It looked, just for a moment, like the Howard Huskies would get one of their biggest wins in recent memory Friday night as they drove down the field with only a few minutes remaining against the Mary Persons Bulldogs in Forsyth.

The region showdown had been a thriller — things were tied up at 21, both teams looked gritty and a brief but unexpected downpour had sullied a clear weather forecast — but the Huskies had the chance to end Friday night on a high note.

But with possession of the ball and plenty of momentum despite starting from its own 1-yard line, Howard (4-3, 3-1 in region) could not seal the deal, running out of time on their final drive and failing to score in overtime en route to a heartbreaking 28-21 loss to Mary Persons (4-3, 2-2).

While the gut-wrenching loss ends a three-game winning streak for the Huskies that included a key upset win over Baldwin, Howard’s ability to go blow-for-blow with a traditional power like Mary Persons is emblematic of the program’s growth. An impressive crowd made the trek up Interstate 75 to support the Huskies, and that crowd got loud when Howard quarterback Zavion Deshazier muscled through defenders to score a touchdown and the ensuing 2-point conversion to tie the game in the fourth quarter.

“It’s just a testament to the team. We got down but came back and tied that thing up late. We just ran out of gas,” head coach Trey Porter said. “We had our chances, ran out of clock, but we just gotta keep the beat. … Anybody can beat anybody. … We just play in a tough region. We can’t make any mistakes.”

While the offensive was not dominant, it chugged along at a steady enough pace, thanks largely to a run game that chewed clock and came up clutch on late downs. The Huskies converted a third or fourth down on eight different occasions, many of those coming on its game-tying drive in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Zavion Deshazier and running backs Julius Ramsey and Euonice Brown were the keys to that success, banging off Bulldog defenders with ferocity.

“You gotta pass to get ahead of the sticks, but as a former Division I running back myself, you know I love to run the ball,” Porter said with a smile. “They did a great job tonight.”

Nonetheless, the ground game sputtered when the Huskies needed it most. After failing to convert some seemingly open pass plays on its final drive of regulation, Howard needed a score to equal Mary Persons’ touchdown that started overtime. The Huskies could not punch it in from the 15-yard line, even after getting inside the 5 for a fresh set of downs.

It was a big bounceback win for the Bulldogs, who came out hungry with a smooth drive capped by a 34-yard touchdown from CJ Banks. Howard answered with a nice drive made up entirely of quick runs and shorter passes, finishing it off with an easy Deshazier run to tie things up at seven.

Both defenses stepped up and garnered some stops thanks to impressive tackles as the first quarter ended and the second began. Mary Persons eventually got the big drive it needed, eventually converting a 5-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Singleton to Marcus Francis.

Howard responded with a massive 55-yard pass from Deshazier to Sean Alexander, which set up another impressive catch — this one by Ta’shawn Poole, who was held by a defender but still managed to break away and make a leaping, toe-tap catch in the back of the end zone. The point after was wide, making it 14-13 in favor of the Bulldogs with about seven minutes left before the half.

Mary Persons wanted to add on, though, and Singleton did it all by himself on a dazzling 23-yard run, putting multiple Howard defenders in the spin cycle on his way to paydirt to make it 21-13 before halftime.

The Bulldogs seemed to have all the momentum coming out of halftime when they recovered an onside kick, but Howard’s defense managed a critical stop inside the 20-yard line on the drive to quell the Mary Persons offense. The rest of the third quarter was similar, with both defenses giving up some chunk plays but never letting things get out of hand.

The Huskies got their most impressive drive of the night going early in the fourth, starting with a big run from Brown before a Mary Persons facemask helped out a bit further. Deshazier did the rest with his legs, picking up two more first downs before reaching the end zone. The quarterback ran in the two-point try as well, getting the Howard crowd on its feet and tying things up at 21-21.

Then, though, came the unfortunate finish for the Huskies. Despite stopping Mary Persons’ next drive to get even more wind in the sails, Howard faltered on the final drive and came up just short in overtime.

Howard’s next game will come against Peach County on the road, while Mary Persons is set to travel to Baldwin for its next game.