krobinett@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - There the Pocatello football team stood, 67 yards away from the end zone with only 1:02 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Trailing Blackfoot - the No. 1-ranked 4A team in the state - by five points, the Indians and their Wing-T offense were basically hopeless. Running the ball wasn't an option. Pocatello had no choice but to pass the ball on every play from now on if it hoped to win.

If ever there was a time for Blackfoot to feel confident, this was it.

But in rivalry games like this one, sometimes crazy things happen. And it's safe to say Poky tearing off one of the most efficient, pass-oriented touchdown drives in school history to win 13-12 classifies as crazy.

In just five plays, senior quarterback Hayden Green led the Indians on a comeback Poky fans will talk about all season. He completed a nine-yard pass to Colter Morton to get it started, then he hit Michael Decker - remember that name - for a 20-yard strike to move into Blackfoot territory. Next came a six-yard lob to Greg Cleary, followed by a two-yard screen pass to Zach McCain to get to the 29-yard line.

Pocatello called timeout at that point with just 17 seconds to go, and coach Tom Harrison called the perfect play.

Against a prevent defense, Decker found room in the middle of the field, Green spotted him instantly and floated the game-winning touchdown pass to him with only 11 seconds remaining. Decker put an exclamation point on the score by tipping the ball to himself before securing it.

Everyone on the Poky sideline erupted like the Indians had just won a playoff game, and even the even-keel Harrison could be seen pumping his fist like an emphatic Tiger Woods after a long eagle putt.

It's not hard to understand all the excitement. Blackfoot knocked Pocatello out of the playoffs in exactly the same fashion last year, and Harrison admitted he had never won a game with a last-second touchdown pass of any length before.

"That may be hard to believe, but I don't think that's ever happened with me before," he said. "Decker made a sensational play on that touchdown, and we're excited about this win. It's the third close game we've won this year. So far we've won three games by a combined total of five points."

But this was victory was by far the most special. Not only did it move the Indians to 4-0 and knock the Broncos down to 3-1, it was Poky's first win of the season against a ranked opponent.

By next week, the Indians will almost surely also be ranked No. 1 in the state media poll.

And they have a week of unusual practice to thank for it.

Green said that after the Indians played Preston two weeks ago, the team decided to work on passing plays against a Cover-2 defense, because Preston used that defensive scheme well against Poky. All week, the Indians ran plays designed to either open up long passing lanes down the middle of the field or get their receivers out of bounds in a hurry.

It showed in this victory.

"We pulled out some plays today that we've never used in games but run a lot in practice," Green said. "We ran them over and over and over against our practice defense and all that work paid off. They worked when we needed them to."

Poky now gets a week off before heading to Twin Falls for its next game on Oct. 2.

Green believes that's a good thing. He, right along with all the rest of his teammates, may need some time to fully celebrate this kind of victory.

"To win this game like that is the greatest feeling in the world," he said. "I'm telling you right now, I have never felt better in my life than I do right now."