It was anybody's game through the first two quarters as Worth County's 'Lil Tigers Senior Squad led 13-6 after one half of action. But the players took exception to the South Harrison players doing the "Our House" chant on the Worth County field during their ritual right before the start of the second half and picked up the effort and intensity to win 26-6 in Pride of Iowa Junior Football action Saturday.
On their very first play from scrimmage, South Harrison fumbled away their opening handoff thanks to a big hit from Montana Lykins and the Tigers took full advantage of the short field as they started off on the South Harrison 22. Brevyn Ross took a four-yarder to the 18 and then set the tone for the rest of the game. Ross (25 carries, 183 yards), who had been admonished by Coach Richard Baker for juking too much with the ball last week, got a block from Nathan Pointer and then leveled a defender on his way to a 10-yard gain. The ref tacked on half the distance to the goal for a facemask to the 4. Pointer (11 carries, 37 yards) dove into the end zone for Worth County's first score of the afternoon to make it 6-0 with 12:42 left.
But South Harrison came right back as Carter Thomas caught a halfback pass for 10 yards and Tad Pequignot converted a sneak on third and short on their ensuing possession into a 23-yard gain down to the Tiger 7 to set up a Pequignot dive play from two yards out with 6:49 left in the first to tie it at 6-6. Ross fumbled the ball to set up a possible score for South Harrison, but Wade Rush broke up a pass, a fumble and a false start made it third and 15, Carter Thomas' reverse got nine yards back, and then Truman Moore ran down Pequignot from behind after a one-yard gain to give the ball back to the Tigers on downs.
Brevyn Ross ripped off a pair of sweeps for gains of six and 20 yards down to the South Harrison 19, but then the fumble bug bit again three plays later as Ross apparently thought the play was over and fumbled the ball away on the South Harrison 10 yard line. But Ross made up for his miscue on the next play as he tripped up Jacob Donner on a sweep play for no gain. A pair of cracks by Kasey McFall went nowhere and South Harrison was forced to punt.
Ross finally found his stride on the next series as he rescued second and nine with a seven-yarder and took a fake reverse for 18 down to the South Harrison 22. Ross took another crack to the 14, Nathan Pointer followed a Montana Lykins block to the 7, and Ross ran the remaining seven yards to put the Tigers up with 5:50 left. Ross ran in the extra point to make it 13-6.
South Harrison went nowhere on its next series. An offsides penalty and a five-yard sneak from Pequignot gave them a first down at the 40 but then Montana Lykins shot through and threw Brian Lucas for a three yard loss. Truman Moore pressured Pequiqnot on third down and Ross broke up the ensuing pass; a dive play to McFall only netted five yards and South Harrison was forced to punt. Worth County got a first down to their own 30 before time ran out and a desperation pass was intercepted.
The Tigers got a promising drive going behind the running of Ross as he took the initial play down the right side, reversed field, and then found a hole for nine yards to the 39. Pointer's first down run was good for seven yards and Ross converted another run into a seven-yarder for a first down to the South Harrison 23. Ross took a sweep for eight yards down to the 15 after getting a block for Pointer and the Tigers were knocking on the door. But then Ross tried to get too fancy and threw a forward lateral as he was being tackled after a short gain; that penalty and a block in the back penalty stalled the drive and the Tigers gave up the ball on downs.
Wade Rush intercepted a pass and got a nice return, but he fumbled it right back to the Bulldogs on their own 8. Given new life, McFall ripped off gains of 9, 2, and 16 yards to the 35. But then Nathan Pointer made back to back plays when he shot through and threw Carter Thomas for a loss of six on a reverse and then threw Pequignot for a loss of three on a keeper to set up third and long. The Bulldogs were forced to punt and the Tigers got the ball back on their own 20.
With the ball and the lead, the Tigers had a chance to run time off the clock and they did. Brevyn Ross, after having found out the hard way that playground-style football doesn't work against the big boys, finally began leveling defenders instead of waiting for them to come to him. He was stopped for no gain on his first carry, but then bounced off a defender for five yards to the 25 for a gain of five. After realizing that he could deliver the punishment as well as take it, Ross took off, taking a four-yarder to the 29 for fourth and one. He then leveled a defender on his way for a five-yard gain that converted fourth and one. Nathan Pointer then rattled off a couple of four-yarders and then Ross leveled a would-be tackler on his way to a 14-yard gain down to the South Harrison 24. Pointer then got two yards to the 22 and then Ross followed a Truman Moore block to the 13 and then moved a pile down to the seven. On their next play, the Tigers went on a quick count and Ross followed a line surge five yards down to the two. On their next play, Pointer scored to make it a two-possession game.
With time winding down and South Harrison forced to throw, the Tigers could pin their ears back and go after the quarterback. Lykins hurried a throw on first down at the 30 as Wade Rush broke up a pass. Another pass short-hopped the receiver. McFall's run could only get three yards and South Harrison elected to go for it on fourth and seven, but Lykins and Moore came with the pressure and the pass shorthopped the receiver again.
The Tigers got the ball in good field position and they ran out all of the clock and scored for good measure. Pointer got a five-yarder as he leveled a defender on the play; consecutive rushes by Brevyn Ross went for four yards down to the 20. Pointer only got one on the next play, but Brevyn Ross took an eight-yarder down to the 11 and then Jonny Carlson's keeper went down to the 5 for first and goal. On the next play, the Tigers went on a quick count and Carlson took a quick hitter four yards to the one. On the final play, Ross took the handoff, got a block from Truman Moore, and drove a pile into the end zone for the final yard as time expired. Jonny Carlson drove a defender into the end zone for the extra point run.
Coach Richard Baker said that he was happy for the win and that his squad had some of the best blocking of the year; he singled out Truman Moore, Harley Charles, and Wade Rush for their blocking. However, he said that this Saturday's matchup at 10:00 at Leon against I-35 would be one of their toughest matches of the year. "They're one of the toughest teams in the league and they're fundamentally sound," he said.
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