injury in the second period.

Waterford tied it at 7-all on Hayden Jones’ first of two 1-yard rushing touchdowns at the 10:34 mark in the second quarter.

Fort Frye answered on its ensuing possession as Hesson ran into the end zone from 4 yards out to make it 14-7 with 7:50 to go in the half.

It looked like that would be the score at halftime, but with the ball at their own 26 with 1:15 left, the Cadets saw sophomore back Gavin Rauch convert back-to-back big plays — an 18-yard run and then a 30-yard pass from Hesson — to move the ball to Waterford’s 44. Tyce Beardsley’s 34-yard catch put the Cadets at the 10 with five seconds left, setting up Waller’s 27-yard field goal to make it 17-7 at the break.

“Tyce was saying, ‘Give me the ball, give me the ball’ (after Miller got hurt),” Huck said. “Hesson played a heck of a game at quarterback. Gavin Rauch had some big plays himself. Had a nice carry before the half to set up that field goal. The line — we’ve got to get better. We didn’t block as well as we should and as well as we can, but they did their job and found a way.”

Fort Frye got the ball to start the second half, but Waterford forced a three-and-out. With the ball at their own 19, Colten Jones ran for 33 yards — plus 15 more on a facemask call — before his 22-yard catch and run put the ball at the 1. Hayden Jones ran it in from there to make it 17-14 with 8:03 left in the third.

Fort Frye’s next drive was stymied by a Trevin Zimmer sack. Kainan Bradford’s punt was returned by Colten Jones to the Fort Frye 32. On fourth and 5 from the 27, Fort Frye came up with a stop to get the ball back, but Jacob Burke forced a fumble to give it right back to the Wildcats at the FFHS 24. Jared Heiss’ 9-yard catch got Waterford into field goal range, and Hutchins’ 26-yarder was true to knot it up at 17-all with 45 seconds left in the third.

Holding Waterford to just three points on those two possessions was a big win for the Fort Frye defense.

The Cadets came up with another big play when Braxton Ross blocked a punt to give them the ball at Waterford’s 12-yard line. Three plays later, on third and 8 from the 10, Hesson found a wide open Rauch in the end zone for a touchdown at the 6:23 mark, putting Fort Frye back in front 23-17.

On their next drive, the Wildcats had a fourth-and-6 at their own 39 and elected to go for it. Hayden Jones bought time with his legs trying to find an open receiver, but Ross eventually got to him for a sack. Fort Frye took over at the Wildcats’ 23 and eventually punched it in on Hesson’s 1-yard touchdown run with two minutes left.

“That blocked punt was huge that Braxton had,” Huck said. “We were having trouble offensively all night, not really moving the ball consistently.

“Just proud of them. They kept fighting and didn’t give up. We’ve got to hand it to Waterford. They really came out and played their hearts out. Real proud of our guys for the way they kept fighting.”

Despite only three carries, Miller led Fort Frye with 86 rushing yards. Beardsley added 31 on eight rushes. Hesson was 7 for 11 passing for 128 yards, with Beardsley catching three passes for 83 yards.

“We’ve had some great atmospheres but we haven’t had anything like this,” Huck said. “I’m thinking back — I remember 2015, playing Caldwell with both teams undefeated, it was quite an atmosphere, but it wasn’t like this. This was an awesome experience for everybody, that’s for sure.”

Hayden Jones led Waterford with 113 yards on 22 carries. He also was 8 for 20 passing for 70 yards. Colten Jones added 51 yards on seven attempts.

“I hate it. I hate it for them, man. I wanted them to have this win so bad,” McCutcheon said. “They worked hard. They deserved it. I just need to coach better. That’s what it all comes down to. I need to coach better. Kids did awesome. I love the way our guys fought. Did we play perfect tonight? No, but man, they gave me every ounce of energy they had. I’m super proud of them. I’m going to miss the seniors, man. It’s a heck of a fun group.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@mariettatimes.com.