Boonville returned a kickoff for a touchdown, then followed that up with two-point conversion late to defeat Mount Carmel, 27-26, on Monday night at Riverview Stadium.
The Aces had just completed a dramatic turnaround themselves to suddenly get control of the game. Then, Jarrod Hemmings erased all that when he took the ensuing kickoff and ran 75 yards for a touchdown with 2:02 remaining in the game.
Mount Carmel still led at that point, 26-25, but the conversion run by Kody Nering put Boonville on top at the close.
Boonville led 19-6 at the end of the third quarter before the Aces battled back. A 17-yard TD run by Shaun D. Flickinger closed the gap to 19-12 with 9:52 left in the game.
Andrew Wise scooped up a Boonville fumble on the Pioneers’ fist play following the kickoff and headed for the end zone, scoring from 26 yards away. Then a 2-point run by Devin Tomblinson put the Aces up 20-19.
When quarterback Tony Miller added a 25-yard score with 2:17 left to put the Aces up, 26-19, things still looked promising. Until seconds later.
Boonville got on the scoreboard first on a 58-yard pass play from Paul Adkins to Logan Grubb, to make it 7-0.
Mount Carmel countered with a TD pass from Miller to Tomblinson. But a missed conversion left Boonville ahead, 7-6.
The Pioneers added to the lead before the half on two 30-yard field goals by Luke Parker.