A last-second goal line stand helped the JV hold on to win 26-22 Monday night against South Nodaway to even their record at 1-1. They were able to bounce back from a 26-0 loss at Rock Port the week before. The focus in future games will be on cutting back on penalties, especially two critical ones that could have cost them down the stretch in the fourth quarter. For assistant Coach Mark Fletcher, it was almost like the 1996 Fairfax game in reverse. In that game, the Tigers came back from three possessions down and beat Fairfax in the closing seconds on the road as Ben Fletcher broke the plane of the end zone on the last play of the game. South Nodaway nearly pulled off the same accomplishment, but this time, a wall of black shirts denied the Longhorns at the end.
The games Monday were moved back and shortened due to the 100 degree heat that has been hitting the area. Worth County scored right off the bat when Dalton Auffert recovered a fumble and Nate Pointer scored on Worth County’s first play from scrimmage to put the Tigers up 6-0 with 9:35 left.
But Tristan Freemyer shot through a big hole for 33 yards to set up a 15 yard scamper by Regan Myer and Grant Beggs caught the extra point pass to put South Nodaway back up 8-6.
Worth County answered with a promising drive as Chris Alarcon took a sprint option 21 yards to the Longhorn 23. But a false start, one of numerous penalties, backed the Tigers up and they gave the ball up on downs at the 16.
South Nodaway drove the ball deep into Tiger territory on their next series and looked like they were about to score and possibly make it a two possession game in their favor, but a momentum changing play occurred when Chris Alarcon picked off a pass and took it the other way for a score with 1:25 left in the first. Nate Pointer scored on a sweep to put Worth County back in front 14-8; it was a lead they would not relinquish although South Nodaway kept it close for the rest of the game.
South Nodaway once again began driving, getting as far as the Tiger 22. But once again the Tiger defense stiffened and held as Nate Pointer got a sack and the Tigers held on downs. Worth County took full advantage as Nate Pointer scored from 40 yards out with 7:20 left in the first half to put Worth County up 20-8.
It looked like the fireworks of the West Nodaway varsity game from the previous weekend would repeat themselves as South Nodaway used a 40 yard screen pass to set up a quarterback sneak from Trent McGeorge with 2:27 left in the second that made it 20-14 at the half.
But then the game settled into a long defensive struggle after a holding penalty wiped out a long touchdown run by Chris Alarcon that would have put Worth County in front by two scores. South Nodaway recovered a fumble at the Tiger three, but a sack by Harley Charles set them back to the 10, Nate Pointer broke up a pass, and a pass into traffic in the end zone fluttered harmlessly onto the ground. Coach Chris Healy has been doing a lot of drills for defensive backs in practice this year and the hard work started to pay off as the Tigers had three picks in the game.
Although Coach Fletcher’s duties are mainly with the defense, his fingerprints were evident on the next drive. With the Tigers backed up fourth and three at their own 17, they went for it and quarterback Chris Alarcon converted it to the 22 for a first down. This was similar to Fletcher’s very first game as head coach of the Tigers against Mound City when he gambled with a fake punt deep in his own territory with the Tigers nursing a 38-22 lead and trying to run out the clock. Quarterback Derek Lambert threw a strike to Andy Welch for a measured first down and the Tigers were able to run out the clock for a victory that game on Mound City’s field. The Tigers gambled once again fourth and one from their own 30 and converted again as Chris Alarcon took a sweep and broke tackle after tackle to the Longhorn 30. The Tigers stalled there and were forced to punt, but Colton Straight picked off a pass and ran it back to the 20 to give the Tigers new life. This time, they would not be denied as Chris Alarcon ran the sprint option into the end zone to make it 26-14 with 32 seconds left in the period.
South Nodaway drove right down to the Tiger 25, using a quick hitter to get much of the yardage. But then Wade Rush got a sack and then Nate Pointer picked off a pass in the end zone. It should have went for a score, but a block in the back penalty moved it back to the Tiger 18 and the Tigers fumbled it away to the Longhorns at the Tiger 22 a few plays later. This time, they tempted fate one too many times and Regan Meyer scampered into the end zone from 20 yards out with 5 minutes left and McGeorge ran in the extra points to make it 26-22.
Worth County got off to a good start in running out the clock as Nate Pointer ripped off 16 yards and Wade Rush ripped off 8 more. But a delay of game penalty cost them and Wade Rush was stopped one yard short of the first down with 1:09 left at the Longhorn 35, still plenty of time.
A long pass to Tristan Freemyer moved it down to the 20 and South Nodaway went to the sweep again, going to Regan Meyer, who was apparently in the clear for the go-ahead score. But a desperation dive by Gavin Hawk stopped the Longhorns at the five for first and goal with 42 seconds left. Meyer got two more yards to the three and an offsides penalty put it on the one. But then Freemyer was denied with 20 seconds and the Longhorns, out of timeouts, lined up without a huddle and ran a quarterback sneak with McGeorge. South Nodaway got an initial surge from the line, but McGeorge ran into a wall of black shirts. As the referees were unpiling the players to see if he had gotten in, time expired and he came up just short of the end zone.
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