Worth County was shorthanded again against South/Nodaway Holt, and it came back to bite them as they fell 78-22 Friday. They got back Austin Welch, but then found out that Aydan Gladstone was hurt much more seriously than previously thought (broken fibula); he was in crutches and on a boot Friday. Alex Rinehart missed the first quarter of the game.
Worth County had every reason to expect a win against the Spartans, who they had dominated the last few years, but after a promising start, things went from bad to worse. They took the opening drive; fueled by the running of Andrew Alarcon, they drove into Spartan territory and got as far as the 30. But then a false start drove them back, and they gave up the ball on downs at the 29.
South/Nodaway-Holt unleashed a power running game and option attack that Worth County was not ready for. They had been a pass-happy team the last few years with their quarterback, Drew Quinlin. But while Quinlin was still around, he was mostly a decoy as the Spartans pounded the ball at will all night and beat Worth County up and down the line. On their first series, they drove into Worth County territory to the 26, and then Alex Harris took an option pitch 26 yards to the house with 6:55 left to make it 8-0 after an extra point pass from Quinlin to Dallas Nowling.
Worth County took too much time to get the play in on its next series, got a Delay of Game penalty, and then fumbled the ball away at their own 33. With the short field to work with, the Spartans drove down to the 24. On third and one, Quinlin took a keeper right, reversed to the left, and nobody was home as he took it to the house with 4:07 left to make it 14-0. Dylan McIntyre, a rare bright spot for the Tigers on pass coverage, broke up the extra point attempt.
Everything continued to go wrong for the Tigers as a holding penalty buried them, and then they threw a strike to Quinlin, who score on the pick six with 2:31 left. A Roughing the Passer penalty gave them a second chance on the extra point, and the Spartans converted to make it 22-0.
Worth County finally got on the board with 2:12 left as Andrew Alarcon broke through a big hole in the right side to make it 22-6 from 57 yards out.
The Spartans nearly ran back the ensuing kickoff, but Colt Cameron made a touchdown saving tackle at the 32. It didn’t matter, however, as Quinlin aired out to Houston Coleman for 51 yards to the Tiger 7, and then Quinlin took a sweep down the right side. Nobody was home, and it scored again to make it 28-6. Dylan McIntyre broke up the extra point pass.
On the next series, Andrew Alarcon fought his way forward for a first down to the 31, but then on the next play, a botched handoff resulted in Worth County’s second fumble, recovered by the Spartans at the 23. The Tiger defense stiffened up to force fourth and one at the 14, but then Quinlin got the first down to the 13. On the next play, Gannon Phelan got a pitchout, the tackling broke down, and he was in the end zone again at 10:36 left. Nowling’s pass made it 36-6.
Worth County got buried on their own 9 on the ensuing kickoff. On their first play, Alex Rinehart nearly broke one and would have scored from 71 yards out if he hadn’t have slipped and fell one yard short of the first down at the 18. It was that kind of night for the Tigers. Worth County tried three times to get the first down on the ground, running into a wall of red shirts each time, and giving the ball back on downs at the 16. But for once, Worth County made a stand on defense as a botched reverse pitch set the Spartans back fourth and 18 at the 24. Quinlin tried to air it out, but Dylan McIntyre had perfect pass coverage on defense to deny the red shirts and give the ball back to the Tigers on downs.
Worth County took it right down the field again as Andrew Alarcon took it 29 yards to the Spartan 27 and Alex Rinehart made a sensational catch despite a called pass interference penalty on the Spartans, and the Tigers had the ball on the 11. Andrew Alarcon picked up five more to the six, but on the next play, Worth County fumbled it away at the 4 for their fourth turnover of the half.
The Spartans took advantage, marching right down the field again as Brody Scroggins bounced outside for 16, an option to Phelan picked up another first down, and they got to the Tiger 37. With 2:58 left, they lined up in a spread, and Quinlin ran through the Tiger line like it wasn’t even there, and he scored again with 2:50 left to make it 44-6 after Wyatt Williams’ extra point pass.
Worth County started on their own 15 and Andrew Alarcon and Alex Rinehart took turns carrying the ball down the field, and Rinehart caught a 22 yard pass from Jackson Runde, pressed into service at quarterback. With 15 seconds left, Worth County made it to the Spartan 22, and then set up a screen pass to Alex Rinehart. He got loose into the secondary down the left side and his final effort got him in with 5.2 seconds left. Andrew Alarcon’s extra points made it 44-14 at the half.
The Spartans got the ball to start the second half, and Quinlin bounced outside for 42 yards down to the Tiger 12. They got as far as the 9 before Nate Adwell and Justin Dye blew up a pitchout to Phelan for a loss of three. Dye put Quinlin under a heavy rush on the next play, and then Alex Rinehart and Jackson Runde combined on a sack to give the Tigers the ball back at the 20.
However, Worth County couldn’t take advantage of the momentum shift, as they kept taking too much time to get the play off, getting down to three seconds on the play clock on one play and one second on another, nearly fumbling the ball away for a fifth time. They were forced to punt; a good kick pinned South/Nodaway-Holt on their own 19, but after Phelan picked up two, they pitched out to Harris on the left side. Everybody got sucked in and nobody was home as Harris found clear sailing down the left side for a 59 yard score with 5:50 left to make it 50-14.
Worth County got the score right back as they started off on their own 25. Andrew Alarcon bounced to the right side and outran everyone for a 55 yard score with 5:33 left. Alex Rinehart ran in the extra points to make it 50-22.
But Worth County once again failed to capitalize. First, Quinlin took a busted play and picked up a first down to the Tiger 35. Then, a 12 yard reverse to Dylan Schuetz got it to the 20, and an option to Phelan got it to the 12. Then, Alex Harris ran the same play that got him the last score; he took a quick pitch to the left, nobody was home, and it took it to the house to make it 56-22 with 2:18 left.
Worth County nearly got a long runback that would have set them up in Spartan territory, but it was called all the way back to the 4 by a costly block in the back penalty. They were forced to punt, the ensuing kick was shanked into the wind, and once again, nobody was home to stop Alex Harris on the quick pitch, this time from eight yards out with 10:02 left in the game to make it 62-22.
Levi Cassavaugh ran back the ensuing kickoff down to the Spartan 39, but on the next play, Alex Rinehart hurt his knee fighting for yardage and was done for the night. Worth County could not covert and gave the ball up on downs at the 30.
Once again, Alex Harris got a quick pitch, and once again, nobody was home to defend it as it took it 19 yards into Tiger territory at the 31. The Spartans drove down to the 9, where the Tigers stiffened up and held them to eight yards on the next three plays. But on fourth and one at the 1, Quinlin took it in for the score and added the extra points to make it 70-22 with 6:31 left to start the running clock.
The Spartans pushed around the JV as well, with a diving 15 yard grab by Chance Jacobs of a pass from Braxton Hightshoe being a rare bright spot for the Tigers. A long run from Kendall Noland gave the Spartans another score in the closing minutes.
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