It was one thing for Ponchatoula’s Green Wave to believe they could do it. It was another to actually do it. After Friday’s stirring second half rally, color the Greenies convinced.

The Green Wave dominated previously unbeaten Northshore up front in the second half, and Joseph Green rambled for 170 yards and scored all three of his touchdowns after intermission as the Wave pulled out a 19-18 victory Friday night in their District 7-5A opener at The Swamp.

For Northshore coach Mike Bourg, the Panthers (2-1, 0-1) had a golden chance to steal one on the road, but let it slip through their fingers.

NHS'€™ Ambo

“Just missed opportunities,” Bourg said. “We had opportunities to score and we could not move the ball. They did a good job of adjusting in the second half. Defensively we shut them down in the first; they had no points. Then they come back and get 19 the second half. They adjusted well at half and we didn’t.”

Ponchatoula defender Brandon LeBlanc came up with the game-changing play by digging out a fumble recovery on a kickoff after the Green Wave (3-0, 1-0) had fallen behind 18-13 on a bad punt snap safety with 3:41 to play.

But Ponchatoula forced Northshore return man Andrew Cossé to cough up the ball at midfield and LeBlanc recovered at the Ponchatoula 43 to give the Wave new life.

And Green made the Panthers pay, breaking off a 12-yard run, then exploding for 45 yards right up the gut for a go-ahead TD at 19-18 with 3:07 to play.

Northshore (2-1, 0-1) wasn’t through yet, however, driving from its own 21 to the Green Wave 12, aided by a huge 33-yard pass from quarterback Jervious Epherson to Archie Ambo.

But Ponchatoula’s Corey Morse pressured Epherson into an incompletion, and then Jeff Harper caught Epherson scrambling for a 1-yard gain, forcing the Panthers to attempt a field goal with 13 ticks remaining. But sophomore Tyler Foltz’ 33-yard attempt sailed wide right, reinforcing Ponchatoula’s belief system.

“What we don’t have is that belief and that confidence sometimes,” Wave coach Mike Baiamonte said. “We’re good enough to compete with people. I’m not saying we’re going to beat everybody in this district, but we have a team that can compete well in this district. That’s a great football team (Northshore) right there.”

Bourg said the fumble after the safety was crucial. But so was a monumental Ponchatoula drive in which the Wave actually moved the ball 113 yards to score, getting pushed back by three 15-yard major penalties on one snap.

In the end Ponchatoula held the ball for 15 plays and 7:05, capped by Green’s 19-yard touchdown blast to pull the Wave to within 9-7.

“Maybe that was a good thing for them, because they got fired up,” Bourg said. “It totally took it out of us. Our defense was starting to get tired.

We just didn’t respond.”

“Probably the biggest spark of the team,” Baiamonte agreed. “I think that was an unbelievable turn of events right there. I think the momentum shifted right there.”

The Green Wave, which had trailed 9-0 at halftime, took the lead with a two-play drive to start the fourth quarter as quarterback Eldrid Palmer kept for 45 yards, then Green went 13 yards right up the gut to make it 13-9 with 11:30 remaining.

Northshore appeared to take control right back, however, answering with an 11-play, 82-yard touchdown march capped by Epherson’s clutch 19-yard touchdown strike to Ambo on 4th-and-12.

That made it 16-13 for Northshore with 6:24 to play, and it looked dire for the Wave four plays later when a punt snap was hurled over the head of Morse and out of the end zone.

But it turned out that wasn’t enough for the Panthers, who had taken the lead on a 5-yard TD run by Channing Wise late in the first quarter, part of his 19 carries for 140 yards.

Northshore missed the point-after, but then stretched its lead to 9-0 when Foltz delivered a 32-yard field goal with 8:32 to play in the first half.

And the Panthers held their shutout after Ponchatoula drove from its own 33 to the Northshore 14, only to have Russ Bratton miss a 31-yard field goal try.

Epherson finished 10-for-21 passing for 152 yards and one TD, hitting Ambo six times for 107 yards. Epherson also ran for 63 yards in 18 carries, getting sacked four times.