When you say "Emory and Henry" to the average college football fan, the first thing — and, until now, probably the only thing — that crosses his mind is the wild offensive formation named for the tiny Division III school in Virginia, as popularized by coach Steve Spurrier in his heyday at Florida. But even the Ol' Ball Coach at his most inventive couldn't draw up the result when Emory and Henry lined up to punt last Saturday with 12 seconds remaining and a seemingly safe 30-27 lead at Virginia-Wise:
Officially, the final box score credits the score entirely to UVA-Wise running back Josh Wright, who took the ball in uncontested for the final 40 yards. But the play was really made by Marcus Bratton, who took the punt in at his own 29-yard line, outran half the Wasps coverage team up the UVA-Wise sideline, cut back into the middle of the field and heaved up the most improbable lateral this side of Dwight Garner to send the Cavaliers on to a 33-30 win. All it was missing was a band on the field.
No, haters, he was not down. Yes, the ball traveled backwards. And as for the uncalled penalty for roughing the punter, well, I suppose the referee was taking a big-picture approach to the moment: Either Emory and Henry makes the tackle and the penalty doesn't matter, or you've got yourself one of the most memorable plays of the year on any level. You going to let a little flag stand in the way of that? Let 'em play...
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Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
