Worth County scored right off the bat. But they could not put away a pesky Knights squad until the fourth quarter, when they finally pulled away for a 56-34 win and avoided a letdown after their win over Mound City. The Knights have always put up a spirited battle against the Tigers at their place even when the fortunes of the teams have been different, and Friday night was no different as they sought to set the tone of the game by introducing themselves as a team instead of the individual starting lineups that most other teams do. With that, they showed that they had come to play.
The Tigers struck first right off the bat as they pounced on a fumbled reverse play on South Holt's second play from scrimmage and got the ball on the Knights 9. From there, Barrett Baker (22 carries, 109 yards) weaved his way up the middle for five yards. On Worth County's next play, Baker took a sweep down the right side and his final lunge got him into the end zone for their first points of the game. Eli Mullock's (18 carries, 162 yards) sweep and cutback was good for two points and the Tigers were up 8-0 with 10:28 left.
But South Holt responded with a 14 play 58 yard drive that took the next six minutes off the clock. Kylynn Sisk, a quarterback who can run and throw, jetted 12 yards to the 24 and then Donny Sipes caught a 26-yard bomb to the 32. From there, South Holt used the threat of the long pass to set up their running game as consecutive runs of 8 and 6 yards from Sisk got them another first down to the 19. Backed up third and 10 from the 19, they got a pass to Toby Prussman for 9 and a sneak from Sisk for three to the seven. Three plays later, Tyler Costello took a pitch into the end zone with four minutes left to make it 8-6. Eli Mullock broke up the extra point pass and Worth County remained ahead. The extra point game would be huge for Worth County as they were able to keep South Holt from catching up thanks to their ability to convert extra points.
Worth County got a good runback from Alex Harmening as an attempt by South Holt to keep the ball from Barrett Baker and Eli Mullock backfired. Barrett Baker then got a first down to the South Holt 29 thanks to a facemask penalty. But they stalled there as nobody blocked Bryant Kurtz, who sacked Harmening for a loss of 8 to stop the Tigers there. But South Holt could not capitalize after picking up a first down thanks to a pair of runs by Sisk up to the Tiger 35. A delay of game penalty moved them back five yards and then a fumbled handoff rolled all the way back to the Knights 30 before South Holt could fall on it. Eli Mullock broke up South Holt's third down play and then Alex Harmening flushed Sisk from the pocket and forced him to throw one off-target and the Knights were forced to punt.
The Tigers started at their own 25. Eli's first down run only netted two, but then Barrett bounced a quick hitter to the outside for nine to the 36. Three consecutive runs from Eli Mullock netted the Tigers another first down to the Knights 32, and Barrett Baker got another 17 when South Holt overran another quick hitter. Eli Mullock took a dive play eight yards behind a Wagner block and then Brian Hall's block sprung Mullock free for eight more yards with 8:01 left. Mullock dragged a defender into the end zone to convert the extra points to make it 16-6.
The Knights converted a third and five when Prussman caught a third down pass to the Tiger 38. But a fumbled snap cost the Knights and Alex Harmening hurried Sisk again to force third and long. Harmening's shoestring tackle stopped a trick play from becoming a long gain as the Knights tried a direct snap to Donny Sipes. On fourth down, as Sisk was standing off to the side trying to fix some equipment, Sipes took the snap and aired it out to Prussman, but he overthrew him and was leveled on the play as the Knights gave the ball back to the Tigers on downs.
Worth County only needed one play to score as Alex Harmening caught a short pass from the 39, got a block from Barrett Baker, and outran everyone for the score with 5:47 left. Eli Mullock's sweep play made it 24-6. But South Holt struck right back as the Knights aired it out to Toby Prussman for a 55-yarder with 4:32 left. Tyler Costello took the option pitch in for the extra points to make it 24-14.
The Tigers got a long drive going, but ran out of time before they could score before the half. Barrett Baker followed a big hole to the Tiger 30. Eli Mullock caught a long pass, but a block in the back moved it back to the 38. Runs by Barrett Baker down to the Knights 30 and a one-yard pitch to Mullock got another first down. The Tigers penetrated to the 23, but that was as far as they could get thanks to a delay of game penalty and a false start.
