IRONDALE — Okay, Gardendale fans, you can breathe now. Your guys won, but just barely.

The Rockets led by 22 points with only seconds left in the third quarter, only to watch Shades Valley come back to score three touchdowns the rest of the way.

But the home team couldn’t get the two points they needed most, as a conversion attempt came up short with 44 seconds left, as Gardendale hung on for a 36-34 victory Friday night to all but clinch a playoff berth from Class 6A Region 6.

The Mounties’ last gasp came after they recovered a Rocket fumble with 1:12 left, and returned it to the 2-yard line. Lil’Maine Patterson scored from a yard out, but the 2-point conversion attempt was for naught, as was the subsequent onside kick attempt on the kickoff.

“Our players rose up when it mattered most and played great defense,” coach Matt Plunkett said.

The Rockets dominated the first half of the game, and kept their momentum going through the first part of the second half. After they got on the scoreboard first with a safety thanks to a bad Mounties snap out of the end zone, Gardendale scored four of the game’s next five touchdowns.

Dequa Houston scored on a 1-yard run in the first period, followed by a 84-yard bomb from Zac Cupps to Blake Zumbado in the second quarter. Shades Valley answered with the first of Patterson’s two touchdowns of the night to cut the lead to 16-7 at halftime.

Gardendale struck early after intermission, with a 37-yard scoring run by Cupps, followed 28 seconds later by a Reagan Padgett interception runback for 32 yards and a score.

Mounties quarterback Claude Newell answered with the first of two touchdown throws or the night to Joshua McKenzie, this one for 26 yards. The Rockets came back with a 5-yard scoring run by Tye Dunklin.

But that’s when the Mounties mounted their comeback attempt, as Newell scored on a 1-yard sneak with six seconds to play in the third period.

It took a while for Shades Valley to strike again, but Newell found McKenzie for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 2:42 left, which left the door open for a game-tying touchdown and 2-point conversion late.

“Shades Valley is much better than their record indicates,” Plunkett said. “We must learn how to finish games and close the door when we are up big.”

Newell, a multi-sport standout for the Mounties, threw for a whopping 397 yards, completing 25 passes in 42 attempts with the lone interception by Padgett. McKenzie had 12 receptions for 163 yards and two touchdowns, while A.J. Conwell caught seven passes for 150 yards.

Cupps was 15-of-22 for 239 passing yards for the Rockets. Padgett had eight receptions for 110 yards plus the pick-six on defense, and Dunklin ran for 105 yards in 13 carries.

Next week, Gardendale (5-1, 4-0 region) hosts Woodlawn, which has scored just 24 points this season.