Kick the extra point to tie the score and go to the second overtime period.
That would be the common strategy for a high school football coach in the circumstances that faced Joe Prud'homme on Friday night. His
Nolan Catholic (Fort Worth) Vikings had just scored in the first overtime to close to within a point of
Trinity Christian (Addison).
But 21 years at the school, including a run of six state titles in nine seasons earn Prud'homme the license to deviate from the norm.
With the rematch of last year's TAPPS Division I state final riding on one play, Prud'homme gambled and was rewarded.
A successful two-point conversion pass from
Landon Russell to tight end
Jeremey LaGroue carried Nolan to a 43-42 victory over previously-undefeated Trinity Christian (4-1) Friday night at Doskocil Stadium in Fort Worth.
Joe Prud'homme, Nolan Catholic head coach
Courtesy of Nolan Catholic High School
For making the call that resulted in the homecoming win, Prud'homme was selected as the Capital One Bank Dallas Coach of the Week.
The victory was the fourth in a row for Nolan (4-2, 2-0 in District 1). The Vikings share the district lead with Prestonwood Christian (Plano).
"I know most coaches would not make that decision,'' said the 48-year-old Prud'homme. "But I didn't want to get in a back-and-forth with them. I knew that we had the right play set up. The kids were executing well. Their defense was leaving an opening that we could attack.''
The Vikings lined up in what they call a "Two-Three'' formation, two running backs lined up in the "I'' formation with three tight ends. Trinity Christian had to respect the threat of run. Vikings tailback
Luke Alves had already gained 179 yards and scored three touchdowns.
"Landon faked the lead play we'd been running all night and rolled right. We gave him the choice and he felt more comfortable going right. Our tight end waited and then went to the right flat. The play worked perfectly. There was only one defender between the two of them. Jeremy was wide open and Landon floated the ball to him.''
Prud'homme's gutsy call looks even bolder considering quarterback Russell was playing in only his second game this season. Although he had some quarterbacking experience earlier in his career, Russell had made a decision to concentrate full-time on basketball as a senior. He is slated to play college basketball at Yale.
But a rash of injuries reduced Nolan's quarterback depth to just one able body. Russell asked Prud'homme's permission to rejoin Nolan's football program a couple of weeks ago. The coach told Russell he would need to get an OK from his parents, the Yale coaching staff and his basketball coach at Nolan (the latter happens to be Steve Prud'homme, Nolan's athletics director and Joe's brother).
Against Trinity Christian, Russell completed 7 of 11 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns.
Prud'homme said he very nearly called for a two-point conversion after Nolan scored with 1:50 remaining on Russell's 15-yard touchdown pass to
Patrick Rich. He chose to send on
Grant Muehlstein for the extra point kick that sent the game into overtime.
Nolan and Trinity Christian have a history for staging wild shootouts. Nolan prevailed, 48-45, in the 2012 state title game.
Should Nolan win a state title this season, it would be its third in a row. Previous titles have come in two-year patterns: 2004-05, 2008-09 and 2011-12.
Program stability has been a key, Prud'homme said: "It's pretty rare, but the majority of our coaching staff has been together the entire time. Our players have the belief we're going to win, no matter what.''
In his high school playing days at Bishop Gorman (Tyler), Prud'homme was a defensive back and quarterback. He continued his football career at Tyler Junior College and then got his degree from the University of Texas.
Joe and wife Amanda have two children: Joseph, who quarterbacked the Vikings to a pair of state titles the last two seasons and is now at Kansas State and
Emily, a junior volleyball and softball player at Nolan.
