MOSS BLUFF — The Sam Houston Broncos went into Friday’s District 3-5A game with their backs against the wall after a 0-2 start. Three and a half hours later, the Broncos pulled off a 43-42 double-overtime win over rival Barbe at home.

“We got it,” Sam Houston head coach Chad Davis said. “I am just proud of my guys.

“They came out and fought. We worry about our effort every day and we came out and it showed tonight. We are going live in the moment. We just won. We are going to enjoy it, and we going to get back to work tomorrow.”

Sam Houston (1-2, 1-1) senior linebacker turned wide receiver Jamorion Jackson came up with the winning plays in the second overtime.

He caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Stout, wrestling the ball away from a defender, and the 2-point conversion pass for the win.

“When you are in a situation like this, your best player has to be on the field and you have to call his number,” Davis said.

The loss spoiled a stellar night for Barbe (1-2, 0-2) wide receiver Jamaal Levi. He had five touchdowns — two rushing, one passing and two receiving — and scored both of the Bucs’ overtime touchdowns on a 4-yard run and a 5-yard reception.

Kaleb Ceasar ran for 90 yards for the Bucs on 11 carries and Will McClain completed 15 of 27 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown.

Dennis Gardere ran for three touchdowns and 132 yards on 28 carries. Stout completed 18 of 30 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns, and Drew Dronet caught nine passes for 131 yards. Dronet also had a 92-yard kickoff return that set up Gardere’s 2-yard touchdown run to cut the Bucs’ lead to 21-20 with 2:43 left in the third quarter.

After turnovers nullified its offense in the first half, the Bucs got two breaks in the second.

It looked like the Bucs had committed a fifth turnover when Elijah Scarborough fell on a loose ball. But an illegal participation penalty against the Broncos gave the Bucs new life, and they turned it into an 8-yard run by Levi to tie the score at 14-14 with 7:15 left in the third.

The second break allowed the Bucs to turn nothing into something. A high snap was deflected, but Levi, who had lined up at running back, caught the ball and found a wide-open Collin Harris for a 77-yard touchdown and the Bucs’ first lead, 21-14, with 4:12 left in the third.

Down 28-20, Sam Houston got the ball back with 8:17 left in the game and needed a 38-yard third down catch by Dronet to keep the drive alive. Gardere capped it with an 11-yard run and quarterback Stout ran in the tying 2-point conversion.

The game had the makings of a shootout early as both teams scored in the first 6 minutes.

Sam Houston was the first to score on an explosive 53-yard run by Gardere for a 7-0 lead with 7:26 left in the first quarter.

Barbe cut the deficit to one on a 32-yard touchdown reception in traffic by Levi from McClain a minute later.

After that, the game turned into a defensive battle as neither team made much headway the rest of the first half.

Barbe committed three turnovers in the first quarter. Sam Houston’s D.J. Doga scooped up a ball in the backfield after a bad exchange and returned it 36 yards for a 14-6 lead with 3:49 left in the first quarter.