MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The San Antonio Brahmas used an epic fourth quarter rally to stun the Memphis Showboats 20-19 at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The victory was the second for San Antonio on the young season as they outscored Memphis 20-3 in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
“Every win is emotional, but to be able to come back from that far down just showed what kind of heart our team has,” San Antonio Brahmas coach Wade Phillips said. “Our guys didn’t give up, and that’s really important.”
Memphis raced to a 13-0 lead at halftime and added a field goal to make it 16-0 going into the fourth quarter. Showboats quarterback Case Cookus finished by completing 17-of-31 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown.
The Showboats were held in part by San Antonio errors as they gave up 194 yards on penalties, allowing Memphis to begin all three scoring drives at midfield.
San Antonio quarterback Chase Garbers led his team down field and found Marquez Stevenson on a 10-yard touchdown to put the Brahmas on the scoreboard and converted a 2-point extra point attempt to make it 16-8.
After Memphis added on a field goal, Garbers took the team down field and connected with Javonte Kirklin for a 5-yard touchdown with 48 seconds remaining, making it a 19-14 game.
San Antonio opted to go for it on 4th & 12 from the Brahmas’ 28-yard line to keep the ball for one last drive. Garbers converted the play by finding Kirklin once again, this time at middle of the 40 yard line to give the Brahmas a first down.
Garbers found Stevenson for a 26-yard gain, setting up a go-ahead score as he connected with Cody Latimer as the threw across his body for the touchdown.
“It was resilience. Excited to see the guys not give up,” Latimer said. “Everybody on the sidelines, we were down, but everybody was pushing each other to win. We know we were better than that. Came out sluggish to start the game, but I’m just happy we finished with a win.”
Overall, Garbers finished with 29-of-40 passing for 287 yards and three touchdowns while throwing one interception.
“A win is a win. It’s definitely not how we planned it to go, but what an exciting finish,” Garbers said. “Really proud of our guys for sticking together and facing that adversity and coming out with a win.”
Up next:
The San Antonio Brahmas are now 2-0 on the season and will return to the field next Sunday when they host the St. Louis Battlehawks (0-1) at 2 p.m. at the Alamodome.
