Charleston holds off Barton’s late charge

CHARLESTON — Charleston moved on to the third round of the Class 3A playoffs, but it had to survive a furious fourth-quarter rally by Barton.

After seemingly building a comfortable 21-point cushion in the third quarter, the Tigers had to recover an onside kick and run out the final 30 seconds to down the Bears 39-34 on Friday at Alumni Field.

The Tigers (12-0) will host Osceola (10-2), which eliminated defending 3A champion Prescott 41-20 on the road. Barton’s ends the season at 10-2.

Sean Michael Flanagan led the Tigers offensively, scoring five touchdowns (three receiving and two rushing). Flanagan had 10 catches for 191 yards and 81 rush yards on eight carries.

When Stephen Stoll booted his second field goal with 3:35 left in the third period, Charleston seemingly had a commanding 33-12 lead.

But the last 15 minutes saw Barton attempt a furious comeback that eventually fell just short.

On the ensuing kickoff, Bradley Smith raced 81 yards for the touchdown, Matt James added a two-point run to close the deficit to 33-20.

In the fourth quarter, Devin Olloway got loose on an option pitch for a 55-yard touchdown scamper with 7:46 left. James added the two-point conversion, and suddenly the Bears were within 33-28. Olloway finished the game with 185 yards on 15 carries and three scores.

Barton did have a chance to take the lead, marching from its 13 to the Tiger 19 in just three plays. The drive, though, stalled as James had incomplete passes on third and fourth down, giving possession back to Charleston with 3:27 left.

The Tigers appeared to put the game away when Sean Michael Flanagan took a handoff up the middle and rambled 35 yards for a touchdown, the last 15 yards with a defender on his back, with 1:15 left.

Barton, taking advantage of a big kickoff return and a late hit penalty, needed just 42 yards to score though, capped by James’ 42-yard pass to Jaylon Johnson with 32 seconds left to stay in the game at 39-34.

Charleston’s Brayden Caudle recovered the onside kick, then kneeled three times to run out the clock. Caudle finished the game 20-of-35 passing for 343 yards. The Tigers finished with 443 total yards.

Barton rushed for 315 yards.