For 47 minutes and 42 seconds Friday night, it looked as if the Sam Houston Broncos would earn their first-ever victory over the Barbe Bucs. But after Gavin Nettles hit Kaileb Yokum on a rollout with 18 ticks remaining on the clock, it abruptly ended.

With 2:19 left in the game, tied 41-41, Sam Houston settled for a 19-yard field goal from senior kicker Seth Lyons. The Bucs in turn marched down field into Broncos territory with no timeouts remaining.

Despite a fourth-and-17 from the Broncos 45, the Bucs overcame and found the end zone on the 5-yard scoring pass from Nettles to Yokum to take their first lead.

“That was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had,” Yokum said. “We run that play a lot in practice. It’s a fake stretch to left and I rollout right into the flat. Coach told me it was coming to me, so I was ready for it.”

The play capped off a nine-play, 68-yard drive.

“We had to come up with plays,” said Bucs coach Mike Cutrera. “We were out of timeouts and we knew we had to throw the ball. The kids executed, that was huge.”

The win marked the sixt -in a row for the Bucs (8-2, 6-1), and earned them a share of the District 3-5A championship with Carencro.

“It feels good, especially in this district as tough as it is,” Cutrera said. “Every week you have to get up and play because every team is very tough.”

“This feels great,” Yokum added. “I have high expectations for us going into the playoffs now.”

It wasn’t all Nettles and Yokum for the Bucs, though, as sophomore Kirkland Banks rushed for a season-high 287 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. He also caught four passes for 47 yards. He scored on runs of 55, 25 and 74 yards, the last of which tied the score at 41-41 with 5:18 left in the game.

Garret Williams added 76 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground while grabbing five passes for 71 yards and a 22-yard touchdown.

The Bucs finished with 555 yards of total offense.

The Broncos (6-4, 3-4) started the game with senior quarterback Dustin Duhon busting a 51-yard run before connecting with Jacob Stracner on a 31-yard touchdown pass.

After Corbin Eldridge recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff return, Duhon and Stracner hooked up from 48 yards out to give the Broncos a 14-0 lead.

Sam Houston dominated most of the first half and Eldridge cut the Bucs’ attempt to tie the score going into the half when he picked off Nettles at the Broncos 1-yard line.

“We knew going in that this was going to be a tough ballgame,” Cutrera said. “Coach (Vaughn) Eggleston and his staff have done a great job and they had a good game plan tonight.”

In the second half ,the teams continued to trade touchdowns, but the Bucs stole the last ounce of momentum after shutting Sam Houston down in the red zone to settle for the field goal.

“We played four complete quarters once again, not without mistakes, but our kids continue to get better each week,” Eggleston said.

Duhon led the way for the Broncos, completing 10 of 16 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns. He added a team-high 120 yards and one touchdown on the ground.

“(Dustin) leads us each and every week, both on the field and off,” Eggleston said. “He just continues to get better, and his intelligence on the field really shows up when we need it to.”

His favorite target was Stracner, who caught four passes for 137 yards and the two touchdowns. Stanley Rochester and Daniel Lejeune also caught one touchdown apiece.

Trevontai Thompson added 100 yards and a touchdown on the ground for the Broncos.(Rick Hickman/American Press)