Worth County survived a depleted but dangerous Pattonsburg squad that moved the ball up and down the field but couldn’t punch it in against the Tiger defense as Worth County pulled away for a 72-18 win in a game called after three. Worth County had to win to keep pace with Platte Valley in the district standings, and Pattonsburg was fighting to get some respect despite the numbers game.
Having started with 18 players, Pattonsburg has seen their
numbers dwindle down to 13 with three on the sideline in street clothes as it became Heartbreak Hill. After losing
convincingly to South Holt, they came back from 60-34 down to Princeton in the
fourth quarter, had a chance to win it at the end, but fell 96-92 in the
highest scoring football game in state history. Instead of building off the
positives of that game, they laid an egg and fell hard 66-30 at Stanberry in a
game they trailed 54-0 at the half and 60-8 at one point in the fourth quarter.
They had King City down 40-14 in the first half, but then everything that could
have gone wrong did go wrong, including the communication system quitting in
the closing seconds of their 74-68 loss to King City. They then got St. Joseph
Christian in the very sort of track meet they wanted, trailing 54-52 at the
half, only for the Lions to turn on the clamps defensively and gain some
separation before holding on for the 78-70 win.
Worth County got the ball at their own 32 to start and got a
first down when Tyler New got a block from Grant McIntyre for four and Landon
Wilmes got a block from Elias Alarcon down to the 35. But all of a sudden, the
Panthers came out with the kind of defensive intensity that they had been
searching for since their lone win at the start of the season and Jace Estrada
came through with a sack of Tyler New. Gage Iddings came up with three straight
tackles on defense and the Panthers had the ball back on downs at their own 28.
On the first play from scrimmage, Kolten Smith bull rushed
Iddings, but he found Landon Preston for 22 yards to the Tiger 30. Iddings scrambled
for seven yards to the 23, and then Landon Preston caught a short pass and
broke a tackle to the 13. But then one of their biggest bugs, their inability
to finish drives, came back to bite them. A dropped pass made it second and
ten, and Landon Preston caught a five yard pass to the 8. Landon Wilmes broke
up a pass on third down, and an offsides penalty put it on the four. But it was
not a first down, since it was half the distance to the goal and not five
yards, meaning it was still fourth down. On fourth down, Landon Wilmes once
again broke up a pass and Worth County took over on downs. The field position
didn’t matter as after a four yard run by New to the 8, the Tigers finally got
Gage Iddings blocked and Tyler New took it 72 yards to the house to make it
6-0.
Pattonsburg got the ball back on their own 27. An attempted
screen pass went nowhere as Tyler New and Landon Wilmes blew up the play. Wyatt
Maize caught a pass in traffic to the 34, and an offsides penalty put it on the
39. The Panthers tried to air it out, but a new face for the Tigers, Landon
Moser, had really stepped up his game recently and earned a spot on the field
and provided perfect blanket coverage. Landon Wilmes broke up his third pass of
the game and Camden Griffith caught a six yard pass to make it fourth and four
at the 35. But then Lucas Frisch broke through and sacked Iddings at the
Panther 35 to kill the drive.
Worth County moved the ball on the ground with Lucas Frisch
picking up seven to the 28, Landon Wilmes getting a block from Carter Chapman
for seven more, Landon getting a block from Grant McIntyre for three to the 17,
Tyler New muscling his way down to the 10, and then Landon Wilmes got a block
from Bo Collins to the house with 2:25 left in the first to make it 12-0.
The Panthers were buried at their own 16, but a bubble
screen to Camden Griffith found daylight to the Tiger 35. A short pass to Landon
Preston only netted one yard to the 34 as he met Grant McIntyre and Landon
Wilmes, but Gage Iddings got a block from Jace Estrada for a first down to the
25. But once again, Pattonsburg’s red zone woes continued, starting when Lucas
Frisch flushed Iddings out of the pocket and Grant McIntyre was there to break
up the long pass. A short pass to Landon Preston netted five to the 20, but
then Bo Collins batted down a pass to an open Gavin Humphrey to set up fourth
down. Lucas Frisch once again flushed Iddings out of the pocket and forced an
incompletion as the Tigers got the ball back on downs at the 20. This time,
they only needed one play to get to the house as a fake handoff fooled everyone
and Tyler New took it to the house with 58 seconds left in the first quarter.
Landon Wilmes got a block from Lucas Frisch and ran in the extra points to make
it 20-0.
Pattonsburg started at their own 28, and then Tyler New
dropped Gavin Humphrey after he caught a short pass for a loss of four. A
shovel pass to Landon Preston went for nine yards to the 33, but some trickery
didn’t work as Pattonsburg pitched it out to Landon Preston, who aired it out
to Wyatt Maize, who was wide open, but Landon overthrew him. On fourth and five
from the 33, Gage Iddings scrambled around and around trying to buy time, but
eventually, Elias Alarcon came free and sacked him at the 23 and the Tigers got the ball back on downs. Landon Wilmes
took an option pitch 14 yards to the 9, and then Beau Gibson had Wilmes dead in
his sights, but he somehow squirted forward to the four. Wilmes was strung out
on the next play and driven out of bounds for no gain, but a quick hitter put
Lucas Frisch in the end zone with 10:18 left in the second. Worth County
isolated Grant McIntyre and hit him with the extra points to make it 28-0.
Wyatt Maize gave Pattonsburg a good runback to the 37, but
then Lucas Frisch and Bo Collins pressured Iddings and forced an incompletion.
