The most exciting part of Friday night’s football game at CMH Field took place after the final horn had sounded.

Trailing 14-6 with just five seconds left in regulation, Astoria’s Quin Gohr came up with a quarterback scramble, running and reversing field for just over 20 seconds before launching a 35-yard touchdown toss to Teague Palmberg.

But Gladstone stopped Astoria’s two-point conversion run, and the Gladstone Gladiators left with a 14-12 nonleague victory.

“It was a great high school football game,” said Astoria coach Howard Rub. “We didn’t get the win on the scoreboard, but I feel like we’re getting ‘wins’ in a lot of areas. We’ve grown by leaps and bounds over the last two weeks. We’re well-meaning and the effort has always been there. We’ve been a little tentative with such a young team, but the kids are playing with a lot more confidence.”

In Friday’s game, three of the four touchdowns took place in a four minute span of the third quarter.

The Gladiators fumbled at Astoria’s 1-yard line with 4:04 left in the third quarter, but Gladstone’s Fernando Rodriguez-Silva recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Astoria’s Matt Evans had a first down carry on the next drive and fumbled the ball after gaining 9 yards, but teammate Kanon Huber scooped the ball up and ran the remaining 37 yards for a score.

Rodriguez-Silva was back in the end zone moments later for Gladstone, returning the ensuing kickoff 77 yards for a score with four seconds left in the third quarter.

Astoria’s Garrett Hillard rushed for 134 yards on 25 carries, while Gohr completed four passes for 61 yards, with his last pass covering 35 yards.

While Palmberg’s catch in the end zone earned Rub’s praise, so did Gohr’s effort.

“I haven’t had a student-athlete work harder or put more time in than Quin Gohr,” Rub said. “He will improve because he’s new to the position. He definitely showed his moxie back there on the last play.”