Southeast whips Heidelberg to make postseason

After trading shots for most of the first half, Southeast Lauderdale used some late heroics from Demarcus Pringle to start to pull away from Heidelberg on Friday.

The junior intercepted a Zachary Jackson pass near midfield and then scored on a 52-yard pass from Shelby Moseley, all with less than 1 second remaining in the first half as the Tigers downed the Oilers 43-20 at Tiger Stadium to clinch a postseason berth.

"Demarcus Pringle had the game of his life," Southeast coach Boo Smith said.

That night included a team-high 53 yards rushing, a team-best 97 yards receiving and the interception. The interception, which gave Southeast the ball back at its own 48 with 0.6 seconds remaining in the first half, was just the appetizer.

On the final play of the half, Moseley rolled right to avoid pressure and threw the ball up for grabs near the Heidelberg 30. From there it was all Pringle. After outjumping an Oiler for the catch, he proceeded to juke another Heidelberg defender on his way to the end zone.

"That play he made here with 0.6 seconds and scored a touchdown from 50 yards out, 'Wow'," Smith added. "That play before half was everything. That just swung everything into our favor."

Pringle's score concluded a wild two minutes for the Tigers. After Heidelberg scored on a 27-yard run from Cortez Nixon with 4:40 remaining in the half - the Oilers added a two-point conversion on a Zachary Jackson run - Southeast went to work.

Moseley, who completed 11 of 17 passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns, put the Tigers on the board with a 6-yard scoring pass to Nathan Freeze. The score came five plays after tight end Deshun Reed hauled in a desperation heave from Moseley on third-and-5 into a 30-yard gain.

Southeast's defense, which allowed 223 yards, then rose to the occasion. On Heidelberg's next play, Moseley intercepted Jackson with a leaping grab at the Tiger 44. Following a 5-yard Oiler penalty, Moseley found Ladarious Clark on a screen pass and the sophomore speedster raced 51 yards to give Southeast a 15-8 lead with 43 seconds left in the half.

Two plays later, Pringle took over.