Worth County got off to a slow start against Nodaway-Holt, but got stronger as the game progressed and put them away 56-6 in the third quarter. The Tigers finally got their first win of the season, avoiding their first winless season since 1961. They also avoided falling to the Trojans for the first time since 1993, a winning streak that is now 21 years and counting. Nodaway-Holt, which won its first game of the year, got off to a strong start, but they were outmanned. They listed 14 players on their program, but only 12 suited up for Friday night's game.
Back in the 1960's, a certain Yugoslav grandmaster was playing in a brutal chess tournament in which the current world chess champion and two future world champions were participating. Bobby Fischer was one of the participants. The Yugoslav was in horrific form, playing one bad game after another. But then, he ran into another grandmaster in even worse form, won the game, and climbed out of last place. He wrote that the turn of events made him cynical -- he thanked God someone else was in worse form than he was.
It took the Tigers a whole quarter to realize that they were the better team on the field as they struggled with the center-quarterback exchange and gave away the ball on downs to the Trojans. Then, someone forgot to cover Cody Schniedermeyer, whose long pass brought Nodaway-Holt to the Tiger 9. But then Brevyn Ross, one of the few players to play both sides of the ball, broke up a pass in the end zone, Dalton Auffert turned a sweep inside perfectly, and the Tigers caught a break when Carey Voltner was all alone in the back of the end zone, but Trojan quarterback Brody Day didn't see him on fourth down. But the center-quarterback exchange problems didn't solve themselves as Worth County lost a fumble at their own 12 and Day was in the end zone one play later to make it 6-0 with 7:45 left.
But the difference between Friday night and the last four Friday nights was that although Worth County made a lot of mistakes that game, they were able to play through them this time. They finally cut down on their penalties, down to nine. Coach Chris Healy made some wholesale changes to the lineup; hardly anyone played on both sides of the ball, unlike the first four games. That allowed him and assistant coach Mark Fletcher to rotate in fresh legs when needed.
Worth County had their fourth fumble in eight plays after picking up a first down, prompting Coach Healy to switch to a spread formation with Brevyn Ross at quarterback taking snaps out of the shotgun, with Josh Warner as the motion man. That move obviously rattled Nodaway-Holt, which burned a timeout and bailed Worth County out of an illegal motion penalty; they had obviously not practiced against that particular formation. Brevyn picked up gains of 16 and 15 down to the Trojan 13 and then Josh Warner took a sweep and rumbled to the 7. A false start moved it back to the 12, but then Brevyn found a big hole up the middle to put Worth County on the board with 5:17 left. Tevin Cameron caught a pass for the extra points to put Worth County up 8-6.
Nodaway-Holt threatened again thanks to an obvious faceguarding penalty on Worth County; they used their option game to drive deep into Tiger territory. But Zach Walker came up inches short on fourth down and Worth County took over on downs at the 7. Ben Badell, who had been working with center Jacob Hardy on exchanges on the sideline when not on the field, came back in and aired it out to Chris Alarcon for 63 yards down to the Trojan 10. Three plays later, Jayden Mancuso was in the end zone from two yards out with 11:56 left in the second quarter to put Worth County up 14-6.
Nodaway-Holt went three and out and Brevyn Ross returned the ensuing punt into Trojan territory to set up Worth County's next score. His 15-yard run overcame a block in the back penalty and then Ben Badell made something out of nothing, taking a bobbled snap on fourth and goal at the 1 and scoring with 6:55 left to make it 20-6. Josh Warner pounced on a Trojan fumble on their second play from scrimmage and that set up Worth County's next score as Brevyn Ross followed a block from Wade Rush into the end zone with 5:28 left in the second. Wade Rush ran in the extra points to make it 28-6.
On Nodaway-Holt's next play, Zach Walker found a big hole and was seemingly headed for paydirt to let Nodaway-Holt right back into the game, but Andrew Faustlin caught him from behind at the 10 to save a touchdown and Worth County held when Carey Volner's shoestring catch on fourth down was a foot short of the end zone. With time running out, this time Worth County managed the clock well after struggling with clock management in the Albany game. Jayden Mancuso broke loose for 13 yards around the right end to get Worth County out of the hole and then Brevyn Ross was seemingly stood up by two Trojan defenders for a loss. But he broke free and picked up 20 to the Tiger 34. Brevyn picked up 16 more to the Trojan 30 and then Ben Badell scrambled for 15 more to the Trojan 15. Worth County picked up a false start, but then pulled off the guard eligible play from Ben Badell to Josh Warner. The Trojan backs bit on the run fake, leaving Warner open and he dragged his defender for the final few yards with 45.6 seconds left in the half. Wade Rush ran in the extra points to make it 36-6.
Brevyn Ross recovered a fumble right off the bat for Worth County, but then Nodaway-Holt came out fired up and held on downs. But then Worth County forced a three and out and started at their own 15. Tevin Cameron was called for a holding penalty, but then atoned for his mistake with a leaping catch from Ben Badell with a defender draped all over him for 45 yards down to the Trojan 25. That gave Ben Badell 128 yards passing for the night. That set up Wade Rush's one yard score with 7:00 left in the third. Brevyn Ross ran in the extra points to make it 44-6.
Nodaway-Holt ditched their option game and spread out all of their receivers and tried to follow North-West Nodaway's lead, but it backfired as Truman Moore came right up the middle unblocked and had a sack which buried Nodaway-Holt back at their own 10, where they were forced to punt. Brevyn Ross weaved and spun his way to the Trojan 2 on the punt and then Jayden Mancuso scored with 4:26 left to make it 50-6. In desperation, Nodaway-Holt went for it on fourth and two deep in their own territory at the 23, but four different Tigers gang-tackled Cole Alloway one yard short of the first down, something that had been missing from previous games. That set up a short field for Worth County's final score as Jayden Mancuso picked up six yards, following blocks by Wade Rush and Ryan McClellan. Wade broke a host of tackles and rumbled to the 6 for 14 yards, and then Jayden Mancuso picked up the final six yards to end the game at the 2:54 mark of the third quarter.
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