Worth County had just enough gas in the tank to hold off North Shelby Saturday as a Lucas Frisch pick with 26 seconds left at the goal line preserved a 36-34 win over the Raiders and avenged their 50-40 loss from last year. Worth County now travels to Archie Saturday at 2 pm to try to avenge a loss in the State Championship from 2023. With the win, Worth County canceled its boys game with Mercer Tuesday night, while NEN canceled its boys game with Albany. Both girls teams still played their games.
The Tigers were shorthanded as they played without Cole Ruby much of the game. He started off getting a lot of carries on their first drive, but carried it less and less as the game progressed, and didn’t play at all in the second half.
The game was eerily similar to Worth County’s 2021 game with North Shelby; the Raiders got off to a good start, only for Worth County to battle back and get up by as much as 16 at one point. The same thing happened Saturday. However, just like last time, North Shelby came roaring back, only for Worth County to deny a game-tying extra point and preserve the lead. The games ended with identical scores; Worth County won by the exact same score in 2021.
The Tigers will have to battle history if they are to beat Archie. Last year, they made a goal line stand against Albany, jumped out to an early lead against North Shelby, only to have nothing left in the tank against them as the game progressed. Two years ago, the Tigers won a brutal battle with South Holt in the semifinals, only to have nothing left in the tank against Archie in the State Championship game.
Worth County was buried at their own 10 to start the game, but got a long punishing drive going. Cole Ruby weaved his way for four first downs and a sweep by Brayden Stevens got them another to the North Shelby 15. But after Gannon Bowen shot through to drop Brayden Stevens for a loss, two incomplete passes killed the drive.
Gannon Bowen had been carrying the Raiders the last two years, and sure enough, he ripped off a 40 yard gain to the Tiger 18. He threw a trike to T.J. Belt for a score, and Cole Browning ran in the extra points to make it 8-0. But Worth County bounced right back as Jude Archer got a quick pitch that sprung loose for 40 yards down to the Raider three. Lucas Frisch picked up two more yards to the one. A false start moved Worth County back to the six, only for Cole Ruby to pick up three to the three yard line. Jude Archer tried to hurdle a defender, but was stopped short at the one. Finally, Hayden Sanders spun off a defender and scored early in the second quarter. Cole Ruby caught a short pass and ran it in to tie it at 8-8 with 10:45 left in the second.
Worth County was trying to keep the ball away from Gannon Bowen on kickoffs, and North Shelby recovered an onsides kick at the 40. Gannon Bowen ran right through Tiger defenders to the 28, and then he ripped off 18 more to the three before Lucas Frisch stopped him. On second and goal at the five, Bowen ran through the Tiger defense again with 8:04 left to put North Shelby back up 14-8. Cole Browning was swarmed under short of the goal line to stop the extra point try.
On fourth and one from the Tiger 36, Jude Archer took a quick pitch five yards to the North Shelby 39 for a first down. On fourth and two at the North Shelby 31, Cole Ruby ripped off seven yards, juggled the ball, but held on to it for a first down. A late hit put it on the nine, and a reverse to Jude Archer put it on the one. Finally, Brayden Stevens took a quick pitch to the house and Bo Collins made a sensational catch with his feet barely in the end zone to give Worth County the lead at 16-14.
Disaster struck for North Shelby as a chop block penalty set them behind the sticks, and they were forced to punt as time wound down in the first half. Worth County got the ball back at the 30, and consecutive passes to Lucas Frisch got a first down to the Raider 38 with 50 seconds left. Hayden Sanders scrambled to the 23 and got out of bounds with 35 seconds left. A long pass to Bo Collins at the goal line was too high with 28 seconds left. An offsides put it on the 18. Sanders came under heavy pressure with 15 seconds left from Alex DeLallo and threw it away. But then Worth County put together a perfectly designed screen, and Jude Archer weaved his way through traffic to the house to make it 22-14. A successful extra point try would have made it two scores, but Sanders was run down before he could get in, on a play that Worth County has converted many times this year.
There were some anxious moments for the Tigers as Cole Browning ripped off nine yards to the 24 with seven seconds left, as North Shelby had all of their time outs. Gannon Bowen nearly broke one before getting tackled at the Tiger 37 with one second left. Bowen optioned it to Cole Browning as time expired, but Wyatt Hill made a perfect one-on-one tackle at the 34 as time expired.
