The deficit was double-digits and the game was less than six minutes old. A momentum change was needed if Benilde-St. Margaret's was going to avoid a long, depressing night.

It was Ricky time.

Ricky Floyd, the Red Knights' electric tailback, broke off one of his trademark long runs, going 81 yards for a touchdown, cutting Marshall's lead to 13-7. Benilde-­­ St. Margaret's came out of its early funk and went on to defeat the previously undefeated Tigers 44-34 in the Class 4A semifinals.

"I knew we needed a spark or something," Floyd said. "I know it's my job to get that."

Floyd added scoring runs of 51 and 34 yards and finished with 273 yards rushing.

"The offensive line did a great job of giving me those small holes, and I just took advantage," he said.

Ricky Floyd picked up 51 of his 273 rushing yards on a touchdown run in the second quarter for Benilde-St. Margaret’s.

Eric Wilson, one of those linemen, said those small holes come with a big helping of gratitude.

"With Ricky, there's the chance he's going to break one," Wilson said. "We can mess up as much as we do and he'll find a cutback lane. Without him, we probably wouldn't have made it out of the section."

While Floyd was the game's star, he had plenty of help. After Marshall had tied the score 21-21, receiver Payton James pilfered the Tigers' good feeling with a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Tied 28-28, Benilde seized control starting the second half, scoring 16 consecutive points on Floyd's final scoring run, a safety by Braeden Fitzgerald, and a short touchdown run by quarterback Will Whitmore following the ensuing free kick.

"That [safety] was your turner right there," Benilde co-head coach Jon Hanks said. "We jump up 10 points and now we've got the ball. We score and we take the momentum from them."