Just minutes into the second half and things looked extremely bleak for Charleroi in the Cougars' non-conference game against host Freedom.
The Cougars were down by two touchdowns and starting quarterback Eric Johnson was hurt.
But in stepped Brennan Matthews at quarterback.
"That's not the situation you wanna be in, but we had a tough young kid in there," coach Luke Mollis said. "Matthew's is pretty level headed and I knew he wouldn't panic. It's was just a matter of him going out there and executing and he did just that. He did a real good job stepping in and we're real proud of him."
But he didn't do it by himself.
Senior running back Quentin Briggs had a tremendous second half and the Cougar defense shut down Freedom's passing game to lead Charleroi (2-6, 1-6) to a 38-27 win over the Bulldogs (1-7, 1-6).
Freedom quarterback Sam Beckey, who was 12 for 17 passing with three touchdowns in the first half, was just 4 for 17 in the second and never got into a rhythm following a 70-yard touchdown pass on the first drive in the second half.
He finished with 286 yards passing and 4 touchdowns and one interception.
"We didn't change much from what we were doing scheme wise, just kinda reiterated where they were supposed to be. First half we were getting out of position. Second half we didn't change much, just played better."
It was Briggs who put the team on his shoulders, running through, over and past the Freedom defense in the second half. After carrying the ball only four times in the first half, Briggs took the ball 16 times in the second and finished with 147 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
His touchdowns spanned 10, 25, 20 and 4 yards. On his second touchdown run, he broke two tackles in the backfield, cut up the left sideline, shook another tackle and cut back to the middle of the field, where he outran the rest of the Bulldog defense and brought the Cougars within two points.
Working with a short field on their next two possessions, Briggs put the game away.
"Our running game took a load off his shoulders, how well we were able to run the ball in the second half," Mollis said. "Briggs had a real big second half; he's been doing that for four years that wasn't that big of a surprise. He lessoned (Matthew's) load a bit but he stepped up when called upon and completed some big passes."
Matthews, meanwhile, finished 6 for 9 for 68 yards and either ran or passed for five first downs in the second half. He took over after Johnson injured himself on a two-yard run in the second half.
Johnson earlier opened the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
"Not sure what exactly is wrong, it's something with his ankle," Mollis said of his starting quarterback. "He was in a lot of pain and went to the hospital."
Charleroi closes out the season next week, hosting Interstate Conference foe Yough for Senior Night.
