Oxford >> It went pin-drop silent in Tate Myre Stadium Friday night when everyone realized it was Oxford star running back Luke Johnson on his back after the play.

The Wildcats were trailing Rochester Adams by five with 45 seconds remaining, needing less than 10 yards to reach the end zone, but without their go-to weapon.

When a penalty the next play pushed Oxford back 10 more yards and Johnson was still being treated on the sidelines, it was clear someone else needed to step up.

“I think half the sideline was saying to throw it to Jake (Champagne in that moment),” Wildcats head coach Zach Line said. “Even (quarterback Jack Hendrix) came over (to say it), so when he’s asking for it, you give it to him.”

The once-silent crowd went wild when Champagne jumped up in front of an Adams defensive back near the right edge of the end zone and pulled down an 18-yard touchdown from Hendrix with 28.1 seconds remaining, the game-winning score in the Wildcats’ 18-17 victory over the Highlanders.

“We have a great athlete in Jake, so I was like, I’m gonna give him a chance,” Hendrix said. “I saw the corner playing really far off, but I knew Jake would come down with the ball, so I gave him a shot, and he did that, made a huge play and won it for us.”

“Jack put a perfect ball up, and I just went and got it,” Champagne said.

Following a failed conversion, Adams had a chance to win it with a field goal, and Highlanders quarterback Nolan Farris completed several passes that got the ball past midfield, but the Highlanders couldn’t quite get into range for an attempt in the final seconds.

The game-winning possession came after the Wildcats were fighting the clock on Adams’ penultimate drive. Highlanders running back Paxton Battershell picked up a key fourth-and-1 with around five minutes to go that looked to be the first nail in the coffin, but when Oxford forced another fourth down at its own 31-yard line, Eli Carpenter picked off Nolan Farris over the middle and gave the Wildcats a chance beginning at the 24-yard line with a little under four minutes left.

Hendrix made the throws to get Oxford down the field, including a 30-yard completion to Dean Rice, then Johnson carried on third-and-2 to give the Wildcats a new set of downs inside Adams’ 10-yard line with 1:01 remaining before his carry several plays later that required help getting him off the field.

“I’ve had like a high-ankle sprain since before Lake Orion (in Week 4), and just kind of decided to run on it, you know, I just decided to run on it, (be a) tough guy,” Johnson said. “It’ll be alright, you know, we work through it. I feel like nothing can stop me. Adrenaline pumping, testosterone going through, just keep going.”

On his team’s disappointing ending, Adams head coach Tony Patritto said, “We had to finish that last drive and put them away, and we didn’t. Our defense has to play better down the stretch. That’s just how it is in the OAA Red. If you don’t play perfect for the whole four quarters, you’re going to lose.”

A sensational finish followed a first half that lacked fireworks. Oxford’s Drew Cady and Adams’ Daniel Seymour traded field goals on their teams’ opening drives that collectively ate up the opening quarter, and Cady made another from over 45 yards that put the Wildcats up 6-3 with 8:21 left in the half.

It was exactly the type of grind-it-out pace that was expected coming in.

Finally, Adams broke into the end zone through Mateo Humbert’s nine-yard rushing score with exactly a minute left in the half, giving the Highlanders a 10-6 advantage.

And considering the pacing, when Farris took it himself nine yards on the first play of the fourth quarter, a 17-6 lead felt like a gulf.Instead, on Oxford’s next drive, Johnson caught a pass in mid-air, broke free of a tackle and went 48 yards for the score, making it a five-point game just 90 seconds following Adams’ score after an incomplete pass on the two-point try.

“I mean, some people call me a wide receiver I guess,” Johnson said jokingly.

Farris, a junior, was making his first full start after coming in at halftime of last week’s 28-25 defeat at Lake Orion. He had the task of replacing classmate Ryland Watters, who was averaging nearly 250 total yards before suffering a fractured foot that ended his season, and Farris made his share of plays to give Adams a shot against Oxford.

“(Nolan) handled it pretty well,” Patritto said. “He’s actually banged up himself, so I’m really proud of him. He showed a lot of courage tonight.”

Asked how Watters was handling the diagnosis, Patritto replied, “This is really hard for him. I think he’s the best player in Oakland County — maybe the state — he had 10 touchdowns in four-and-a-half games, not to mention his passing numbers. He had aspirations of leading us to a championship, and it’s gonna be hard for him to deal with all of this.”

With a 4-0 start that included league victories over West Bloomfield and Clarkston, the Highlanders (2-2 OAA Red) now look up at Oxford (4-2 overall) and Clarkston, both 2-1 in the league standings. With a share of the division title unlikely, Adams will have to focus on its remaining regular season season games against Stoney Creek, North Farmington and Anchor Bay.

“You have to regroup, because next week is another game,” Patritto said.

Two remaining games will decide who wins the OAA Red. Clarkston travels to Lake Orion in two weeks, but before that, the Wildcats travel next Friday to face West Bloomfield.

“I think we have a shot to win the OAA Red, so obviously this is a huge, huge win for us,” Hendrix said. “I think this really changed the trajectory of the season for us.”

Added Johnson, “I haven’t really had this in my varsity career, being in the driver’s seat, so I feel like we can do whatever we want. OAA Red title on the clock. I mean, West Bloomfield, they don’t know what’s gonna hit them, I’m just saying that right now.”