Before Saturday afternoon's game against Lutheran, Annapolis Area Christian School's Ryan Slenk had attempted just one field goal all season, and that was blocked.
The senior admitted to a few nerves when he stepped up for the potential game-winning field goal against the host Saints. Lutheran had a two-point lead with two seconds left and the Eagles clinging to a 15-game winning streak.
Slenk, who said he had never kicked a field goal with so much on the line, blocked out the pressure and booted his 21-yarder through the uprights to give the Eagles a 22-21 victory and extend their winning streak to 16 — the longest active streak in the Baltimore metro area.
"I was just thinking it was another extra point. It was pretty much the same length," Slenk said. "I was on the left hash and I prefer to be on the left hash. The line blocked well. It was a good snap, a good hold. Everything went perfectly."
The Eagles, who improved to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association C Conference, have clinched the league crown with one game remaining. But Lutheran (7-2, 2-3) almost upset the Eagles thanks to picking off three passes and making some big plays on offense, including Jay Davis' 80-yard touchdown run to open the second half that gave the Saints a 21-12 lead.
The Eagles pulled within 21-19 about seven minutes later on James Anderson's 10-yard touchdown run .
On the last drive of the game, the Eagles stayed alive on fourth-and-10 from their own 44-yard line when quarterback Chris Chick hit Chandler Edmonds with an 11-yard pass. Anderson and Chick picked up big yardage on running plays and then Anderson ran them to within inches of the goal line on a 6-yard pickup with 15 seconds left.
When Anderson tried to punch the ball in on the 10th play of the drive, Davis tackled him the backfield for a 2-yard loss, setting up fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line and Slenk's field goal.
"That [last drive] was agonizing," Lutheran coach Brent Johnson said. "You hope that they're not going to be able to make big plays and our kids will step up and make plays and we did make plays. They just made more at the end."
For the Saints, Davis led the way with nine carries for 108 yards while John Nunes had 11 carries for 56 yards. Each had an interception, as did Aaron Armes.
Anderson led the Eagles with 112 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. Chick was 10-for-19 for 155 yards and Edmonds caught six passes for 103 yards.
L--Dooley 26 pass from Armes (Dooley kick)
AA--Hunter 1 run (pass failed)
AA--Anderson 62 run (pass failed)
L--Davis 12 pass from Armes (Dooley kick)
L--Davis 80 run (Dooley kick)
AA--Anderson 10 run (Slenk kick)
AA--Slenk 21 FG