A good start, a bad finish, and now Gardendale’s post-season hopes rest on a miracle.

The Rockets turned in a dominating first half on the stat sheet but not on the scoreboard, and left homestanding Tuscaloosa County just enough wiggle room to stage a comeback, as the Wildcats prevailed 21-13 Friday night.

Gardendale could not put the brakes on junior quarterback Tyler Gates, who finished off the win early in the fourth quarter when he connected with Xavier Harris for a 67-yard touchdown pass. The Wildcat comeback came on the heels of a first half in which the Rockets outgained the Wildcats 208 yards to 61, but only scored once on a four-yard run by running back Jordan Howard. Gardendale had two other chances in the opening half that came for naught: a throw from Will Thompson that found LeRoy Stover in the end zone, but bounced off the receiver’s chest; and  27-yard Sam Peacock field goal attempt eight seconds before intermission which was blocked.

After the Rockets had been in control largely due to the running of Howard, who ran 19 times for 127 yards in the first half, the game belonged to Gates after halftime.

Jay Gay was on the receiving end of a 30-yard Gates pass that put the Cats on the board five minutes into the third quarter. Howard responded on the first play of the following possession, as he ran up the middle, evaded two tacklers, then slanted to the sideline for 65 yards and a score. Peacock’s extra-point kick was blocked to leave the Rockets up by six.

The game turned in County’s favor for good when Howard fumbled the ball away in a huge scrum on his own 24-yard line. The Cats were set up by two Gates runs, then the signal-caller handed off to Ted Colburn for the one-yard touchdown with 1:51 left in the third. County kicker Emiliano Ramirez’s extra point was true, give the hosts their first and only lead.

Gardendale got nowhere on their next drive, and shortly after the start of the final quarter, Gates’ pass to Harris put final points on the board.

The Rockets had their chances after that. Their subsequent drive, with freshman quarterback Austin Hicks taking over for starter Will Thompson, faded out at their own 39.

The Wildcats then played Woody Hayes-style football, with Gates and Darleon Ranson running straight up the middle, eating up both yardage and the clock.

The drive ended when a 28-yard field goal attempt by Ramirez went wide right, and Gardendale had one last chance. But on third down and six from their own 44 after three passes on six attempts by Hicks, the freshman fumbled the ball under intense pressure, handing the ball – and the game – over to County with :18.9 left.

Gardendale coach Chris Fancher was frustrated with a missed opportunity. “We played well, but we just didn’t make plays when we needed to,” Fancher said. “We had some crucial breakdowns and inopportune times. When you’re playing an evenly-matched team, there’s not a lot of margin for error. You have to play all 48 minutes. We played great in the first half, but unfortunately there’s two halves.” Howard finished with 204 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. Hicks was 4-for-8 in passing for 44 yards, while Thompson was 5-for-7 for 57 yards. Fancher said the quarterback swapping was an effort to match them with the game situation.

“Each of them has strengths, and we tried to play to those strengths,” Fancher said.

J.R. Peterson led the Rockets defense with 14 tackles and three assists. Brandon DeBruce added nine tackles and one assist. Gates was 8-for-14 for 131 yards passing, with one interception. The loss gives Gardendale three losses in the regoin, and puts them squarely behind the eight-ball in terms of playoff chances. To get into the post-season, they must pull off a big upset on the road over heavily-favored Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa next week (they routed Minor on Friday), then defeat Jackson-Olin at home to have a chance. “Hillcrest is easily the best team in the region. If we hold our lips and come out like that, they’ll do to us what the did to Minor,” Fancher said.