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Car鈥橪ando Barton鈥檚 2-yard run, his fourth touchdown of the night, brought Friendship to within 51-50. Lining up for the extra point, Providence was called for encroachment, moving the ball half the distance to the goal line. Quarterback Luke Sellars scored the go-ahead two-point conversion on a 1 1/2-yard tush push with 9:50 to play.

Amazingly, Tatum Marks couldn鈥檛 add an eighth touchdown pass to the seven he had already thrown as the Providence passer hit half of his 28 throws for 379 yards.

Commander coach John McNeal, who was still sore Monday after being run over on the sideline, said Providence did things Friendship wasn鈥檛 expecting. One of those was taking advantage of injuries which have knocked both starting cornerbacks out. Sammy Pruneau injured his foot against Franklin Grace Christian, is out for the year and is facing surgery. Bradyn Stringer is the other corner who McNeal said should be back for Week 10鈥檚 game at Ezell-Harding.

鈥淭hey hadn鈥檛 thrown it that much,鈥� McNeal said. 鈥淭heir quarterback is good, really good. They have a receiver who鈥檚 6-4, about 220. They had more than just him. And we had linebackers playing, and it wasn鈥檛 their fault, playing secondary and they just aren鈥檛 used to that and keeping up with receivers that can run.

鈥淭hey shifted empty. They shifted a lot. They did a lot of things they hadn鈥檛 done.鈥�

But Providence couldn鈥檛 stop Barton either as the senior rumbled for 343 yards. Jayden McGowan had a career night as well with 121 yards and two scores on 16 carries.

鈥淚 said if you like a good football game, that was it,鈥� McNeal said. 鈥淵ou had both running and throwing.鈥�

When the rubber pellets from the turf had settled, the Commanders had climbed to 5-2 for the season and are the final undefeated team standing in the East Region at 2-0. Providence fell to 4-3, 1-1. The other three region teams also have a loss each.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I ever breathe a sign of relief,鈥� McNeal said. 鈥淏ut we did win a game that unexpectedly turned out to be totally different from what we thought.

鈥淥ur kids didn鈥檛 get frustrated and did what they had to do. I was proud of that.鈥�

Back to this game, the Commanders compiled 456 of their 527 yards on the ground while the Lions picked up 379 of their 445 through the air.

Barton opened the scoring with a 71-yard touchdown run and added a 9-yarder later in the period. But in between, Marks was on the mark for scoring passes of 80, 46 and 16 yards. McGowan鈥檚 15-yard scoring run brought Friendship into a 21-21 tie going into the second.

Marks鈥� 35-yard scoring strike pushed Providence back in front 27-21 after the Lions鈥� extra point failed.

Barton countered with a 9-yard scoring run to bring Friendship into a tie. On the extra point, sophomore holder Christian Schiro picked up the ball when it appeared Wilson Boyd鈥檚 kick would be blocked and ran around left end which had been vacated by the defender and gave the Commanders a 29-27 edge. Schiro was holding in place of the injured Bradyn Stringer, who should return following the fall break open date.

Marks led the Lions to nine unanswered points 鈥� a 12-yard touchdown toss with a missed extra point and a 30-yard field goal by Cooper McFarland to produce a 36-29 lead for the visitors from Murfreesboro.

Friendship got two points back when defensive lineman Gavin McMillen, lining up off right end, tackled Marks in the end zone for a safety on a designed run off right tackle.

The Commanders鈥� only score through the air came before halftime when D. Boone caught a 36-yard score from a receiver pass from Karson Moss following a backward pass from Sellars with six seconds to play as Friendship took a 38-36 edge into the break. McNeal called that a big play.

鈥淭heir safety bit and when he tried to recover, he fell down,鈥� McNeal said.

A 28-yard scoring pass from Marks put Providence back in front 43-38.

McGowen鈥檚 3-yard run put Friendship back in front 44-43 after the missed extra point.

Marks鈥� 43-yard scoring pass put the Lions in front 51-44 going into the fourth.

Boone intercepted a Marks pass for Providence鈥檚 only turnover. The Lions intercepted two throws.

Like the other six Wilson County schools, the Commanders will take their fall break open date this week before hitting the road for their final three regular-season games, starting with an Oct. 18 journey to Jamestown for a 7 p.m. battle with York Institute.

Friendship Christian 52, Providence Christian 51PC 21 15 15 0鈥�51

FC 21 17 6 8鈥�52

First quarter

Friendship Christian鈥擟ar鈥橪ando Barton 71 run (Wilson Boyd kick).

Providence Christian鈥�80 pass from Tatum Marks (Cooper McFarland kick).

Providence Christian鈥�46 pass from Marks (McFarland kick).

Providence Christian鈥�16 pass from Marks (McFarland kick).

Friendship Christian鈥擝arton 9 run (Boyd kick).

Friendship Christian鈥擩ayden McGowan 15 run (Boyd kick).

Second quarter

Providence Christian鈥�35 pass from Marks (kick failed).

Friendship Christian鈥擝arton 9 run (Christian Schiro run).

Providence Christian鈥�12 pass from Marks (kick failed).

Providence Christian鈥擬cFarland 30 FG.

Friendship Christian鈥擲afety. Gavin McMillen tackles runner in end zone.

Friendship Christian鈥擠. Boone 36 pass from Karson Moss (Boyd kick), :06.

Third quarter

Providence Christian鈥�28 pass from Marks (McFarland kick).

Friendship Christian鈥擬cGowan 3 run (Boyd kick).

Providence Christian鈥�43 pass from Marks (two-point PAT).

Fourth quarter

Friendship Christian鈥擝arton 2 run (Luke Sellars run), 9:50.

Team statistics

PCA FCS

First downs 17 25

Rushes-yards 13-66 57-456

Passing yards 379 71

Comp.-Att.-Int. 14-28-1 5-11-2

Penalties-yards 7-53 9-82

Individual statistics

R性视界APPHING鈥擣riendship Christian: Car鈥橪ando Barton 34-343, Jayden McGowan 16-121, D. Boone 3-12, Luke Sellars 2-(-14), Team 2-(-6).

PASSING鈥擯rovidence Christian: Tatum Marks 14-28-1鈥�379. Friendship Christian: Karson Moss 1-1-0鈥�36, Luke Sellars 4-12-2鈥�35.

RECEIVING鈥擣riendship Christian: D. Boone 23-53, Oliver Wood 1-14, Karson Moss 1-4.