Trailing 30-20, Clayton (2-7, 1-4) temporarily rained on the Warriors' parade by blocking a punt with 2:16 left in the game. Clayton's Chris Pretty fell on the ball at the East Wake 19 yard line, and 12 seconds later, Comet quarterback Matt Reid connected with Sean Wensley for a touchdown and what proved to be the final score of the night from either team.

With 2:04 remaining, East's Khari Jenkins returned the favor, blocking the point after attempt to preserve the home team's full-possession lead. A Clayton onside followed, but the Warriors recovered on the 49.

Again, East Wake (4-5, 3-2) found itself in a fourth-down punt situation with :28 on the clock. Clayton's Donte Johnson nearly pulled a repeat of the block minutes earlier, but East's Lucas Rice got the punt off, and the Comets returned to their own 25 yard line.

Reid then turned to the sky in search of Daiquan Thomasson -- twice. The first attempt, Thomasson caught. On the second, he was wide open but dropped the ball. In a last-second act of desperation, Reid launched an off-balanced deep ball, and Warrior senior Kasunn Williams was the only player on either team who hadn't outrun the pass. Williams intercepted and returned the ball to the Clayton 20, where the game ended.

The Comets scored on at 2-yard rush by Montrelle Sanders (Reid to Matt Crutcher conversion pass), a 6-yard rush by Brad Stanback, an 8-yard pass from Reid to Stanback and a 19-yard pass from Reid to Wensley.

Warrior scores came on a 30-yard pass from Chris Pernell to Williams (Cameron Holder 2-point conversion), a 12-yard rush by Jamal Davis (Holder 2-point. conversion), a 13-yard pass from Pernell to Tyler Horton (Rice kick) and a 10-yard rush by Williams (Rice kick).

Ironically, East Wake coach Jimmy Williams said the blocked punt that made things interesting in the end was something the Warrior program picked up from Clayton coach Gary Fowler years ago.

"It's called field goal punt," Williams said. "It's been real good to us -- it's won games for us. We're trying to kick it out of bounds is what we're doing. The snap is a little bit faster and the risk of mistake is a little bit less. Obviously they did a great job blocking it. That was a bad call on my part."

He said the team normally executes it well and that the goal was to kick it out of bounds around the 10 yard line and bury the Comets in terms of field position.

"They made a great play, and we're just lucky to hang on," Williams said. "We couldn't get a first down. We had to give it back to them. We survived it."

As for his team returning the favor and blocking the extra point that would have brought the visitors to within a field goal, Williams said it was awesome. "We get down there and block it -- we played good defense. They gave us fits, I mean they gave us fits. I didn't think they'd score that much on us. They did," he said.

Williams said it was great for the alumni, teaches and students that the Warriors squeezed out a win homecoming, but for his team, it was all about making the playoffs.

"I'm pretty sure it does ensure us, but one more is a definite," he said. "If we finish in the top three it's automatic, and I think tonight got us in, but one more we'd be sealed."