South Holt kicked the ball into the end zone to start the second half thanks to a strong wind, giving the Tigers the ball on their own 15. But this time, they were able to capitalize. A seven-yarder from Eli Mullock and a quarterback sneak from Zach Harmening gave the Tigers a first down at their own 25. Two plays later, the Tigers were into Knight territory as Eli Mullock outran the ends on a pitch play for 31 yards and the ref tacked on yardage down to the 11 thanks to a facemask. Two plays later, Barrett Baker dove into the end zone for a score and Eli Mullock ran in the extra points to make it 32-14 with 9:39 left in the third.
Sisk ran a long way for no gain on South Holt's next series as he took a keeper to the left, ran back to the right side when he saw nothing was there, and then tried to reverse his field again before being met by a host of white shirts led by Barrett Baker. The Knights were forced to punt and the Tigers got the ball on their own 26. But Worth County couldn't move the ball either and their gamble on fourth and four backfired as Barrett Baker's reverse play was stopped for a loss of 1. An incomplete pass and consecutive losses on the next two plays made it fourth and 17 at the 38, but the Knights aired it out from Donny Sipes to Toby Prussman for 29 yards to set up first and goal at the 9. Three plays later, Tyler Costello caught a three-yard pass for the score to make it 32-20 with 3:18 left.
Worth County nearly stalled again as they were faced with fourth and three from their own 33. But Eli Mullock took a sweep and the South Holt defense overreached trying to collar him and he escaped for an 11-yarder to the Knights 36 as this time, Worth County's fourth-down gamble paid off. Barrett Baker got another carry for six yards and a horsecollar penalty moved it to the 15. Two plays later, Eli Mullock juked one defender and ran over another as he got into the end zone with 1:03 left in the third quarter. But again, South Holt struck back using some trickery to do so. The Knights hiked to Sipes who hiked it to Sisk. The Tigers lost focus on the play as one of their players turned to argue with an official over a non-call while the play was still going on and Sisk proceeded to weave his way through traffic for a 44-yard touchdown. He then ran in the extra points to make it 38-28 with 40 seconds left.
But Worth County reestablished control in the fourth quarter and converted another fourth down to do so. Eli Mullock ran back the kickoff to the 40, but then the Tigers seemingly stalled on fourth and four from the Knights 34. But this time, Zach Harmening took matters into his own hands as he took a draw play down the left side. A South Holt player tried to collar him but grabbed his facemask instead and drew the penalty as Harmening broke the tackle. Harmening then broke free down the left side and got into the end zone to make it 44-28 with 11:04 left in the game.
South Holt could still tie with a pair of scores and two-point conversions and Tyler Costello's sweep took it to the 39. But the Knights stalled there. First, Sisk was met by Cody Green and Alex Harmening for two yards. Then, he tried the option, but got nowhere as Dylan Kinsella stopped him for no gain. Toby Prussman's pass only went for two yards and South Holt's fourth-down pass was incomplete and the Tigers took over on downs at their own 37. They only needed one play to get into the end zone as Eli Mullock took a sweep down the right side. Cody Green held his block perfectly and Mullock was able to jump to the sidelines and outrace everyone to the end zone to make it 50-28 with 8:35 left.
On their very first play from scrimmage, Sisk fumbled the ball and Mitch Andrews recovered it for the Tigers, which seemed to take all the fight out of the Knights and both coaches began subbing in their JV people. Barrett Baker got a 15-yard sweep to the Knights 18, but Worth County couldn't score thanks to a sack on third and 5 at the 13. But the Knights could not move the ball with Sipes at the quarterback spot and the JV offense took over on downs at the South Holt 18. They stalled for three plays, but then JV quarterback Adam Summers, under pressure on fourth and 9, underhanded a short pass to Jordan Harding that he converted into a 12-yard gain to the 5. Summers ran in the touchdown to make it 56-28 with 2:07 left. Tyler Costello ran for a meaningless 72-yard touchdown as time expired to account for the final score.
No comments:
Post a Comment