For a fleeting moment Tuesday, it looked like the Chandler Cougars had overcome the loss of their starting quarterback with a spectacular touchdown toss for a chance to advance to the title game of the AYF Pee Wee National Championships in Orlando.

(More photos, click here).

Then it all ended with the toss of a penalty flag, and Chandler fell 12-6 to the Northside (North Carolina) Hurricanes.

With 1:08 left in the game, the Cougars down 12-6 and pinned back at their own 2, Jaelon Parson – in at quarterback for the first time this season because of a knee injury to starter Jake Lewis – hit Case Hatch with a beautiful pass down the right sideline. Hatch leaped and took the ball away from a Hurricane defender near midfield, then rambled into the end zone for an apparent 98-yard, game-tying touchdown.

The play was called back, however, on a pass-interference penalty that drew howls of protest from the Cougar faithful. In an intense, hard-hitting game where fans and coaches on both sides stomped and screamed with every possession, the call was a game-changer.

Parson wasn't finished, however.

He ran down an errant snap and threw the ball away on the next play, then hit Manuel Harris for 16 yards to get out of the shadow of his end zone. After an incompletion, he found Hatch for 24 yards with 10 seconds left. On the final play of the game, he passed to Dean Raab for a 12-yard gain that was far short of a score and lifted the Hurricanes into Thursday's championship game.

Lewis left the game during the Cougars' first possession of the game, carried off the field with a left-knee injury.

Parson played admirably in the emergency. A quarterback the two previous seasons, he had not taken a snap all year, yet led the Chandler offense with efficiency. He completed five of 11 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown and ran for 25 hard-earned yards on 10 carries.

His TD was a 10-yarder in the third quarter to Harris, who battled a defender and took away the ball for the score to tie the game 6-6.

A perfect onside kick recovered by Kyler Burke put the Cougars in business at the Hurricanes' 43, but Chandler lost the ball on a fumble on the next play.

Chandler forced Northside to punt on the first play of the fourth quarter, however, taking over at their own 38. Unable to get a first down, the snap on the punt sailed over Burke's head for a 15-yard loss and set up the Hurricanes at the Cougars' 18.

It took Northside just five plays to score the go-ahead TD on a 5-yard run. The missed conversion kick left the Cougars with a shot, down by just six at 12-6.

Two plays later, however, the Cougars lost a fumble and drew an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty, giving the Hurricanes the ball at the Chandler 14 with 4:49 remaining.

The Cougars got the ball back just 1:33 later on downs at their 11. The big play was a 3-yard loss on second down when Tyler Kennedy broke through the line and smothered a running play in the backfield.

Another bad snap, two incompletions and a sack turned the ball over to the Hurricanes at the Chandler 1. The Cougars' defense got the ball back with 1:08 left on a fumble recovery at the 2 by Ryan Tierney, setting up the frantic conclusion that will have Chandler fans fuming all the way into Thursday's third-place game.