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This game mattered - mattered enough that as the teams huddled after Youngsville's 17-16 come-from-behind victory over Sheffield, and tears were flowing from players on both sides.

On the Eagles sidelines, the tears represented joy - joy of being part of a team that posted the school's first non-losing season of football since 1994 with its 5-5 record.

For the Wolverines, the tears represented how much this game and this season meant to them. As Sheffield assistant coach Mike Barr said, "this is the team that brought football back to Sheffield."

Before all of that, there was a football game - and what a game it was.

Sheffield dominated play for three quarters, but Youngsville had one last surge in them, erasing a 13-point fourth quarter deficit for the victory.

"Our kids had the deer in the headlights look early on and the plays we are used to making weren't there," said Youngsville coach Tony Tridico. "Both teams had to overcome some adversity with some atrocious calls by the officials, but our kids kept banging. It doesn't matter how we got there, all that matters is that we got the win."

While Sheffield coach Bryan Gould wanted the victory, he was more impressed with the group of young men that came so far this season.

"When I came to Sheffield, one of my goals was to change the attitude from 'we can't win' to 'yes we can'," said Gould. "This is the team that brought a winning attitude back to Sheffield and a couple of years down the road when we are kicking butt, I will think back fondly on this team and I hope they remember that this is where it all started."

Both teams started Friday's contest at Mike Shine Field with sloppy play. A pair of long Jimmy Hahn runs during Sheffield's first drive were called back due to penalties. Sheffield also fumbled and had a sure touchdown pass dropped, but the Eagles were also struggling, fumbling once and muffing a punt later in the quarter.

The Eagles attempted to get on the board first in the second quarter, but T.J. Hardy's 32-yard attempt was no good. However, Hardy was roughed on the play and the Eagles got a fresh set of downs. The Sheffield defense stepped up and forced another field goal try and this attempt was converted by Hardy for a 3-0 lead.

The Wolverines responded with their most impressive drive of the night. Using the shotgun formation, quarterback Craig Fitch went to work, leading the Sheffield offense down the field. With 3:53 remaining in the half, Fitch hit Hahn with a 28-yard score and Sheffield grabbed the lead. Hahn's two-point rushing attempt was good and the game was 8-3 Sheffield at the break.

Sheffield would dominate the third quarter as well, shaking off a fumble on the second half kickoff and using a 23-yard catch by Hahn to set up a second touchdown. Hahn plowed into the end zone from a yard out to push the lead to 14-3 and Fitch found George Fitch on the two-point try to put Sheffield in the driver's seat with one quarter remaining.

That's when Youngsville came to life.

Quarterback Cory Craig threw a pass to Kyle Luther directly down the line of scrimmage and Luther wouldn't be denied. He started the play on the left side of the field, completely changed fields to the right side and sliced through Sheffield defenders for a 20-yard score. Hardy's extra-point left Youngsville trailing 16-10 with 7:34 to play.

On Sheffield's next drive, a Mike Gibson hit caused a Wolverines fumble that was recovered by Youngsville's Rocco Gatta. The Eagles used the turnover to drive to the Sheffield 11, but the Wolverines defense came up big with a fourth down stop with 4:17 to play.

The Eagles needed a turnover to get one last chance at a game-winning score and with just over two minutes to play, they got their wish. Gibson recovered another Sheffield fumble at the Wolverines 20 and the Eagles were set up in prime position.

After a run netted no gain, Craig tried to hit Dalton Maze with a pass at the 10, but the sophomore struggled to get a handle on the ball.

Maze wouldn't have to wait long to redeem himself.

On the very next play, Craig hit Maze on a slant pattern and Maze went into the end zone for the third time this season to make it 16-16 with 1:31 to play. Hardy's kick split the uprights and would prove to be the difference in the game.

The Wolverines got one last chance with the pigskin, but the Eagles defense registered two sacks, forced an intentional grounding call and were able to force an incompletion right at the sticks on a 4th-and-35 play to seal the win and assure the school of its first non-losing season in 15 years.

The Wolverines finish the season with a 2-8 mark which doesn't even begin to tell the story of their season as Sheffield played close with several District 9 playoff teams and showed marked improvement across the board.

SheffieldYoungsville

53Offensive plays 54

13First downs13

32-57Rushes-yards45-182

106Passing yards46

163Total yards228

21-8-0Pass-comp-int9-3-0

4-4Fumbles-lost2-2

7-75Penalties-yards7-55

Score by quarters

Sheffield 0 8 8 0 - 16

Youngsville 0 3 0 14 - 17

Scoring plays

Second quarter

Y- T.J. Hardy 27 field goal, 6:36

S- Craig Fitch to Jimmy Hahn 28 pass, 3:53, Hahn run

Third quarter

S- Hahn 1 run, 0:46, Fitch to George Fitch pass

Fourth quarter

Y- Cory Craig to Kyle Luther 20 pass, 7:34, Hardy kick

Y- Craig to Dalton Maze 20 pass, 1:31, Hardy kick

Individual leaders

RUSHING: S-Jimmy Hahn 12 carries for 35, TD, Craig Fitch 8 for 14, Jason Abraham 2 for 10, Tevin Williams 1 for 5, Jasper Rentas 1 for 2, Robert Howell 2 for -4, Khalil Slaughter 6 for -5; Y-Mike Gibson 19 for 115, Jordan Gurdak 14 for 58, Cory Craig 12 for 9

PASSING: S-Craig Fitch 8 of 21 for 106 yards, TD; Y-Cory Craig 3 of 9 for 46, 2 TD

RECEIVING: S-Jimmy Hahn 4 catches for 61, TD, Ian Davidson 1 for 21, Jason Abraham 1 for 15, George Fitch 1 for 10, Khalil Slaughter 1 for -1; Y-Kyle Luther 2 for 26, TD, Dalton Maze 1 for 20, TD