FARMVILLE – By the narrowest of margins and by a turn of good fortune, the Fuqua School football team extended its season by another week with a 22-21 victory over Greenbrier Christian Academy in the Virginia Independent Schools Division IV Playoffs last Friday night at Gilmer Field.

The Falcons led by nine points in the fourth quarter, but sustained a late Greenbrier touchdown and overcame a fumble on the ensuing kickoff with a fumble recovery of their own to secure the victory and advance to this Friday's State Championship game at Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot.

“It was a heck of a ballgame, and exciting right up to the very end,” said FS head coach Skeeter Fore. “We made enough plays in the end that we were able to pull out the victory.”

A 32-yard touchdown run by Charles Williams on fourth-and-five with 8:36 left to play gave the Falcons a two-possession lead after a made two-point conversion throw from Williams to senior tight end LeVon Harper.

With more than enough time to respond, Greenbrier quickly moved down the field and capped their drive with a one-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak by Nick Jesse, who scored on the two-point conversion to pull to within one point with 5:06 remaining.

On the ensuing kickoff, GCA forced Fuqua junior Larry Haskins to fumble on the FS 29-yard line.

“They had no time outs left, so we thought they were going to do an onside kick,” said Fore. “We were surprised when they kicked it, but they put a licking on Haskins on the coverage to force the fumble.”

Fuqua returned the favor on the next play. Williams and Andy Ware put a hard hit on the Greenbrier runner, who coughed the ball up to be recovered by Clayton Worrell with 4:53 left in the contest.

Fuqua was able to convert a first down and use every bit of the 25-second clock between plays to record its first postseason victory since defeating Roanoke Catholic 21-7 in the 2006 playoffs.

“You have to give Greenbrier a lot of credit. They were 1-19 over the last two years, but they played nothing like it. They were well-prepared both physically and mentally.”

The Gators jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after recovering a fumble on Fuqua's second play from scrimmage, and all signals pointed to an easy victory by Greenbrier when Williams threw an interception at midfield, but the Falcons recovered a fumble on their 11-yard line to prevent a second score.

On the next play, Williams capitalized on the turnover with an 89-yard touchdown run. A two-point conversion run by Williams gave the Falcons an 8-7 lead.

Greenbrier went back ahead early in the second quarter on a one-yard run by tailback TJ Raynard, but Fuqua senior Michael Marquez blocked the extra point.

“He's dinged up on the shoulder,” said Fore of Marquez on the extra point, “but he said that there was a little more room than you'd normally expect between the tackle and the guard, and he timed the snap perfectly and was in front of their kicker, and it hit Marquez on the forearm. Though it was in the first half, it turned out to be a very big play for us.”

Fuqua saw one scoring chance go by the boards just before the half. Williams had appeared to score on an 11-yard run on the final play of the second quarter, but the play was called back because of holding.

Had Greenbrier declined the penalty, Fuqua would have been awarded a touchdown. The acceptance of the penalty gave the Falcons another chance. On the untimed down, Williams' pass to Carter Cunningham was incomplete, but the Gators were flagged for pass interference, giving the Falcons' another untimed down, but Williams was unable to find an open receiver in the endzone, and ended up getting sacked to end the half.

Greenbrier received the third quarter kickoff, but Marquez again came up with a big play on an interception on the Fuqua 38-yard line.

Later in the quarter, Williams put Fuqua back in front with a 14-yard touchdown with 14.1 seconds left in the third quarter.

Williams led the Falcons with 249 yards and touchdown runs of 89, 14 and 32 yards. Haskins had 20 yards on 11 carries, and Marquez gained 16 yards on four carries.

Williams was 3-5 passing for 35 yards and an interception, while Cunningham was 1-4 passing for three yards. LeVon Harper had three catches for 35 yards and Williams had the one completion from Cunningham for three yards.

Defensively, Williams led the Falcons with ten tackles and two assists, while Haskins had eight tackles, an assist and a fumble recovery. Worrell had eight stops, two assists and a fumble recovery, while Marquez had five tackles, two assists and a fumble recovery, and Ware had four stops, an assist, and a fumble recovery.

Fuqua's game at Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot on Friday night will begin at 7 p.m. at Barham-Sowers Field in Powhatan.