Fort Benning All Stars lose thriller in CYFL bowl

By John W. PeelerDecember 11, 2013

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(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BENNING, Ga., (Dec. 11, 2013) -- In its final time together, the Fort Benning All Star players, comprised of mostly Bengals players, took on the Columbus Youth Football League All Stars Sunday at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium in the ninth annual CYFL Holiday Bowl, losing to the CYFL All Stars 15-12.

The game showcased most of the players from the CYFL Peanut Bowl championship game and came down to the final three minutes of the game with two of the top runners from the championship stealing the show.

Eastway's Quantavious Hill and the Fort Benning Bengals' Dishaun Jackson electrified the crowd with the same type of play they exhibited throughout the season, earning them the Holiday Bowl Most Valuable Player Award for their respective teams.

The teams battled to a scoreless tie in the first half, but broke the game open in the second half beginning with the Fort Benning's opening possession.

Starting from their own 48-yard line, Fort Benning moved the ball down to the CYFL All Stars 1-yard line on a two 22-yard runs from Dishaun, who stuck the ball into the end zone on 1-yard plunge with 5:35 remaining in the third quarter to give Fort Benning a 6-0 lead.

The CYFL team responded on its opening possession of the second half with a five-play, 52-yard drive, cumlminating in a Quantavious 6-yard touchdown run with 1:40 remaining in the quarter. Quantavious gained all but 39 yards during the scoring drive and added the extra point for a 7-6 lead.

With 5:53 remaining in the fourth quarter, the CYFL All Stars extended their lead to 15-6, with Quantavious capping off a three play, 80-yard drive with a 27 yard touchdown run to give the CYFL team a 13-6 lead. The CYFL All Stars successfully converted the two-point conversion to make it 15-6.

With the clock now a factor, Fort Benning began a must-score drive at midfield. Fort Benning moved the ball down to the CYFL 36-yard line and faced a critical fourth-and-one, but Dishaun kept the ball on a quarterback keeper around the right end and gained 10 yards to keep the drive alive with less than four minutes remaining in the game.

One play later, Jarod Wilson hit Dishaun on a 24-yard touchdown pass to pull Fort Benning to within three points with 3:11 left in the game. Fort Benning coach Lee Obee decided to go for the game-tying three-point conversion by attempting a kick. The kick failed, leaving Fort Benning trailing 15-12.

Fort Benning got one more opportunity to score, getting the ball with 1:25 remaining after holding the CYFL All Stars on its next possession, but Fort Benning's hopes of a comback stalled at their