Quite a catch

GRETNA — Late in the third quarter of last Saturday’s Group A Division 2 state semifinal, the Gretna Hawks were on the ropes.

After building a 19-point lead by the middle of the second period, the Hawks had surrendered 26 consecutive points to visiting Essex. And now Gretna’s offense was struggling to move the ball against the unbeaten Trojans.

That’s when head coach Chris Thurman turned to junior wide receiver Commillious Waller.

“He said, ‘Commillious, you owe me one,’” Waller recalled on Tuesday. “And I said, ‘I’ve got you, just throw me the short pass.’ He said, ‘No, I’m not throwing the short pass, I’m throwing the home run. We need our momentum back.’ So then I started praying. I said, ‘Lord, please let me catch this ball.’ So when I saw the ball up in the air, I was like, ‘I’ve got to come down with it.’”

Waller’s 43-yard touchdown reception with seven seconds remaining in the third quarter helped the Hawks rally for a 45-40 victory, earning them a trip to Salem for Saturday’s state title game against Floyd County.

“I just jumped and I came down with it and I saw it in my hands,” Waller added, “and I was surprised I caught it, because so many defenders were around me. And I just ran in for the score, and it was the best feeling I ever had.”

Waller and his fellow receivers, Ted Jennings and Kevin Dale, have been making big plays throughout Gretna’s run to the finals. They have combined for more than 1,400 yards and 17 of the Hawks’ 21 touchdowns through the air. And all of them are underclassmen. Waller is a junior, while Jennings and Dale are sophomores.

Waller, Jennings and Dale were primarily spectators on Gretna’s 2007 championship team.

“We had a lot of seniors last year,” Waller said, “and a lot of big players as seniors. So I just had to wait my turn, knowing this year that I was going to have to step up. … Last year, I watched the state championship. I watched every quarter of it. I loved it. I was basically the (most hyped up) man on the sideline. I mean, it was like I was playing also.

“But playing in this (game) and knowing I’ve got another year is just awesome, because I never thought I’d be living this moment. And so we’re just going to take it one more game, and we’ll see if we can pull it off.”

Dale believes he and his fellow receivers can learn from what their teammates accomplished last season. “It feels like last year,” he said. “We’ve got to do the same thing we did and bring the state (title) back.”

Through 13 games, Waller leads the team in receptions (24), yards (591) and touchdown catches (eight). Jennings has 21 catches for 490 yards and five touchdowns, while Dale has 10 receptions for 324 yards and four scores.

The trio has helped senior Jayme Barksdale make a seamless transition from receiver to starting quarterback after last year’s signal-caller, Group A Player of the Year Nick Miller, was injured in the preseason. Barksdale has thrown for 1,788 yards and 21 touchdowns in addition to rushing for 1,771 yards and 30 scores.

“They’re getting to the point now where they have confidence in Jayme,” Thurman said, “and Jayme has confidence in them. It takes awhile to build trust. When you’re talking about running over the middle, those guys have to trust that he’s not leading them into the free safety.

“Quarterbacks can really hang a receiver out to dry. And Jayme’s gotten to the point now where he’s not going to put the receivers in a bad situation. That gives them confidence to go out and get it, so that part of our game lately has really looked good.”

While Barksdale is in his first year as a varsity quarterback, he did play the position in youth football and on Gretna’s JV team. According to Jennings, that experience has helped with the transition.

“Jayme’s always been my quarterback, since Little League,” Jennings said. “It’s like pitch and catch. It didn’t take long for us to get the connection.”