IOWA — Washington-Marion stopped a 2-point conversion attempt with no time on the clock to deny LaGrange a tie as the Charging Indians held on to beat the Gators 16-14 Thursday night in a jamboree game.

The Charging Indians led 16-0 at the half only to see the Gators get back into the game with a last-second touchdown.

LaGrange quarterback Quindon Barry connected with wide receiver Jaylun Myles, who found his way past a couple defenders into the end zone as time expired. But LaGrange couldn’t complete the comeback, as the W-M defense broke up a pass from Barry on the 2-point conversion attempt.

LaGrange coach Jules Sullen said the game was encouraging, regardless of the outcome.

“We’re glad we came away injury-free,” he said. “We played a lot of new kids for the first time. We had some secondary breakdowns, but we’re glad we were able to regroup from the small half we had and make sure we get guys in the right place.”

The Charging Indians opened the scoring when quarterback Quajae Boutte found wide receiver Demond Delahoussaye on a fourth-down attempt from the Gators’ 41-yard-line. Delahoussaye ran free down the left sideline to the end zone after the catch, and running back Rawlin Guillory spun off a tackle to punch in a 2-point conversion making it 8-0.

“We’re going to go as much as they go,” W-M coach Freddie Harrison said about his offensive playmakers. “Quajae came out and played a great game because the line came out and gave him the opportunity to throw the ball a little bit and the receivers caught the ball well.”

The Indians’ Boutte-to-Delahoussaye connection came up big again, when Delahoussaye reeled in a 34-yard reception down to the Gators’ 18-yard line. W-M’s Damian Bellard ran the ball to the 11 and Boutte found the end zone the next play with a fake handoff quarterback keeper. Bellard tacked on the 2-point conversion run to make it 16-0 at half.

LaGrange responded with just a little more than 8 minutes left in the half, when Alvinosky Lafleur ran the ball in from the 8-yard line and Myles took the handoff to score the 2-point conversion and make it 16-8, setting up for the tight finish.

Barry finished 7 of 11 for 97 yards and a touchdown and Myles led the Gators in receiving, with 33 yards and a touchdown on two receptions and rushing, with 18 yards on two attempts.

Boutte ended with 105 passing yards on 5-of-6 attempts and a touchdown. Guillory led the Indians’ rushing attack with 41 yards on six attempts, while Delahoussaye pulled in 97 receiving yards and one touchdown.

(Rick Hickman / Special to the American Press)