Photos by Mike Maddock Hammond kicker David Tucker kicks an extra point against Ben Lippen. Gus Inabinet is the holder. Tucker hit the game–winning field goal. If you kick the gamewinning field goal in the closing seconds, you’re going to feel the love of your teammates, schoolmates and fans.

If you make a defensive stop in the second quarter, you’re going to feel…. overlooked.

Junior David Tucker has been the big man on the Hammond campus since his career–long 36–yard kick gave the Skyhawks a 24–21 come– from–behind victory against Ben Lippen in SCISA 3A play on Friday (Oct. 2).

“I didn’t feel any pressure,” Tucker said of lining up his kick with 17 seconds remaining. “Even if I missed, I knew we could still win the game in OT.”

Tucker seemed an unlikely hero as the game– winning drive unfolded. He owned one career field goal, a 28–yarder against Porter– Gaud; had missed an extra point late in the third quarter; and usually only practiced extra points during the week.

Hammond’s Aaron Walters runs against Ben Lippen. Walters’ 31–yard touchdown off a screen pass along with a two–point conversion tied the game at 21–21, then his interception and 30–yard return set–up the game–winning field goal. However, Hammond coach Erik Kimrey didn’t hesitate to send Tucker onto the field.

“We felt David had improved tremendously during the past month,” Kimrey said. “He made a 37–yarder in practice the other day, and even if he missed we would still be going to OT. To his credit, he went in there and flushed it.”

Tucker’s kick had distance to spare, but it was only when two Ben Lippen players collided while trying to field the ensuing short kick and Hammond recovered the loose ball that the celebration began. The turnover was the last of eight the teams combined for. The Falcons committed three in the second half that led to 14 points by Hammond. The Skyhawks committed four in the first half, including one on the next–to–last play of the half, that led to 14 Falcons’ points.

Hammond’s Hunter George successfully defends a pass to Ben Lippen’s Taylor Wilson. George who hadn’t played running back in nearly two years also had 15 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown. It was the Hammond turnover in the middle of the first half that didn’t result in a score that set the stage for Tucker’s later headline–grabbing turn.

Ben Lippen had just taken a 14–0 lead following two interceptions in a 3:23 span of the second quarter. The Falcons picked off a pass at their 2, ending a Hammond scoring threat, when the ball deflected off a receiver’s hands. Ben Lippen marched 98 yards in eight plays, a drive highlighted by a 43–yard pass from out of the end zone by Joey Carter (12- 28-240, 2 INTs) to Taylor Wilson (3 catches, 68 yards) and a 36–yard pass to Will Roseborough (4–108). Ross Fleming capped the drive with a 4–yard run.

Ben Lippen’s Will Roseborough hauls in a long pass near the Hammond goal line over Beach Corontzes and David Dukes. “We saw some things where we thought we could go at them on the edges,” Ben Lippen coach Reggie Shaw said. “Then we could use some motion to open up the run inside.”

On Hammond’s first play of the ensuing possession, Ben Lippen’s Sam White intercepted Dave Nidiffer’s dump–off pass attempt to the right flat while under pressure and returned it 17 yards for Ben Lippen’s second score.

Ben Lippen QB Joey Carter stiffarms Hammond’s leading tackler Jordan Kay. On Hammond’s second play of the ensuing possession, a big hit in the secondary produced another fumble that gave Ben Lippen the ball at the 20.

“That series was critical… and we knew it,” Kimrey said. “That’s why we sent pressure on first down; it was a great call by defensive coordinator Jon Wheeler. We got the sack and forced them into second–and–long. If they had scored a touchdown there, we’re down 21–0, and that might have been too big a hole for us to dig out from.”

Instead, Ben Lippen came away with no additional points.

“That series was tough,” Shaw said. “It was the turning point. But we’ll go back to the drawing board, and correct the mistakes we made.”

Hammond erased most of Ben Lippen’s lead in the third quarter. A big hit in the secondary on Ben Lippen’s first play of the half produced a fumble that gave the Skyhawks the ball at the 16, and six consecutive runs by junior Hunter George, the last a 2–yard dive, produced the first score.

George, who hadn’t played running back in nearly two years, was pressed into action after sophomore B.J. Bennett (15 carries, 75 yards) injured his shoulder midway through the second quarter. Starter Les Cotter sat out the game with an unspecified injury.

Hammond also scored on its next possession, a 90–yard drive highlighted by George’s 40–yard run and a 15–yard pass from Nidiffer (16–35–162, TD, 3 INTs) to Aaron Walters (6–81, TD). But the missed extra point, kept Ben Lippen in front. Nidiffer’s 2–yard sneak produced the score.

Hammond tied the game with 1:52 remaining when Walters turned a screen pass into a 31–yard touchdown and Nidiffer found George all alone on the two–point conversion pass.

Unwilling to just run out the clock, Ben Lippen came out throwing. As a result, the teams combined to run 14 plays in the final 1:52. And, when Ben Lippen moved across midfield with more than a minute remaining, it looked as though Benefield would get the chance to be the game–winning kicker. Benefield was perfect on extra points and three of his four kickoffs were touchbacks.

However, another sack put Ben Lippen in a second–and–20 hole and a third–down pass thrown into double coverage resulted in an interception by Walters, who returned it 30 yards before stepping out of bounds at the 36, leaving Hammond with a short–field and 46 seconds remaining and sending Tucker to the practice kicking net on the sideline.