Bruised and exhausted, Derek DeMott somehow summoned the strength to deliver the long-awaited knockout blow.

The Maryville senior hauled in a one-handed interception in the final minutes to preserve the Spoofhounds’ nail-biting 22-20 victory against Benton at Sparks Field on Friday night.

After coming up big on both sides of the ball, his performance down the stretch went beyond conditioning and experience — as he relied on his team’s run to the state title game a year ago.

“When you get in that big pressure situation, you’re like, ‘I’ve been here before,’” DeMott said. “It was just a whole lot of adrenaline coming. We weren’t really tired. We were just really pumped.”

Contrary to his belief, the Spoofhounds (2-1, 2-0 Midland Empire Conference) appeared gassed midway through the third quarter against an aggressive, swarming Cardinals’ front line. Though the team scored three times in the first half, the strong outside running of DeMott and junior Gavin Talmadge slowed to a crawl in the second half and allowed Benton to make its push.

But during Benton’s final three drives of the game, Maryville came away with two turnovers and forced a three-and-out on the other to stand firm and reel off its second win of the season to remain undefeated in conference action.

“We had nothing left. By the time we’d get somebody out there, we’d lose them,” Maryville coach Chris Holt said. “We’re just throwing kids out there. I’m proud of them.”

Among the injured players was fullback and kicker Anthony Groumoutis, who didn’t see the field in the second half.

With Benton’s hulking line swallowing up the inside, Talmadge (148 yards on 21 carries) and DeMott (15-106) continued to find room on the edge and helped the Spoofhounds compile 335 rushing yards.

All but two of Maryville’s 16 first downs came on runs — many of them on toss sweep plays to the two-way starters.

“We couldn’t do anything

between the tackles,” Holt said. “We thought we were really going to struggle between the tackles, and we did.

“I thought the kids fought their butts of tonight, as depleted as we are right now.”

Benton’s passing game was just as impressive, however, as first-year quarterback Matt Pritchett put on a show and led the Cardinals to the brink of victory.

After trailing by as many as two scores, Benton had a chance to tie the game midway through the third quarter as Maryville started to wane. Lucas Powers, who recorded a game-high 115 yards receiving, dazzled the rowdy home crowd with a spectacular, tackle-breaking catch and run that resulted in a 69-yard touchdown.

Trailing 22-20, Pritchett kept the ball on the two-point conversion but disappeared into a tangle of bodies and was ruled down short of the goal line in the resulting aftermath.

Benton’s defense responded by forcing a three-and-out, and the Cardinals were a mere 5 yards from taking the lead when Pritchett’s pitch to DeParis Smith missed its mark. Maryville’s Tyler Peve pounced on the ball and provided Maryville with new life.

The Cardinals didn’t get back into Spoofhounds territory during their only two drives of the fourth quarter.

“That’s the game,” Tabor said. “If he catches the pitch, just catches the pitch, we walk in. It’s a game of inches, and they won. But we’re much improved.”

Indeed, Pritchett looked composed throughout the game and finished 16-for-28 with three touchdowns and racked up a career-high 212 yards. He even appeared ready to lead the team on a game-winning drive after taking over at his own 1-yard line with 6 minutes to play, but his final pass of the game missed its intended target and allowed Maryville to run the remaining 2:39 off the clock.

The two-point loss indicates a drastic improvement for a Benton team that lost to Maryville by 28 points a year ago and dropped its final six games of the 2008 season. But the first loss of the year was a hard one to swallow for the South Siders, who travel to take on an undefeated Cameron team next week.

“I thought our defense played lights out in the second half,” Tabor said. “We’ll rebound from this. But gosh darn it, I feel like we let that one get away. I really do.”