Blanche Ely holds off late Dillard rally to win Soul Bowl, likely faces rematch next week

A 19-point lead almost evaporated in front of the Blanche Ely High faithful as the annual “Soul Bowl” played into the fourth quarter.

As sophomore running back Anthony Carey crossed the goal line to end a 50-yard run with 5:17 left in the fourth quarter, Dillard had cut the deficit to five points.

Ely did what good teams do by cutting time off the game clock with a 10-play drive that ran out the remaining time in a 33-28 home victory Friday night.

For the Tigers (8-2) it was their second consecutive win over Dillard and first time they have secured back-to-back wins in the series since 2015-16. The victory gives the Tigers a 27-26-1 series lead in the rivalry that began in 1952.

Friday night’s game was the highest combined score (61 combined points) in the Soul Bowl’s history.

With Ely’s victory, it is likely to host Dillard again next week in a Class 3M regional quarterfinal playoff. The Tigers won last year’s second-round playoff game against the Panthers 19-14.

Ely quarterback Gary Hadley Jr. helped the Tigers build what seemed like a comfortable advantage with a one-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown and a pair of scoring passes to Richard Hollis to build a 26-14 lead at the half.

“We started out pretty good,” said Ely coach Michael Bailey. “I think this was our first game playing a good first half. I would have loved to have seen a cleaner second half. We’ll make the adjustments and get ready for next week.”

Ely took a 33-14 lead when backup quarterback completed a 33-yard scoring pass to Marcel Williams with seven seconds left in the third quarter.

Dillard (5-5) showed no quit despite trailing by almost 20 points.

The rally began when backup freshman quarterback Tyler Chance completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Christopher Tillman that cut the score to 33-21 with 9:03 left in the final quarter.

Following an Ely punt the Panthers need only 1:12 to score again, that came on the 50-yard run by Carey.

“We have a young team and just wanted them to play four quarters of football,” Dillard coach Demitrius Mincey said. “We were right there and will likely see each other next week. I liked the way we finished. I would have liked to have won, but we have a lot of film to break down. We’ll be playoff ready.”

Tied at 7-7 early in the second quarter the Tigers broke the game wide open with three consecutive touchdowns.

The first came on a third-down play from scrimmage when running back Shawn Paschall broke through the right side of the Panthers defensive front for a 45-yard touchdown run with 9:57 left in the second quarter for a 14-7 lead.

Following a Dillard punt, Ely struck again on the first of those two touchdown passes from Hadley to Hollis. The first went 26 yards for a 20-7 lead and one play after a Dillard punt Hollis got his second score on a 16-yard pass.

The Panthers kept themselves within striking distance with a late touchdown just before the half when Carey scored from three yards out that closed the gap to 26-14.

Ely scored the first touchdown on the night following an interception by Gaby Almonord that was returned to the Dillard one. Two plays later Hadley cross the goal line for a 7-0 lead.

The Panthers answered when quarterback Nylan Maine tossed a seven-yard scoring pass to Carey early in the second quarter.