AuGRES-SIMS - Oct. 2, 2009 - The Wing-T offense isn't usually conducive to big come-from-behind wins.

But don't tell that to Hale -- or AuGres-Sims for that matter -- after the Eagles twice rallied from a 16-point deficit to stun the Wolverines on their homecoming night, 37-32.

"I'm so proud of the kids," said Hale coach Bill Lake. "They overcame so much adversity this week and during the game."

The Eagles lost two two-way starters earlier in the week to suspension, then had offensive lineman Brenden O'Dell go down with an injury during practice.

Then during the first half, another two-way starter, Zach Kusterer, went down with an injury that had him leaving the game in an ambulance. It turned out Kusterer was not seriously injured, but it required the Eagles to regroup.

"We were already down five starting spots," Lake said. "Then seeing your teammate go off the field on a stretcher is tough. We just were really resilient."

Lake -- an AGS alum and Wing-T disciple of former longtime Wolverines coach Len Tyler -- pulled out all the stops during the Eagles' final desperation drive.

The Eagles took over at their own 20 yard line with 1:37 remaining, trailing 32-30, after stopping the Wolverines inches short of a first down that would have ended the game.

Christian Mudry got things rolling with a 19-yard run on a reverse, and on the next play the Eagles looked as though they were running the reverse again. This time Mudry threw downfield to teammate and near-namesake Christian Moody for a 29 yard gain to the AGS 31 with still a minute to go.

On 3rd-and-15 the Eagles needed another big play, and got it by successfully pulling off the old hook-and-lateral play. Tanner Shellenbarger completed a 15-yard pass to Moody, who pitched back to Eddy Cadwell as he was being tackled. Cadwell picked up another 10 yards and got out of bounds with 35 seconds on the clock.

"We do seem to have pulled that play off a few times over the years," Lake said. "Maybe we're getting a little predictable."

Three plays later, Moody dove into the end zone from four yards out for the game-winning score with 13 seconds left.

"The guys are pretty down right now," said AGS coach Dr. Scott McAlindon. "We did do a lot of things well tonight. We certainly played a lot better than we did last week (in a loss to Atlanta)."

The Wolverines seemed well on their way to victory after Travis Byard hit Colton Liddell with a 53-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter for a 32-16 lead. The two had also connected on a 55-yard scoring play in the second quarter.

But Hale, patchwork lineup and all, wasn't done. The Eagles responded right away with a 13-play, 64-yard drive of the more traditional type, ending with Cadwell's 7-yard touchdown run, his third score of the night to go with 203 yards rushing.

The Wolverines turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter, and the Eagles converted the second turnover into a 7-yard Evan Caverly touchdown run with 4:32 leff that cut the deficit to 32-30.

The Wolverines chewed up three minutes behind the running of Byard and Kyle Shanks, but after picking up one first down came up inches short of being able to finish the game off.

Mudry finished with 42 rushing yard son three carries, with Caverly adding 34 on nine carries. Devin Smith had 14 tackles, with Mudry adding 12 tackles and an interception. Lake added that Tyler Braun had an outstanding defensive game as well.

Pendred led AGS with 71 rushing yards on 21 carries, with Shanks adding 54 yards on 10 carries. Byard completed 4-of-7 passes for 128 yards, 108 of those going to Liddell on his two long scoring grabs.

The Wolverines converted a Hale fumble into a 5-yard Byard touchdown run in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead. Cadwell answered with a 52-yard run that set up his one 1-yard touchdown dive, and Caverly's 2-pointer gave Hale an 8-6 lead.

Pendred's 1-yard run on the first play of the second quarter put the Wolverines ahead, and AGS added up a safety when a bad Hale snap when the Eagles were trying to punt out of their own end zone. Byard's first long scoring pass to Liddell and Derrick Stanley's 2-pointer gave the Wolverines a 24-8 lead with 55 seconds left in the first half.

But in a precursor of the game's wild final minute, Hale drove 65 yards in the final seconds, including a wild play that included another wideout pass from Mudry to Moody. This time, though, Shanks caught Moody from behind and forced a fumble, only to have the Eagles' Nick Green pounce on the ball a the AGS seven yard line. That set up Cadwell's 7-yard touchdown run with 6.6 seconds before the half to cut it to 24-16.

"This was definitely one of the most exciting wins of my career," Lake said. "To see young men step up and never give up until the end is one of the reasons you do this as a coach.

"And to do it against your alma mater is pretty fun too."