Last week, under the Friday night lights at San Carlos High School, the Braves football team hosted the Globe High School Tigers. That evening, as smoke rose into the air from the grill where San Carlos students were cooking hot dogs for the crowd, the Braves and Tigers combined for one of the season’s best games.

At 4-5, the Tigers had won three straight, all convincingly; the 2-7 Braves came into the game on a three-game losing streak, with defeats just as convincing. But Friday’s contest between these neighbors and section rivals would go differently, with San Carlos building 12-0 and 20-7 leads.

The Braves opened the scoring with three minutes left in the first quarter, as Leshawn Browning sliced between Globe defenders for a four-yard touchdown run; a two-point conversion attempt failed, making it 6-0 San Carlos.

A Tigers drive then ended with a fumble that was recovered by San Carlos on the Braves’ four-yard line. With five minutes to go in the first half, San Carlos extended their lead with another rushing touchdown, from two yards out. Again, the two-point try failed, but the Braves went into halftime ahead 12-0.

Globe cut into that lead with eight minutes left in the third quarter, as quarterback Jaeger Franco threw a 35-yard touchdown to Jeremiah Foster. A successful extra point by Charlie Foxworth made it 12-7.

But the Braves weren’t done; they responded with another drive down the field and ran the ball in from the Tigers’ 1-yard line. On their third try, the Braves made the two-pointer for a 20-7 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter.

As the quarter wound down, a long pass from Franco to Landon Rios set up another Tigers score. Franco ran it in from two yards out, and the extra point cut San Carlos’ lead to 20-14 – and that was where the game stood with three minutes left in the game.

It was then that Franco scored the first of two five-yard rushing touchdowns, and with the extra point the Tigers took their first lead, 21-20. Franco’s second score came with just two minutes left

Tigers 5-5 overall, 3-3 in Section 2A Black (fourth place

Defeated San Carlos Braves 28-20 on the road Friday; Tigers' fourth straight win

With three minutes left in the game, Franco found the end zone again with a five-yard run to tie the game; an extra point gave the Tigers their first lead, 21-20. Franco did it again with two minutes to go. Foxworth’s fourth extra point made it 28-20, and the Tigers would seal their comeback on the ensuing kickoff as Ben Layton recovered a Braves fumble on the San Carlos four-yard line. The final score would remain 28-20.

With the win, Globe finished the football season 5-5 overall and fourth place in Section 2A Black at 3-3. San Carlos concluded the year at 2-8, and stood in sixth place in the section at 1-5.