WALPOLE — Staring down a four-point deficit with under a minute remaining, Walpole quarterback Noah Mackenzie was ready to do everything it took to secure a victory.

He orchestrated a 40-second masterpiece, taking the Timberwolves all the way down the gridiron and capping it off with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jamal Abdal-Khallaq that secured a 39-31 victory over No. 4 Mansfield for the No. 5 Timberwolves.

“I just went through the progressions,” Mackenzie said. “Everything was there that we wanted. That last play, the safety was wide, (Abdal-Khallaq) was called and I hit him. It worked like that.”

This play brought the score to 33-31 and a defensive touchdown as time expired gave Walpole the victory and advanced the team to the Division 3 semifinals. Head coach Chris Sullivan said that even when circumstances looked bleak, his team’s confidence never wavered.

“We never doubted ourselves,” Sullivan said. “We had 54 seconds and I thought to myself that’s too much time. We knew we could score that quickly and we did.”

While the game ended high scoring, it didn’t start that way. The Hornets led off with a 26-yard field goal from James Warren, and Mackenzie hit Kamari Hughes for a 61-yard touchdown pass a drive later. Both defenses would hold strong till late in the first half when Hornets quarterback Connor Curtis hit Brandon Jackman for a 25-yard touchdown.

This would be the extent of the scoring in the opening half, as the Hornets led 10-7 and Sullivan praised the opponents for their tenacity.

“We have an explosive group,” Sullivan said. “Mansfield gave us everything they could on defense. They did a really good job.”

Walpole started the second half with a quick touchdown via running back Logan Keys but Mansfield scored two straight touchdowns to take a commanding 24-13 lead. In response, Mackenzie turned to his legs, running for more than 60 yards and capping the drive off with a one-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 24-19.

“I just wanted to score,” Mackenzie said. “I was getting tired of drives being stopped. I knew we needed to get going so I was going to do whatever I needed to get going.”

After a quick three-and-out from Mansfield, Mackenzie and the Timberwolves stormed down the field once again and he scored another rushing touchdown and converted the two-point conversion to take a 27-24 lead.

“Noah really stepped-up big time in the second half running the ball and made some key throws,” Sullivan said. “The O-line struggled a bit in the third but picked it up in the fourth and overall had an excellent game.”

The Hornets were not done, however, as Curtis hit Jackman again to re-take the lead. This was followed up by the eventual Timberwolves game-winning drive.

“We all just keep fighting for more games with each other,” Mackenzie said. “We didn’t want this to be it.”