Trailing Redwood High 22-13 in the fourth quarter, a lifeless Justin-Siena football team clearly needed a miracle to come from behind and keep its North Coast Section playoff hopes alive.

Justin senior Jordan Grubbs returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown, then scored on a 75-yard pass play after he appeared to be stopped 25 yards from the end zone by a Redwood defender.

He booted two extra-points, and the Braves were alive and ahead 26-22 with 5 minutes, 54 seconds left in the game.

Grubbs provided a miraculous spark that inspired the Braves to rally past Redwood, 33-22, in a thick fog in cold, damp Dodd Stadium on Friday night.

The win improves Justin-Siena to 4-2 in the Marin County Athletic League and, more importantly, to 4-5 overall. They needed to win Friday, and then beat Terra Linda next week in order finish .500 and even be considered for a Division IV at-large playoff spot — and a chance to defend the section title they won in 2008.

The game was headed toward being most remembered for 20 penalties that included 10 holding infractions. Then, Grubbs went back to return a punt seconds into the final period.

Jake Anderson’s previous punt hit a Braves’ blocker in the back, was recovered by Redwood and set up what appeared to be a demoralizing touchdown.

“I wasn’t thinking about that at all,” Grubbs said, remembering Anderson’s kick coming through the fog toward him. “I saw it bounce and could see it was going to bounce straight up. I thought, the way our luck was going, it might just hit one of our guys. So, I went after it.”

The ball took one small bounce, then shot higher into the air as the Braves and Giants all slowed noticeably in anticipation of the ball being touched down.

Grubbs dashed in front of three defenders and, when he snatched the ball, was running full speed toward the goal line.

“All I could see was open field ahead of me,” he said of blasting untouched down the Braves sideline.

His kick cut the Braves' deficit to 22-19 with 10:51 to play in the game.

Justin-Siena's defense couldn’t stop Anderson, the quarterback, and Redwood’s ground game for three quarters. Given new life by Grubbs, the Braves finally subdued Redwood on its next possession. Linebacker Wes Connolly ran down a play from behind for no gain. Spencer Joske, also a senior linebacker, jumped on Anderson’s back to bring him down for a loss and force a punt.

“The middle of the defense had trouble in the first half,” Joske said. “They stepped up in the second half and that opened things up for the linebackers to make plays.”

The Braves’ possession, like so many others in the game, appeared stalled by a holding penalty that set up first down-and-22 from their own 25. With the fog making it difficult to even see the players from the Dodd Stadium stands, quarterback Eddie Aguayo lofted a pass deep down the right sideline. It just cleared two defensive backs and fell softly into Grubbs’ arms.

The receiver got a block from Orion Kamins, but was actually run down and grabbed around the waist at the Redwood 25, just inches from the sideline.

Grubbs spun almost in slow motion — and got away from the tackler to finish his touchdown dash.

“He had grabbed me by the belt on my pants,” Grubbs said. “So, I just kind of tried to spin and inch my way out of the tackle. Orion Kamins made a great downfield block on that play.”

The Braves’ crowd, previously in stunned silence, was standing, cheering wildly when Grubbs added the extra point to give Justin a 26-22 edge with 5:54 to play.

Redwood took possession at its 24 after the ensuing kickoff. It advanced the ball to midfield with 3:59 to play. It appeared that Justin might be facing a repeat of a heartbreaking, last-second loss suffered in the season-opener at Sacred Heart Cathedral.

The Irish drove the length of the field to score and win that game.

“There was no way that was going to happen this time,” Joske said.

“Everything was totally different tonight. We did our jobs and stayed in control.”

Grubbs, naturally, broke up a pass. On second down, Hayden Hullana leaped to bat a throw away from an open receiver. There was, of course, a holding penalty on the play that pushed the Giants back to second-and-28. Anderson rolled left and broke free on the next play. He had crossed midfield when Grubbs hit him straight on, just before Joske blindsided him and popped the ball free.

Hullana recovered and Justin was 2:45 from victory.

Redwood still managed to force a fourth-and-1 from the Giants 31 with just over a minute to go. With the entire Giants’ defense pushing forward to stop what they felt surely would be a run, tight end Brandon Garcia released from the line of scrimmage and was behind all 11 defenders when Aguayo wobbled a short pass that he grabbed and carried into the end zone.

Grubbs added a kick with 49 seconds left, then intercepted a desperation Anderson pass to finish things.

“I never thought we were out of the game,” Grubbs said. “We’re a different team now than we were earlier in the season.”

Redwood falls to 2-4 in the MCAL and 2-7 overall.