Fourth down. Thirty-seven seconds. 44–40.

The Jackets had the lead with under three minutes left on the road, 40–37, and still left Wise County 1–1. Colton Braziel took a wildcat snap on fourth down, faked the handoff, and went 28 yards. Thirty-seven seconds on the clock. Decatur 44, Denison 40. The Eagles’ defense then held the last possession.

Denison led 22–14 at the half. That was the good half. Decatur outscored them 15–3 in the third and walked into the fourth up 29–25. Luke Koehler ripped a 17-yard touchdown through the front seven and it was 37–32 Eagles. The Jackets answered: a personal foul on Decatur kept a third-down tackle-for-loss from ending the drive, Denison punched it in, converted the two-point play, and led 40–37 with 2:53 to go.

That is as close as it got to a win. Cliff Watkins stayed on the ground after an injury to Akilyz Rivera. Koehler moved them across midfield. Then Braziel, direct snap, and the building went with him. Last year this game died in a storm with Decatur up 13–0 in the first quarter. This one finished. The ranked 4A club kept it.

Forty points on the road is not nothing. It is also not enough. Non-district is over. District 4-5A Division II opens Thursday, Sept. 10, at Prosper Richland, 7 p.m.

Lilly’s first two Fridays: the Ax stays, then a four-point loss that came down to one fourth down. Next week the lights are someone else’s again.