Pine Creek had all the momentum heading into the second half of their 5A second round game.

The No.8-seeded Eagles built a 17-7 lead against No. 9 Erie in the first half, but the Tigers offense exploded in the final 24 minutes.

Erie scored 21 points in the third and fourth quarters and beat the Eagles 28-23 at District 20 Stadium on Friday.

“The effort was unbelievable and the guys fought to the last snap,” Eagles coach David Hedges said. “I’m proud of their performance.”

The tide shifted late in the third after a fumble call went in favor of the Tigers.

Caleb Petree broke the goal line and fell into the end zone. On the way down, the ground forced the ball loose and the Tigers recovered.

Erie then took the ball to their own 22 and went out of bounds. The Eagles then were called for a personal foul, adding 15 yards to the recovery.

Six plays later, Gabe Sema gave the Tigers their final lead of the game on a 19-yard reception with 18.4 seconds left in the third.

Erie’s 21-17 lead was the first time the Eagles trailed after they fell behind 7-0 in the opening frame.

“That ended up being a 14-point swing,” Hedges said. “After the first personal foul, Erie got another one that helped them go down and score. But we have to play better. If the ball never ends up on the ground, then it’s a touchdown. We have to look at ourselves on that.”

Both teams scored in the fourth with the Eagles cutting the lead to its final margin on a 1-yard run by Emmanuel Hill with one minute left in the contest.

But the Tigers recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock for the victory.

“I think there are lots of moments I’m happy about this year,” Hedges said. “The finish tonight was really rough and I think these seniors deserve to play at least another week of football. That’s disheartening, but the growth and character we showed this year is something I’m pretty proud of.”