Castleberry and Dunbar squared off for the final playoff spot in District 6-4A Division I on Saturday. The game was chaos from the very beginning to the very end. It started with special teams as Trevon Gray-McCoy returned a block punt 48 yards for a Dunbar touchdown. However, Castleberry immediately answered as Diego Rivera returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown of his own. A 2-point conversion put Castleberry up 8-7.
Dunbar continued to come up with explosive scores over the next two quarters. Aaryn Conley had a pick-six for Dunbar, Joel Miles added a 40-yard touchdown run, and Dariante Hall raced away for a 70-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to put Dunbar up 34-29. This back-and-forth, high-scoring nature continued throughout the contest. A quarterback keeper by Castleberry’s Drew Aguillon put the Lions up 50-46 with just three minutes to go. Dunbar yet again responded as Dunbar quarterback Dorian Carr found Conley for a 46-yard touchdown to restore Dunbar’s lead, 53-50.
The game deservedly came down to the final seconds. With 26 seconds remaining, Aguillon launched a pass across the middle to his receiver Lonnie Adams. Adams rose above three Dunbar defenders, coming down with the catch, before falling in for the score. It was a 34-yard touchdown that put Castleberry up 57-53 and sealed its spot in the playoffs.
Adams had 11 catches for 246 yards on the night, while Aguillon threw for 248 yards, rushed for 141 yards, and totaled six touchdowns. With the way the Castleberry offense looked in this one, it certainly will not be an easy out for any opponent in the playoffs.
Adams’ game-winning touchdown catch (Courtesy of Brian Gosset): https://twitter.com/Gosset41/status/1320076999092830211
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