North Shelby got the ball back to start the second half but disaster struck as the ball got away from one of the up-men, and Jordan Dannar recovered it on the Raider 22. They overcame a holding penalty as Lucas Frisch moved a pile to the 14 and then picked up four to the 10 and a first down. On the next play, Frisch beat Gannon Bowen and made a leaping catch in the end zone with 9:08 left in the first. Jude Archer ran in the extra points to make it 30-14.
But North Shelby, just like 2021, came roaring back, using some trickery to get back in the game. They lined up Drayk Plunkett at quarterback and Bowen as a receiver; he took a reverse handoff and as everyone came off their receiver, Bowen threw a strike to a wide open T.J. Belt to the Tiger seven. A facemask penalty put it on the two, and Gannon Bowen ran it in the rest of the way. He ran in the extra points with 7:36 left in the third to make it 30-22.
A long runback by Jude Archer put it on the Tiger 36, and then Hayden Sanders broke loose for 22 yards to the North Shelby 22. Jude Archer picked up five more yards, and Lucas Frisch picked up four to the 13. Jude Archer picked up three. A touchdown run by Hayden Sanders was wiped out by a facemask back to the 18, but a facemask on North Shelby put it back on the five. Finally, Jude Archer converted a pitch with 4:02 left in the third to make it 36-22.
But on third and three at the Raider 28, North Shelby faked the jet sweep to Cole Browning and Bowen was off to the races again, this time for 43 yards to the Tiger nine. Two plays later, Drake Prange crashed in from the five. Bowen, who was shaken up on the play, came out for the extra point try and his backup, Drayk Plunkett, was swarmed under as Worth County retained a 36-28 lead.
Worth County had what looked to be a promising drive going, only for Jude Archer to be stopped short on fourth and one. Plunkett got loose for 13 yards into Tiger territory, and Bowen came back and converted a fourth and one to the Tiger 15. A defensive holding put it on the three, but right before the play started, the officials stopped the play as the ball was wrongly spotted; it was placed at the seven, where it was second and two. A holding penalty on North Shelby put it back to the 18. Bo Collins and Ryder Smyser dropped Bowen after a one-yard scramble and Bowen overthrew a receiver in the end zone to set up fourth and 12. Bowen threw an apparent strike to Ty Bacon for a touchdown, but offsetting penalties wiped out the score and forced North Shelby to replay the down. Bowen tried to scramble for the first down, but was tackled at the 17 to give the ball back to the Tigers with 4:36 left.
Worth County tried to run out the clock and gain yardage, but after he ripped off a 16-yard gain, Brayden Stevens fumbled it at the end of the run to five North Shelby another chance with under four minutes left in the game, putting the ball on the Tiger 37. Bowen was swarmed under by Bo Collins and Brayden Stevens, and a fumble recovered by North Shelby set up third and 11 at the 38. But a defensive holding penalty set up third and short, and Drake Prange crashed through for a first down to the 26 with two minutes left. Bowen scrambled to the 18 and got out of bounds with 1:42 left. He scrambled again and then went down at the one with 1:18 left so that North Shelby could force overtime and leave Worth County with as little time as possible to try to win in regulation. But Worth County started using its timeouts, forcing North Shelby to run a play, and Drake Prange crashed in for the score with 1:16 left to make it 36-34. Gannon Bowen had apparent daylight for the game-tying extra point try, but then slipped and fell as he was trying to make a cut and Worth County remained up two.
Brayden Stevens recovered the ensuing onsides kick at the North Shelby 39. Worth County tried to run out the clock, but North Shelby had all three of its timeouts and used them up. On fourth and seven, Worth County tried to isolate Bo Collins for a first down catch, but it was broken up, and North Shelby had the ball back at its own 36 with 59 seconds left.
Gage Daniel caught a 13-yard pass to the Tiger 31, and the clock kept running before Bowen took a snap and scrambled out of bounds to the 27 to stop the clock with 32 seconds left.
On the next play, Bowen dropped back to pass, only to come under a heavy rush from Bo Collins, who had come free. Bowen underthrew his intended receiver, and Lucas Frisch intercepted it at the one to give the ball back to the Tigers at their own 1.
There was still a chance for North Shelby, as Worth County had to be careful with the kneel-down play as a safety would tie the game. But Hayden Sanders managed to fall forward to end the game.
For his efforts, Jude Archer was named the GRM Networks GRC West Player of the Week. He stepped in when Cole Ruby couldn’t go anymore and had 14 carries for 88 yards and one score. He had an 18-yard touchdown reception and a 23-yard kickoff return. He had seven tackles on defense.
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