COLLINSVILLE — They say miracles do happen, and  West Lauderdale’s Chase Gathings knew he had to be the man to pull one off.

On second down with seven seconds left the 6-foot-8 wide receiver came down with a hail mary 42-yard touchdown catch as time expired to lift the Knights over Shannon 26-23 in the third round of the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs on Friday night.

West Lauderdale (10-3) will host two-time defending Class 4A state champion Louisville for the Class 4A North State Championship next Friday night.

“Seven seconds, we had to throw deep, and I was the biggest man out there, so I knew I had to make the play,” Gathings said. “Kayden threw it up there and I started praying and I did it.”

The drive began after Shannon turned the ball over on downs at the West Lauderdale eight-yard line with 1:26 left in the game after a fourth down-and-two run play came up just inches short.

On the final the Knights went 92 yards that were highlighted by an Ashton Ratcliff 28-yard catch, and Peoples converted a fourth-and-one play with a three-yard run to set up the final play.

West Lauderdale was down 16-0 at halftime and had 54 yards of total offense in the first half.

The Knights outscored the Red Raiders 26-7 in the second half.

“I told Chase to go up and get it,” said West Lauderdale coach Brock Clay. “Kayden had a huge throw and that play was something we actually worked on this week and Chase goes up and high points and comes down with the touchdown. I am still in shock at what happened.”

Gathings had two catches for 60 yards and two touchdowns.

Peoples finished the night 8-of-22 passing for 142 yards and two touchdowns to lead West Lauderdale.

Trey Spurgon had 134 yards passing with a touchdown and added a 9-yard touchdown run to lead Shannon. Braylen Deans had a 6-yard touchdown run for the Red Raiders (8-3).