Landon Moser showed why he had earned a spot in the Tiger rotation as he blew
up a shovel pass and then broke up a pass. Landon Wilmes got his fourth pass
breakup and Worth County took over on downs at the Panther 36. Once again, they
used the short field as Landon Wilmes got a block from Bo Collins and took it
10 yards and a first down at the 26. Tyler New got a block from Ethan Lininger
and 11 yards to the 15. Bo Collins caught a short pass to the 8, and then Grant
McIntyre was all alone for a strike with 8:16 left to make it 34-0. Jace
Estrada flushed Tyler New out and he had to throw the extra point pass away.
Maize continued to be a bright spot for Pattonsburg on the
kickoff returns, running it back to the 40. A pass interference put it on the
25, and then Camden Griffith caught a pass in traffic down to the 13 and
another for five down to the 8. The Panthers nearly stalled again in the red
zone as Gavin Humphrey dropped a pass and then Kolten Smith came free and
forced an incompletion. But Gage Iddings scrambled for the first down to the 1
and then got a block from Dillon Hartschen to the house with 6:36 left in the
second to make it 34-6. Elias Alarcon came free on the extra point try and
forced an incompletion.
With nothing to lose, Pattonsburg tried an onsides kick, but
Worth County recovered it and they only needed one play to answer as Ethan
Lininger threw a block to spring Tyler New free. On the extra point try, Tyler
New came under pressure from Beau Gibson, but Grant McIntyre was all alone in
the end zone for the extra points to make it 42-6 with 6:25 left.
But once again, Wyatt Maize got loose on the kickoff return
and the game threatened to become a track meet similar to the
Pattonsburg-Princeton game; he took it to the Tiger 35 this time. This time,
some razzle dazzle worked as Landon Preston got the lateral from Iddings and
aired it out to an unguarded Wyatt Maize to the six. Tyler New broke up one
pass, but then Gage Iddings scrambled into the end zone with 4:36 left to make
it 42-12.
The Panthers tried an onsides kick and Franklynn Taute tried
to return it, fumbled it, but Brayden Stevens recovered it at the 38. Beau
Gibson continued to show why he is one of the most improved players for the
Panthers, dropping Wilmes for no gain, and then a penalty wiped out a long
screen pass back to the 38. On the next play, Jace Estrada came free and
flushed Tyler New out of the pocket, but he found Grant McIntyre, who beat his
guy and caught the pass from 42 yards out with 3:43 left in the half to make it
48-12. Gage Iddings broke up the extra point pass.
Pattonsburg started at their own 29. They tried to complete
a short pass to Landon Preston, but Elias Alarcon threw him down like a rag
doll for no gain. Bo Collins dropped Gavin Humphrey after a short pass for a
loss of one, then Landon Preston caught a short pass for seven to the 35. On
fourth and five at the 35, Gage Iddings tried to air it out to Preston, but the
wind was wreaking havoc on passes thrown to the south endzone and the ball
sailed on him and the Tigers had the ball back on downs.
With time running out in the first half, Lucas Frisch got
loose for nine to the 26. Tyler New went back for a pass, but Jace Estrada came
free and flushed him out of the pocket and Wyatt Maize was there to break it
up. But on the next play, Tyler New scrambled down the middle, weaved his way
through defenders, and bounced down the left side and to the house with 58
seconds left. Brayden Stevens ran the reverse for the extra points to make it
56-12. Pattonsburg started on their own 33, but couldn’t answer as on the first
play, both Kolten Smith and Elias Alarcon came free and forced Iddings into an
incompletion. Pattonsburg went back to the double pass, but Landon Wilmes
sacked Landon Preston. Iddings tried to scramble as time expired, but Kolten
Smith, Lucas Frisch, and Ethan Lininger all chased him down.
Worth County started the second half with a squib kick that
was covered by the Panthers at their own 30. Four straight incompletions
followed as Elias Alarcon got free and forced an incompletion. The next pass
sailed on Iddings as the wind wreaked havoc again. Lucas Frisch got pressure on
the next play, and Landon Moser blanketed Griffith on the next play to force a
turnover on downs at the Panther 30. Worth County got 15 yards from Landon
Wilmes to the 15. Tyler New got a block from Bo Collins and picked up 10 more
to the 5, and then Lucas Frisch got a block from Elias Alarcon and took it to
the house with 7:46 left in the third. Frisch caught the extra point pass to make
it 64-12.
Pattonsburg elected to play on, but Worth County was not
taking its foot off the gas like a lot of teams do when way ahead. The Panthers
started on their own 25 and pressure from Lucas Frisch and Elias Alarcon forced
an incompletion. Landon Wilmes blew up a bubble screen after Gavin Humphrey got
two to the 27, and Wyatt Maize got a pitchout, fumbled it, but the ball went
out of bounds before Worth County could recover it at the 26. On fourth and
nine, Gage Iddings aired it out to Camden Griffith and he came up with it at the
Tiger 24. A bad snap drove them back to the 31, and a long pass to Griffith was
caught, but out of bounds at the three. But a guard eligible pass to Jace
Estrada picked up 16 yards to give Pattonsburg a manageable down and distance
at the 15. On the next play, Gage Iddings ran around and around in circles,
trying to buy time while the Tiger defenders were stuck like glue to their
receivers. Gage scrambled all the way back to the 35, and finally found Camden
Griffith in the end zone with 1:36 left in the third to cut it to 64-18. Grant
McIntyre broke up the extra point pass.
There was a heartstopping moment for the Tigers as the
ensuing onsides kick bounced off Franklynn Taute and into the air. But Karson
Briner was there to recover it and Tyler New aired it out to Bo Collins from 41
yards out and Lucas Frisch ran in the extra points, convincing Pattonsburg to
throw in the towel at the end of the third quarter. Pattonsburg could only get
to the Tiger 25 before the third quarter clock expired and the game was called.
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