The headset came off.

The season, he thought, was over.

Then came the fumble, and Wagoner’s fate was in Prince McJunkins’ hands.

Two minutes later, the Bulldogs were bound for their fifth straight trip to the postseason, a stunned 14-13 winner over Hilldale.

Wagoner coach Dale Condict was reminded of the age-old lesson, it’s not over until it’s over. While he’ll be keeping the headset handy in those circumstances, he’ll also have a renewed hope that his quarterback remembers where his head was during that game-winning drive.

There have been similar pressure moments, other crunch-time opportunities where the talented junior made the wrong decision or the wrong look. With McJunkins, it’s been a mix of highs and lows, a brilliant run one minute, a ill-advised pass the next.

“Most of the time he’s just trying too hard to make a play rather than stay within himself,” Condict said. “He’s not the kid who is selfish in doing things his way or one that you can’t communicate with.

“And the thing is, he’s liable to make those plays. You hope he goes and gets 5 yards in a situation where he winds up with 38. But maybe Friday was the key. There wasn’t enough time for him to worry about pressure or anything like that. In that situation you just had to line up and play.”

McJunkins laughs but agrees.

“Too many things go through my head. I’m worrying about if the offensive line will give me enough time or if the receiver is going to be able to run the right route or what if the defense does this instead of that and it all takes over at times,” he said.

“Against Hilldale when we got the ball back after that fumble, I didn’t think about anything until I was holding for the extra point. My dad has always told me, ‘don’t think, just throw.’ I have to stay calm, stay relaxed and react only to what the defense throws at me.”

McJunkins’ 2-yard pass to Jimmy Carter with eight seconds left put Wagoner (7-3) in tonight’s battle with 4A-3 champion Jay (7-3) at Jay. The drive got a boost with his 36-yard pass on a vertical route two plays in to Paul Golden.

More of that kind of McJunkins, coupled with a Wagoner defense that Condict thinks could be the best of the five units he’s had, and the Bulldogs have the potential for a deep postseason run.

“I don’t know about being at the top but it’s right up there, probably the best against the pass and probably the fastest defense we’ve had,” he said. “And they’ve been statistically productive consistently. No team other than East Central has gotten more than 250 yards on us (East Central had 308 in a 24-7 win over the Bulldogs).

Jeremy Applegate has 130 tackles in 10 games, followed closely by Chris Ramey with 127. Both are linebackers. Carter has five interceptions playing in the secondary.

“It’s a defense that emphasizes when you get the opportunity to make plays, you take advantage of it,” Ramey said.

At no time was that more evident than early in a game against 4A-4 champion Sallisaw. Ramey’s hit on Sallisaw QB Matt Oberste sidelined arguably the district’s top player in the first quarter. Wagoner won the game, 35-16.

“I won’t take credit for that because two plays before that Applegate hit him and he was slow getting up then,” he said.

“But it’s about hitting people. We want people to be scared to cross that line. When you pursue and have that kind of pressure it helps.”

Condict likes tonight’s matchup defensively against a spread attack operated by quarterback Brandon Edge (1,471 yards passing).

“He’s really compact in his build, more like a tailback and he will run with the ball,” Condict said. “We’ve matched up well with spread teams all season.”