Episcopal’s Travis Bourgeois coached in his 27th renewal of the Episcopal-Dunham rivalry.

He couldn’t remember any of the previous games approaching the sweeping swings of momentum that enveloped Friday’s District 8-2A showdown at Memorial Field.

Episcopal, overcame a 17-point halftime deficit, found itself trailing by three points with with less than two minutes remaining when the Knights' perfectly executed gadget play with 36 seconds left for a pulsating 44-40 victory over Dunham.

“That was a classic game with Episcopal and Dunham,” said Bourgeois, now in his 22nd season as head coach. “I’ve dealt with this rivalry for a long time, but they didn’t have the ebb and flow of this one.”

Episcopal (6-0, 2-0) took a deciding lead — the fifth lead change in the last 19 minutes of the game — when the Knights completed a double pass on first down from quarterback Lewis Ward to second team quarterback Cooper Braud, who found Thomas D’Armond wide open behind coverage for a 46-yard score. Aldon Romano, who earlier kicked a 38-yard field goal, added his fifth extra point.

“Great play call for them,” Dunham football coach Neil Weiner said.

Dunham (4-3, 1-1) reached Episcopal’s 41-yard line where on second-and-4, quarterback Hayden Hand’s final desperation pass was knocked down near the goal line on the final play.

The two teams combined for 12 touchdowns and 921 yards total.

Ward completed 10 of 24 passes for 124 yards, while Braud was 3 of 3 for 71 yards, including the game-winner to D’Armond, who caught three passes for 73 yards.

Dunham outgained Episcopal 557-364 but also had four turnovers.

Hand accounted for 411 yards (243 passing, 168 rushing) and four touchdowns; Kalante Wilson accounted for 201 yards and two touchdowns; and wide receiver Jordan Dupre had six catches for 151 yards and three touchdowns.

Wilson’s 2-yard TD with 1:23 to go that gave Dunham a 40-37 lead finished a marathon 12-play, 99-yard drive that took over more than four minutes off the clock.

Episcopal, which won its 17th straight regular season game, reeled off three straight touchdowns in 2:14 to take its first lead of the game at 31-27 at the 7:07 mark of the third quarter.

The Knights scored on their first offensive series with Ethan Carmouche scoring on a 3-yard run and four plays later defensive back TJ Callahan secured a deflected pass, returning the interception 55 yards that reduced Dunham’s lead to 27-23.

Dunham capped its 20-point second quarter when following a timeout with 11 showing before halftime, Hand kept to the right side, found some room along the sideline, cut back at Episcopal’s 40-yard line to scored untouched from 64 yards on the final play of the first half for a 27-10 halftime advantage.

“Credit to both teams,” Bourgeois said. “Neil’s team came ready to roll. That’s the first time we’ve been hit in the mouth like that all year. As a coach you don’t know how you’re team’s going to respond but we have a lot of faith in our seniors.”