Barlow, which had looked all but defeated just a few minutes earlier, rallied for a pair of touchdowns in two minutes to cut a 20-point lead to six with minutes remaining in Friday's SWC game at Bulldog Field.
Even with his high-powered offense sputtering, Bunnell coach Craig Bruno figured it was time for a knockout blow.
So, on second and 10 from his own 40-yard line, Bunnell quarterback Steve Smith dropped back and threw a bomb down the right sideline.
Receiver Devon Polite swept past his defender and hauled in the 60-yard pass for the game-clinching touchdown in Bunnell's 26-14 victory.
"Every game has its own flow and it got a little funny there towards the end and we were a little tentative," Bruno said.
That all changed with the 60-yard touchdown pass.
"With three minutes to go, I don't know how many teams are going to throw a (long) pass," Bruno said. "But we're not tentative."
The touchdown catch was Polite's second of the game.
"We had them in a good position," Barlow coach Rob Tynan said. "We thought they were going to go short on us, but they went long on us. He outran us. They're faster than us. They've got enough speed to choke a horse.
"It was a gutsy call, but it worked."
Polite officially
Polite, Smith and Hopeton Quarrie all recovered fumbles for the Bulldogs (3-0). But the biggest defensive star of the game, however, was sophomore defensive back James Davis, who making his first start in place of injured safety Angelo Watson.
Davis was a constant nuisance on corner blitzes and wound up sacking Barlow quarterback Ryan Brown four times — just one short of the state record.
Two of his sacks halted Barlow drives and led to early Bunnell touchdowns, and a bearhug from Bruno after the game.
"You saw me hugging him. That's why you coach football, when you see something like that," Bruno said. "He worked hard all week, he stayed behind with us. He deserves everything he got tonight." Barlow had just three first downs and turned the ball over three times in the first half, and fell behind 20-0 before mounting a comeback in the fourth quarter.
After a scoreless third quarter, Brown finally got the Falcons (2-1) moving.
Brown ran a successful fake punt, completed three passes and finished off a 17-play, 89-yard drive with a short touchdown run to cut Bunnell's lead to 20-7. Bunnell went nowhere on its next possession and Barlow used a short field to score again, this time on Brown's 1-yard run.
When Bunnell got the ball back, Barlow's Carmen Parisi dropped Smith for no gain. That's when Bruno made his call.
"I wasn't sure about calling the long pass, but I didn't want to give them the ball back," Bruno said. "Steven made a good pass, and it worked."
While Barlow turned the ball over five times, Bunnell wasn't flawless either. It committed four turnovers and had a pair of touchdowns called back.
"But that's part of the game," Bruno said. "(Barlow's) a good football team. They're going to win a lot of games."
Brown led Barlow with 74 yards on 18 carries. He completed 7-of-20 passes for 55 yards.
BARLOW - 0 0 0 14 — 14
BUNNELL - 8 12 0 6 — 26
BUN — Steve Smith 8 run (Smith run)
BUN — Smith 3 run (run failed)
BUN — Devon Polite 35 pass Smith (run failed)
BAR — Ryan Brown 22 run (Grant Cody kick)
BAR — Brown 1 run (Cody kick)
BUN — Polite 60 pass Smith (run failed)
Records: Bunnell 3-0, 3-0 SWC; Barlow 2-1, 2-1.
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