The ball floated, hanging in the air just high enough, just long enough to breathe life into Miramar's season.

And then from nowhere came Terrance Gourdine -- Miramar's forgotten receiver, the kid who will forever be remembered as the one who made the catch, the one they won't forget.

'When I saw the ball I shouted: `It's mine! It's mine,' '' said Gourdine, who grabbed the tipped ball and Miramar's season then fell into the end zone with an 11-yard touchdown that lifted Miramar to a 28-26 Region 3-6A quarterfinal victory over Carol City.

There were 12 seconds left when Gourdine made the catch. One second it looked like Carol City's Kenyatta Marion was going to pick off his second interception of the night, but he couldn't hang on -- and neither could Carol City, which gasped as the ball was tipped in the air. That gasp turned to silence when Gourdine cradled in the ball.

''My heart stopped and hasn't started back yet,'' Miramar coach Damon Cogdell said afterward. ``That was an unbelievable play.''

Believe it.

They do at Miramar, where they staged their fourth dramatic comeback. You'd think everyone would be used to watching Eugene Smith's last-second act.

''We always believe we are going to win,'' Smith said. ``If there is one second left, we believe we can win.''

They believe in Smith, too.

''He's the best quarterback in the nation,'' Gourdine said.

It was Smith who accounted for every yard in that final desperation drive that started at the Carol City 27 with 1:49 left. He completed three passes, including the game-winner -- his third TD of the night, and scrambled twice for gains of 22 and four to keep the drive alive. He hit Steadman Bailey, who had two TD catches, with a 19-yard pass to the 11 on a fourth-and-6 just before his TD throw to Gourdine.

''When the drive started I looked at Geno and said, are you OK? And he just smiled and winked at me,'' Cogdell said. ``I knew we were going to score.''

Carol City took the lead with 2:05 left on Devonte Mathis' second 2-yard touchdown of the fourth quarter. Mathis opened the drama with a 58-yard flea-flicker touchdown to Allen Hurns, who raced 12 yards for a score to give Carol City a 12-7 halftime lead.

But then came Smith, who completed 18 of 34 for 247 yards. He had two interceptions, the last in the fourth quarter on -- what else? -- a tipped pass that set up Carol City's third touchdown.

When it wasn't Smith, it was Orwin Etkins, who gained 141 yards on 24 carries and scored on a 2-yard run to get Miramar on the board.

But in the end, it came down to a tipped pass, which stayed in the air just high enough, just long enough.

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