Saturday, September 17, 2016

Tigers Down King City Through Air in Homecoming Tilt

King City sold out to stop Worth County's running game, but Worth County took to the air to stop the Wildkats, last year's 11-man GRC champions, and raised their record to 4-1 as they won 42-26. The game was not as close as the score indicated as Worth County rested two of their mainstays on defense in the final quarter, Mason Hawk (ankle) and Wade Rush (cramps). Both are expected to return next week against St. Joseph Christian.

King City's linebackers blitzed all night and were shooting the gaps as well as anyone in eight man ranks, but Worth County was still able to put together a long drive to start the game. They converted a fourth and two at their own 37 when Cade Allee threw a 10 yard completion to Caleb Parman. They converted another fourth and two at the Wildkat 25 when Cade Allee got a block from Isaac Alarcon and got a three yard run for first down. They converted a third fourth down at the 14 when Wade Rush followed a block from Colton Wilmes and moved a pile five yards to the 9. But King City was so committed to stopping the run that nobody guarded Mason Hawk, who took a four yard strike from Cade Allee with 4:21 left in the first quarter. The handoff on the extra point was fumbled around, but Wade Rush scooped it up and ran it in to make it 8-0. The ground was wet from a rain the night before and Worth County had trouble all night with handoffs and snaps.

Jayden Mancuso picked off an errant King City pass at the Wildkat 21 and Worth County was right back in business. Cade Allee got blocks from Drake Kinsella and Wade Rush for a first down run to the 7, and then Isaac Alarcon moved a pile into the end zone with 2:16 left to make it 14-0.

A holding penalty on King City buried them at their own 13, but they began moving the ball behind Collin Breckinridge who either ran or passed depending on what the defense gave them. They were without Devin Breckinridge (shoulder), who warmed up but did not play. But it didn't seem to matter as they had Collin Breckinridge reading the defense and they used counters to David Hershberger and B.J. Eiberger to keep the defense honest. But they finally stalled at the Tiger 23 when Devin Jackson shot up the middle to get a sack and Ryan McClellan broke up a long pass intended for Eiberger in the end zone.

Isaac Alarcon had a 23 yard catch and run over the middle when he caught a pass, juggled it, and somehow hung on. That moved the ball to the King City 32. Caleb Parman beat Collin Breckinridge on the left sideline in one on one coverage for 19 yards to the 10. With fourth and three at the 3, Isaac Alarcon took a dive, got a block from Wade Rush, and his final effort got him into the end zone with 4:21 left to make it 20-0.

A long kickoff return by B.J. Eiberger set up King City's first score as he ran back the kickoff to the Tiger 15. That set up Breckinridge's 12 yard pass to David Hershberger with 2:54 left to make it 20-6. Worth County moved the ball down the field, but ran out of time with the ball at the 7.

King City drove to their own 39 with a chance to make it one possession, but punted after that. They had a golden opportunity to make it one possession again when they picked up a Worth County fumble at the Tiger 37, but a false start and a pass breakup by Ryan McClellan stopped the drive. King City's punt would have pinned the Tigers at their own three, but David Hershberger tried to push Ryan McClellan into the ball and drew a late hit penalty that moved the ball out of the shadows of the goalposts to the 18. That was a costly penalty as Mason Hawk was done for Worth County after coming out during the last series (ankle) and it gave the Tigers new momentum. Worth County was backed up second and 12 at their own 16 due to a false start, but Cade Allee aired it out to Ryan McClellan for 44 yards to flip the field. Wade Rush caught a pass over the middle for 15 yards to the 5, and then moved a pile into the end zone with 4:58 left in the third to make it 26-6.

Caleb Parman came out of nowhere to pick Breckenridge and set up another Tiger score after he returned it to the King City 31. Isaac Alarcon converted a third and four at the 25 with a 7 yard run and a late hit moved it to the King City 8. With 1:22 left, Isaac Alarcon dove into the end zone to make it 34-6. Cade Allee took a sweep down the left side, got a block from Isaac Alarcon, and got in for the extra points.

King City let two golden opportunities to get back in the game slip away. First, a would-be kickoff return from B.J. Eiberger was wiped out by a holding penalty and the ball was moved back to the King City 21. Then, Ryan McClellan slipped and fell on the wet turf and Eiberger was wide open for six on a pass play, but the pass was thrown too far for him. King City picked up a first down to the 31, but then consecutive sacks from Drake Kinsella and a body slam from Wade Rush straight out of the WWE on Breckinridge as he was trying to scramble forced them to punt. Cade Allee found rare daylight on the ground as he ran around the right end, picked up blocks from Wade Rush and Isaac Alarcon, and scampered for a 46 yard touchdown run with 10:20 left. Caleb Parman caught a pass to make it 42-6. On the touchdown run, Wade Rush cramped up and was done for the night.

With Rush and Hawk resting, King City put together a frantic rally that fell short. The speedy Hershberger caught a 23 yard pass with 7:48 left to make it 42-12, a 9 yard scramble from Breckinridge after a couple of long pass plays made it 42-18, and King City recovered a fumble as Worth County took too long to get the play in and a hurried snap resulted in the slick ball falling to the turf. That set up another pass to Hershberger from 19 yards out with 2:01 left to make it 42-26 before Allee's 32 yard run helped run out the clock.




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