Prep football: Barron Collier holds off St. Cloud in pass-happy home thriller

It was a junior who made the giant difference on Barron Collier High School football team's Senior Night. 

Michael Mclay not only pulled in a 34-yard Hail Mary touchdown catch on the last play of the first half to bring the Cougars within a point of visiting St. Cloud on Friday night, but he had the interception and 44-yard return that turned this important nondistrict matchup in Barron Collier's favor. 

With St. Cloud marching and this offensive shootout tied at 36-36, Mclay picked off Colt Smith at his 32 and returned it down the left sideline 44 yards to the Bulldogs' 24. 

Four plays later -- including the conversion of a fourth-and-6 -- Dana Brown ran it in from 10 yards out with 5:22 and the Cougars held on for a thrilling 43-42 win. 

St. Cloud had a late shot, getting a Smith-to-Johnny Fritz 8-yard touchdown combo after two Cougars penalties with 1:11 left to play. But the 2-point pass attempt was just beyond Fritz's fingertips. 

Barron Collier (4-3) gets back into Class 6A-District play at home against Naples next week. The Golden Eagles lead the district at 2-0 and the Cougars, at 1-1, need a win to have a shot at the district title and probably the playoffs. 

Barron Collier coach Mark Jackson wasn't exactly giddy with his team's performance -- especially the lacking running game and defensive effort -- but he was quite happy with Mclay. 

"He played great," Jackson said. "He's an athlete. He's developed the whole package. He can be an offensive player and defensive weapon. He can do it all."

This was an exciting matchup of senior quarterbacks. Barron Collier's Jacob Kuhlman completed 17 of 30 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. His counterpart, Smith, was 14-for-24 for 199 yards with three TDs and two interceptions for the Bulldogs.

St. Cloud made it look easy on the first possession, gashing the Cougars on four running plays, the last by Charles Robinson from 22 yards for a 7-0 lead.

Barron Collier immediately answered with a 43-yard Kuhlman scramble to tie it at 7-7. 

The defenses settled in a bit until Smith hit Seth Johnson for an 8-yard score to the left for a 14-7 St. Cloud lead with 8:57 left in the half. 

The Cougars countered on their next possession during which they marched 95 yards. The capper came on a Kuhlman-to-Logan Rodriguez 11-yard score to tie it at 14-14 with 3:45 left in the half. 

St. Cloud then drove 76 yards, getting a fourth-and-3 27-yard touchdown play to Johnson. Smith ran in the 2-pointer and the Bulldogs led 22-14 with just 50 seconds to go until intermission. 

Then craziness. On the last play of the half, Kuhlman avoided a big Bulldogs rush by looping way wide left then fired to Mclay, who was blanketed by two defenders in the end zone. But Mclay pulled in the 34-yarder on the last play of the half to trim the St. Cloud lead to 22-21. 

The second half picked up where the first left off. 

Barron Collier got a Brown touchdown run on the Cougars' first possession. Brown also ran in the 2-pointer for a 29-22 lead. 

Two possessions later, Robinson found more room in the running zone and broke off a 43-yard score for a 29-29 tie. 

The Cougars answered right back with a 2-yard Brown run for a 36-29 lead. 

But yet again, the Bulldogs answered with Smith hitting Bennett Priester for a 63-yard score to tie this at 36-36. 

"I think we were out-coached and out-played for a good portion of the game, but we made enough plays at the end to pull it out," Jackson said. "But they did a heck of a job after driving this distance down here. They came down and played really hard. We've just got to do a better job"

BARRON COLLIER 43, ST. CLOUD 42

SC 7 15 7 13 -- 42
BC 7 7 8 21 -- 43

First quarter
SC -- Charles Robinson 22 run (Dustin Gentry kick), 11:02
BC -- Jacob Kuhlman 43 run (Ryan Bloch kick), 10:13
Second quarter
SC -- Seth Johnson 8 pass from Colt Smith (Smith run), 8:57
BC -- Logan Rodriguez 11 pass from Kuhlman (Bloch kick), 3:45
SC -- Johnson 27 pass from Smith (Gentry kick), :50
BC -- Michael Mclay 34 pass from Kuhlman (Bloch kick), :00
BC -- Drew Powell 34 pass from Kuhlman (Bloch kick), :00
Third quarter
BC -- Dana Brown 20 run (Brown run), 9:52
SC -- Robinson 43 run (Gentry kick), 4:06
Fourth quarter
BC -- Brown 2 run (Bloch kick), 11:49
SC -- Bennett Priester 63 pass from Smith (Gentry kick), 9:40
BC -- Brown 10 run (Bloch kick), 5:22
SC -- Fritz 8 pass from Smith (pass failed), 1:11