Late 2-Point Conversion Stop Lifts Pinnacle to Gotta Believe Spring Showcase Championship
- Mason Byers
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
With spring ball around the corner, many high schools are ramping up their teams, and the Gotta Believe Spring Showcase saw many teams perform well, but it was X-Men (Pinnacle) that went home with the hardware.
Here are the games we covered during bracket play on Saturday morning.
The first round of bracket play saw the OWTK Hawks and SB Elite square off.
Both teams would have excellent opening drives.
Getting the first touchdown of the game was the Hawks as Highland 2027 quarterback Luke Young threw the touchdown pass.
SB Elite, too, would score on their first possession of the contest.
Newly transferred Horizon 2028 quarterback Kai Knudson connected with 2028 athlete Slate Allen for a touchdown.
The Hawks would proceed to respond with a one-play touchdown.
Young found 2027 wide receiver Enzo Nguyen in the middle of the field, and Nguyen used his speed to scamper into the end zone.
The OWTK Hawks wouldn’t hold the lead for long, however, as SB Elite would score 14 unanswered points.
Knudson would tack on two more passing touchdowns to give his team the lead for the first time in the game.
One of the touchdowns was caught by 2028 athlete Wyatt Liebertz, and Allen caught the other.
As time was dwindling down, the Hawks would be able to tie the game up and send it to longest yard overtime.
Launching a ball deep down the field, Young connected with Highland 2027 athlete Deshown Johnson for a 40-yard touchdown.
In overtime, the Hawks were on offense first, and Young connected with Nguyen for a 20-yard gain.
Needing a play to go 21+ yards, SB Elite had to come through in the clutch.
Knudson stepped up to the plate and delivered a pass to Allen for a 25-yard gain, and give SB Elite the win.
SB Elite would defeat the OWTK Hawks 22-21.
The other first-round matchup covered was Loop 303 Gold and the Toros facing off.
Both the Toros and Loop 303 Gold scored on their opening drives to make it a 7-7 game early on.
Loop 303 Gold would be the team to get out in front first, however.
The offense started to gain momentum as Shadow Ridge 2028 quarterback Bryan Stowell threw two straight touchdown passes to 2028 wide receiver Jakhi Epson.
Now holding a two-possession lead, Loop 303 Gold was in control of the game.
If there is one thing to never do, though is to count out the Toros.
Just like Loop 303 Gold, the Toros would start gaining momentum and score two straight touchdowns of their own.
After scoring 14 unanswered points, the Toros tied the game at 21 apiece with only three minutes left in the game.
Having one last offensive possession, Loop 303 Gold went to what worked.
Already connecting for two touchdowns earlier in the game, Stowell once again found Epson in the back of the end zone and gave them the lead late.
Ultimately, time wasn’t on the Toros side, and Loop 303 Gold would win the game 28-21.
In round one, X-Men dominated Gilbert Gold and won 45-0 to move into the quarterfinals, while SB Elite won the close game against the OWTK Hawks.
The game between SB Elite and X-Men would come down to the final play of the game.
At first, it seemed X-Men would win the game with ease as they got out to a 14-0 lead.
Pinnacle 2028 quarterback threw two touchdown passes to open up the game.
The first touchdown was caught by Pinnacle 2028 wide receiver Max Libman, and the second one was caught by Pinnacle 2028 athlete Ashton Mitchell.
Getting off to a slow start wasn’t ideal for SB Elite, but they fought their way back into the contest.
Knudson threw his first touchdown pass of the game when he found Horizon 2027 athlete Garrett Kerr on an out route for the score.
The defense would then pull through for SB Elite.
Making one of the most clutch plays of the day, Allen snagged an interception and gave his team a chance to tie the game up.
SB Elite would do just that, as Knudson got his second touchdown pass.
X-Men got their lead back, though, as Bull connected with Pinnacle 2028 wide receiver Dyson Robinson in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.
Having the ball one last time, SB Elite marched down the field and got the touchdown.
However, instead of tying the game up, they opted to go for a two-point conversion for the win.
The attempt would fall short, though, as the ball sailed out of bounds.
With the failed two-point attempt, X-Men would win 22-21 over SB Elite.
For a chance to go to the championship game, the X-Men and Perry Navy would have a shootout that would go down to the wire.
From the opening drive, both teams kept trading touchdowns.
Just like they did all day, Bull and Libman's chemistry was on point as they connected for multiple scores to start the game.
Perry Navy responded time and time again, though, as they always matched the X-Men's scores.
Everything was going right for the X-Men, though, as Bull delivered a tight window pass in the back of the end zone that ricocheted and landed right into Libman's hands.
Down the stretch, Perry Navy led 35-28 over X-Men.
Needing to come through in the clutch like they did last game, X-Men put together a methodical drive to get near the goal line.
X-Men would be able to get into the end zone as often as Bull found Libman for a score.
Instead of tying the game and going to overtime, X-Men went for a two-point conversion on the last play of the game to go for the win.
Staying composed, Bull delivered a perfect pass to Mitchell in the back of the end zone and gave X-Men the win.
Winning the shootout over Perry Navy, X-Men advanced to the championship game.
The Gotta Believe Spring Showcase championship game saw X-Men and Tukee Tropics Black face off for the trophy.
Even though both teams dominated during bracket play, they struggled to find the end zone on their opening drives.
After the slow start for both sides, X-Men would get on the board first.
The first touchdown of the game would see Bull find Robinson on a quick slant route for the score.
On the defensive side, the X-Men would keep the momentum rolling.
Tukee Tropics Black would put together a nice drive, but it fell short as Mitchell would go up and snag an interception in the end zone for the X-Men.
Running away with the lead, X-Men proceeded to score after getting the turnover.
Bull completed his second touchdown pass of the contest to Pinnacle 2027 wide receiver Amari Davis.
Though they trailed early on, Tukee Tropics Black fought their way back into the game.
After not scoring on their first two drives, Tukee Tropics Black completed multiple deep bombs to get the game tied back up at 15 apiece.
The game being tied didn’t last for long, though, as X-Men responded with another touchdown to take the lead back.
Bull threw a strike to the middle of the field to connect with Robinson for another touchdown.
The game was far from over, though.
Just like the two previous wins the X-Men had, the game would be decided on a two-point conversion.
The Tukee Tropics Black scored a touchdown late in the game, and instead of going to overtime, they went for a two-point conversion and the win.
With the championship on the line, the X-Men’s defense came through.
Tukee Tropics Black tried to fire a ball into a tight window, but it was covered well by Mitchell, and gave the X-Men the win.
X-Men would take home the championship win as they defeated Tukee Tropics Black 22-21.
Going 7-0 the entire day, X-Men proved they were the best team at the Spring Gotta Believe Spring Showcase.
--
Camera clips from the tournament will be available to view and download by Monday night here: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1ncpLUabheo1WsVQ48A4q_EAURNeyQnqb
To download any clips that we posted to the BJ Media Twitter, copy and paste the link of the tweet to this website: https://ssstwitter.com/.
Comments