Vinemont's Seth Campbell speeds ahead on a big gain Friday against Holly Pond. 

HOLLY POND – A senior class that’s seen the lowest of lows is now riding high.

The Holly Pond Broncos clinched a Class 3A playoff spot Friday night with a 27-22 win over county- and Region 6-rival Vinemont.

“We’ve come a long way to get here,” said Holly Pond coach Mike Bates said. “These are great kids, some of my favorite kids I’ve been around.”

After enduring 29 losses during the previous three seasons, the Broncos (6-3, 3-3) are brimming with confidence and will participate in the postseason for the first time since 2011. Bates said it’s about confidence and the past few years really preparing his team for anything.

And Friday night was a big test.

“I’m thankful that our kids found a way to hold onto a game to win we very easily could’ve lost,” he said. “We’ve not always done that in the past. We’ve found ways to lose when we could’ve won. And a lot has to do with confidence. We are just much more confident in the way we play. We’ve got players that make plays and a bunch of seniors who’ve seen everything. I don’t think anything would surprise them.”

As far as surprises go, there was a big one Bates had up his sleeve late in the first half for Vinemont – and it turned out to be the difference.

Leading 20-7 and facing fourth-and-5 with a little more than a minute to play in the second quarter, the Broncos lined up in a punt formation. Quarterback Michael Lambert took the snap close to the line only to put the ball through the legs of upback Trey Hill. While the Eagles were keying on Caleb Jones at the punter position as he ran, Hill paused in his stance for a moment before firing around the left side and racing 49 yards for a touchdown.

The Broncos had pulled off the “bombarooski.”

“I’ve been running that since 1980,” Bates said.

There appeared to be some indecisiveness on the play call – Bates ran his offense out to try to draw the Eagles (2-7, 0-6) offsides before calling two timeouts – but it was all a ruse according to Bates.

“The whole thing was planned,” he said. “We had a different fake punt called, and I knew I had the timeout to use. So I wanted to see how they lined up against it. When they lined up in a way I didn’t like, we took a timeout and ran our other fake.

“The other fake (bombarooski) is money when (the defense) thinks you’re going to fake it. You want them to know a fake is coming so they’ll chase you.”

On the Eagles’ ensuing possession, quarterback Garrett Boland led a quick drive to the Holly Pond 2-yard line. With just 4 seconds showing on the clock, and instead of electing to go for a field goal, Vinemont went for it. Boland completed a pass to Nate England near the goal line, but Holly Pond’s defense kept the receiver mere inches short from a touchdown.

“That ended up being real big,” Bates said. “I came in here and ranted and raved about our defense.”

Vinemont came out and scored on its first two possessions of the second half. The first came on a 1-yard run by Deke Wright and the next on an 18-yard pass from Boland to Cameron Carter.

Despite controlling the game in the final two quarters – Vinemont ran nearly 17 minutes of clock in the second half – the Eagles couldn’t break through again.

And after the Broncos held on defense near midfield with 3:50 remaining in the game, they did just enough to run out the clock, converting a fourth-and-1 with 2:21 to go and eventually kneeling the ball at the 1-yard line to run out the clock.

“We liked to have never snapped the ball in the second half,” Bates said. “To be honest, I don’t think I did a good job preparing them this week. I don’t think I panicked, but I probably abandoned the run a little quick tonight.”

Everything appeared to be clicking for Holly Pond in the first half, as it needed just 24 plays to score four touchdowns.

The Eagles took a 7-0 lead on its second possession of the game, as Lambert found Matt Cahoon for an 11-yard touchdown. The Broncos made it 13-0 on Jones’ 2-yard run and 20-0 when Lambert found Dylan Morton for a 13-yard touchdown pass.

Jones ran for 161 yards, while Lambert completed 7 of 13 passes for 94 yards and the two scores.

Vinemont finally broke through for a touchdown with the help of a Holly Pond muffed punt on its next possession. Boland weaved his way into the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown run to cap a 16-play drive at the 2:07 mark of the second quarter.

That set up the wild sequence in the final minutes of the first half.

For Vinemont, Boland ended the night running for 194 yards.

While he liked his team’s effort in the second half, Vinemont coach Matt Norris was disappointed in his team’s start.

“We dig ourselves too big of a hole in the first half of games overall,” he said. “We’ve done a good job in the second half all year trying to overcome our mistakes in the first half. Another game, same recipe, same result.

“It puts a bitter taste in my mouth and in our guys’ mouths to be so close.”