The night the lights went out in Cashion

This was a new one for Lynn Shackelford in his nearly three decades of coaching.

“And hopefully the last time it happens,” said Cashion’s head coach.

The Wildcats were defeated 42-39 in overtime by No. 3 Fairview in a wild game that didn’t end on the same field it started.

In fact, it wasn’t even the same town.

With 29 seconds left in regulation and moments after the Wildcats had tied the game at 36-36, a transformer that feeds Cashion’s stadium blew, killing the lights and all other electricity at the facility.

“We’re getting ready to kick off and - boom - everything goes black,” Shackelford said.

Initially, Shackelford thought maybe the timer system for lights at the stadium hadn’t been adjust since the time change and that they’d soon be kicked right back on.

That wasn’t the case. Once it was determined that a transformer was the issue, Shackelford, Fairview head coach Robert Bernard and the two schools’ administrations began looking for a solution.

“The last thing anyone wanted was for them to have to drive back on Saturday for 30 seconds of a game and maybe some overtime,” Shackelford said.

So all sorts of avenues were considered…even ending the game in a tie.

Entering the night, the game had plenty of meaning.

A Cashion win of 15 or more points would create a legitimate three-way tie for first place in the district between the Wildcats, Fair-view and Hooker.

All three teams would have been 6-1 in the district with neither team sweeping the other two. On top of that, all three would have had the same number of district points at 75.

However, with just 29 seconds left, the game tied and Cashion kicking to Fairview, that scenario was more than a miracle from happening.

“The district was settled at that point,” Shackelford said. “We weren’t going to beat them by 15, so we looked at a lot of different avenues.”

What if they didn’t finish and the game ended in a tie? Shackelford got on the phone with the OSSAA to see how that would be handled and how it would affect the district standings.

“There is nothing in the handbook at all that has the word ‘tie’ in it,” Shackelford said. “So it was unclear and we didn’t want there to be any loopholes.”

And besides, added Shackelford, nobody with either side wanted to end the game without a resolution of some sort.

“We just looked into every option and that was one of them,” he said.

Then came the task of searching for an alternate site.

Kingfisher was the first one brought up.

“They’re playing on the road,” Shackelford told the group. “There would be nobody there to open it up.”

The same went for Piedmont, which is nearby, but was also playing on the road.

What about Crescent? The Tigers had just wrapped up a home game with Hooker. The lights at the stadium were still warm.

Crescent Athletic Director Shawn Booth cleared it with Superintendent Mike Franz and they welcomed both teams to travel 15 miles to the northeast.

“So then we had to start that whole process, which was about an hour,” Shackelford said. That included getting buses for the football team, cheerleaders and band for transport.

However, before the buses could make it into the stadium, they had to wait for all the fans to clear out.

“Us and Fairview were basically the last to leave town because we had to wait on everyone else,” Shackelford said.

They were the caboose of a miles-long convoy to Crescent.

“I can’t imagine what the people of Crescent thought when they saw all of those cars headed to their football field,” Shackelford said.

Once there - and once everyone was situated the teams had to warm up again.

The game soon went into overtime and Cashion got the ball first.

The Wildcats eventually settled for a 19-yard field goal by Andrew Stockton.

When it was Fairview’s turn, the Yellowjackets needed just two plays to run it into the end zone and end the game.

“We get over there and there were nine plays run,” Shackelford said. “Then it was over.”

Cashion ended up third in the district behind the champ Yellowjackets and runner-up Hooker.

Although it wouldn’t have changed the standings, Shackelford said the blackout halted some serious momentum for his team.

“If the lights don’t go out, we had a really good shot to win,” he said. “Our momentum was sky high. We were playing really well from the third quarter on.”

Cashion played from behind all night.

Early miscues saw the Wildcats give up an early safety and a touchdown to fall behind 8-0, They tied it up with an 88-yard drive that culminated with a 19-yard TD pass from Kellen Smith to Ryder West.

Down 14-8, Cashion’s Smith hit Grayson Davis with a 3-yard touchdown to see the game tied 14-14 at halftime.

Fairview got two quick scores in the third quarter, but again Cashion stormed back.

Rival Fields hauled in a 7-yard touchdown catch and, after a Fairview punt, Fields caught a 57-yard strike from Smith and the game was tied at 28-28 with 11:49 to play.

After Fairview went up 36-28, Cashion put together a scoring drive that saw Smith score on a 1-yard run with 29 seconds left.

His pass to West for the two-point conversion tied it up.

“He was fantastic,” said Shackelford of his quarterback, who finished 30 of 44 for 358 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

He added another 92 yards and one touchdown on the ground.

The loss drops Cashion into third in the district with a 5-2 mark. The Wildcats finished the regular season 8-2.

They travel to Minco (91) for the firt round of the playoffs.

A familiar foe, Minco has previously been in Cashion’s district.

“They’re massive up front and, as always, are a strong, physical team that’s well-coached,” Shackelford said. “They’re a tough matchup for anyone.”